Greetings my little frostlings, welcome to Blogmas Day Four!
Today I am here to bring to you a little day-in-the-life with a festive theme. In true TMI spirit, because this time of year is for sharing, this post is about being on your period during Christmastime.
If you are a menstruating person, chances are at some point during December you will get your period. This is a time of year when emotions are heightened, you may already feel stressed and overworked and skint, and you may think this is the last thing you need. Have no fear though, for there are ways of making it slightly less…y’know, inconvenient. This notion does seem to clash with my general mantra of being positive and open about periods, and I still feel that they should be talked about and not hushhushed or stigmatized. They are however, a bodily function that generally involves controlling a heavy blood flow and battling with rushes of hormones, and it can be pretty jarring from time to time. My post today is therefore a little compilation of how I’m coping with my festive gift from Mother Nature. (God those Mother Nature adverts were awful weren’t they?)
So to get things going in classic TMI fashion, let’s start with my EQUIPMENT.
The Mooncup was sterilized at the end of last month’s bloody installment but I like to give it another quick clean before the next time, just for my own peace of mind. As I’ve only just started my period things are pretty light, so I’m just going to team it with a super thin liner, which I think was from The Blue Meadow on etsy, and completely blends in with my underwear. I feel 100% protected at all times when I team up a menstrual cup and reusable liner, and even if I misjudge the flow sometimes (it happens), there will always be two layers of protection going on. I’m even wearing WHITE underwear, yes that’s right folks. It’s also nice to know that I don’t need to do the shop for tampons and such, as everything I need is already waiting for me in my drawer. Saving some essential Christmas pennies there! Cha-ching.
Next, clothing! I am going out today, but I also want to be cosy AF with nothing tight or imposing on my WOMB AREA like a high-waisted skirt. So, I have simply chosen this very snuggly long line cream jumper (Primark) and some toasty leggings, with these fluffy festive socks. All with a soft low-impact sports bra underneath. On a pretty chilly day, this is perfection.
Onto pain relief! Right, so even though I am on the pill and the pain I experience has been significantly lessened in the past few years, I still get bouts of pretty harsh cramping and my boobs get so sore sometimes it feels like someone has dropped an anvil on them. I’m trying to avoid using painkillers such as ibuprofen when I’m at home as they make me feel very tired, and more susceptible to wanting to nap all the time. I’m going to turn to my trusty microwave-heaty-uppy thing which was gifted to me from my Dad, and is a malleable lifesaver whenever I have pulled a muscle or am experiencing vicious cramps. I just pop it in the microwave for a minute or so and wrap it around my stomach. It feels fantastic! One new option I’m giving a whirl is this raspberry leaf tea, which supposedly is good for menstrual pains. If it doesn’t make a difference, I’m going to look into magnesium supplements I think.
Skincare! My skin is so bloody cliche and always noticably breaks out when I’m on my period, without fail. So I like to give it a thorough going over, with a light milky scrub (Angels on Bare Skin), a rose-based cleanser that doesn’t make my natural pinkness arise quite so aggressively, a brightening serum, a little sun cream as it’s pretty bright outside today, a Dead Sea Spa moisturiser, and a lovely rich lotion to massage around the boob and decolletage area. Treat yoself!
Onto cravings. Now as it stands in our home, we are very blessed to have quite a few festive treats lying around, and don’t get me wrong I have indulged. However! In an effort to get my wholegrains in as well, I have simply added a tablespoon of peanut butter to my porridge this morning. My boyfriend bought us these gorgeous flavoured ones and they are DIVINE. Gives me that sugar hit and a toasty meal too. I’m already on the tea, and today’s is in the most appropriate mug, which my sister gave me for my birthday…it is from a fantastic company called No More Taboo, and it’s all menstrual cuppy! So cute!
Taking care of the mind and body! Before i head out im going to give myself 15 minutes to dip into Happy by Fearne Cotton, just a few pages to remind myself to be compassionately minded today, instead of letting my hormones dictate. Then a few stretches, mainly leg based as I dont think my abs can take anyhing strenuous today. I feel like something feral is chewing lacklustrely on my insides.
All to the tune of one of my favourite and most gorgeous females of 2017, Elle King.
And now we come to a point where daytime TV is becoming just too alluring, so its time to head out and get on with my day. Does anybody else absolutely FEAST on trashy sex stories like this when they’re on their period? Just me then.
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To conclude this post, I will share my general experience of periods through the medium of Ross Geller. Enjoy.
When you notice you’ve started bleeding and all the bitch-ass moods, sugar cravings and abdominal pains suddenly make sense.
When your friends notice that shit’s going down, but you try to put on a brave face despite your hormones raging away.
When you struggle to get your Mooncup in at the right angle, and the stem keeps poking you so you need to pee 24/7.
When you can’t get the bloody thing to pop open no matter how much you twist it, and you’ve got to leave the house in 5 minutes.
When you show up to work and realise you’ve got to pretend you’re not writhing in pain for 8 hours.
When you get home and nobody understands your emotional needs, not even the weather.
When you decide to treat yourself to a Greggs and someone just bought the last festive bake.
When you run out of chocolate and RED ROSS rears his ugly head because you just can’t cope without sugar at this time.
When you can’t even have sex to ease the cramps because you think your partner finds you bloated and repulsive, even though he blatantly doesn’t and just wants to help.
When he’s a total beacon of support and goes to the shop just to buy you something to help curb your sugar craving and numb the pain.
And when you just decide to get on with it, because it’s going to happen every bloody month for the considerable future, and you remember that you’ve totally got this.
Happy holidays everybody! Don’t let the bleeding get you down! Wear bright red jumpers and dance like a madman to festive tunes! It will help the crampage!
Until the next day of Blogmas!
Rosie
X
OOTD! My partner’s nanna gave me this jumper some Christmas ago and it is a perfectly tacky 1980s throwback, I love it. Paired with this red skirt…I am wearing both corduroy and wool, the festive textilian dream.
I moisturised the fuck out of my face because my Scottish pallor tends to dry, scaly and ruddy as Santa’s cheeks in the Winter months. This solid lip scrub is again from Lush, and I can’t remember the name of it but it smells like blackcurrant sweets. Anybody? And even though I’m only moosing round the house this morning I put on a bit of lipstick. I own literally two, and this one is called Queen of Hearts, so you can guess which colour we’re working with here.
FLAGONS OF INK 