Labor

Captain's Log, Stardate 12.16.2009

TMI Alert:

I know that exercise is supposed to make period cramps lessen, but it has never done that for me. Not if I exercise the weeks before my period, not if I exercise during my period. And actually, if I exercise during or close to my period, I’ll start cramping and it’ll just be really painful and unpleasant.

The other day I was running and had to cut the run short because my cramps were just bad. I normally don’t panic, but my friend has endometriosis, and for a moment I wondered if I had that since the cramps were getting to me. So I IM’d her:

Me: For people with endometriosis, if you exercise, does that make your cramps worse?

Her: No, it makes it better.

Me: Then I guess I don’t have endometriosis.

Her: You'd know beyond a shadow of a doubt because the pain is so intense. Like labor.

Labor? As in, have children labor? As in, little Camys NOT running around my house?

Me: Um...that description doesn’t help me any.

Comments

Winter said…

Uh, well, I might help you out there a bit.

My cramps were so bad before I had kids I'd literally down almost an entire bottle of pain meds during it. After having four kids they went away, until 3 years ago. They came back stronger than ever. Part of my problem was ovarian cysts, they can make them bad. The other problem, not enough progesterone in my body. Once we fixed that, the cramps aren't as bad, only the first day and that's it.

I'd check with your doc and see what's up.

Wed Dec 16, 10:26:00 AM 2009

Holly Magnuson said…

OK, I'll pipe in on this since I suffered from endometriosis since 1984 (first diagnosed) until my hysterectomy in 2004 and the cramps were HORRID!! I didn't feel like exercising so I have no idea if it would have helped. Because in 1984 endometriosis wasn't a well know. The crazy thing about endometriosis is that some women never have symptoms and don't even know they have it until they try to get pregnant and can't.

The only way to know for sure is possibly through ultrasounds (since they've improved so much) or laparoscopic.

Sorry for the rambling, a good OB/GYN should be able to help you know what's going on.

Blessings,
Holly

Wed Dec 16, 04:04:00 PM 2009

Amy said…

Meanwhile, can I recommend Excedrin for pain relief? I discovered this use of it after a visit to New Zealand. If you want to read the story, I wrote about it on my blog here.

Wed Dec 16, 07:17:00 PM 2009

Emily said…

I can't imagine anyone having cramps that felt as bad a labor did! (I'm 7 months post-partum. I haven't forgotten yet!) I feel for you ladies who have bad ones since there's no epidural to numb the pain away. :)

Camy - my friend swears by Pamprin when she's all crampy. I'm an Aleve girl -- it's basically the same as Midol and costs less. Exercise never helps me either...

Wed Dec 16, 10:41:00 PM 2009

Camy Tang said…

I'm so glad I'm not alone in the cramps department! My problem is that my stomach is very sensitive so there are very few pain meds I can take that won't make me nauseated. Alleve, Advil, asprin--they all cause my stomach to get upset, and while I can take Tylenol, it doesn't do SQUAT!

My doctor says it doesn't seem like I have endometriosis, in her opinion, so that's a good thing.

Camy

Fri Dec 18, 02:50:00 AM 2009

Jaime Wright said…

Greeeeeaaaaat ... considering I'm due to give birth to my first child in 4 weeks, this is extremely exciting to know that labor is the worst "cramps" that monthly cramps can be associated with. WAAAHH!!! (they should make over-the-counter epidurals)

Fri Dec 18, 08:28:00 AM 2009

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures...

Toilet seat cover

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Update August 2008: I wrote up the pattern for this with "improvements"! Here's the link to my No Cold Bums toilet seat cover ! Okay, remember a few days ago I was complaining about the cold toilet seat in my bathroom? Well, I decided to knit a seat cover. Not a lid cover, but a seat cover. I went online and couldn’t find anything for the seat, just one pattern for the lid by Feminitz.com . However, I took her pattern for the inside edge of the lid cover and modified it to make a seat cover. Here it is! It’s really ugly stitch-wise because originally I made it too small and had to extend it a couple inches on each side. I figured I’d be the one staring at it, so who cared if the extension wasn’t perfectly invisible? I used acrylic yarn since, well, that’s what I had, and also because it’s easy to wash. I’ll probably have to wash this cover every week or so, but it’s easy to take off—I made ties which you can see near the back of the seat. And...

What Is a Brutus Cut? A Regency Hair Trend Inspired by Ancient Rome

Regency Haircuts and Disguises in Lady Wynwood’s Spies In this excerpt from Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 8: Traitor , Phoebe prepares for a dangerous mission—one that requires her to disguise herself as a young man. The hairstyle she receives, called a Brutus cut, was actually quite fashionable during the Regency. Read on to find out more about this curious trend and why it suited her new identity so well. Excerpt from Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 8: Traitor : By far, the absolute worst part of Uncle Sol’s plan was that Phoebe had to cut her hair. Of the four agents, Phoebe and Mr. Coulton-Jones would be the least likely to be recognized when they entered the Ramparts building—Mr. Coulton-Jones, because of his skill in altering his facial features and his posture, and Phoebe, because she could play a convincing young man, which no one would expect. A disreputable hat would hide her long hair to an extent, but it would not fool anyone who looked closely. Also, because she would lo...

Free Christian Romantic Suspense Novels by Camy Tang / Camille Elliot

Curious about what my writing is like? Here’s a list of all my free books and the free short stories, novellas, and novels that you can read here on my blog. I’ll update this post as I add more free reads. Christian Romantic Suspense: Necessary Proof (Sonoma series #4.1, novella) Click here to buy the FREE ebook on all retailers Alex Villa became a Christian in prison, and because of his efforts to help stop a gang producing meth in Sonoma, he has been set up for the death of a cop. Can computer expert Jane Lawton find the evidence that will prove his innocence before the gang eliminates them both? Fantasy short stories: Pixies in a Garden in Kyoto There were pixies in the garden. Since she was in Kyoto, she was certain they were not called pixies, but she didn't know what they would be called in Japanese, and they certainly looked like what she imagined pixies would look like. The King’s Daughter The trees in the King's garden were full of colored pixie lights. The...

Meet the Dashing Spy on the Cover of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 3

If you enjoy clean historical suspense with slow-burn romance and a touch of danger, you’ll love my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series! It’s a multi-volume Christian Regency serial following a group of unlikely aristocrats battling a dangerous conspiracy in 1811 London. Today, I wanted to give you a behind-the-scenes look at one of my favorite covers in the series— Volume 3: Aggressor. Who is that handsome gentleman? The model on the cover represents Mr. Michael Coulton-Jones, one of my main characters. This clever spy with a tortured past finally gets the cover spotlight in this volume, which is one of my favorite covers because the model is so handsome. 😄 I absolutely love this cover model! His name is Anatolii and here’s the original stock photo . It was really tough to try to decide which photo to use for the cover! It was a tossup between him and the main heroine, Miss Phoebe Sauber, for the cover for book 1, but I eventually went with Phoebe. Then in book 2, he was kind of...

Search This Blog