Yesterday morning I woke up with some major bloat and I couldn’t stop peeing (twice before leaving the house, twice while on the road, and at least six times while at the office, then another two times on the way back home, argh!). On the bright side, my new size 16 pants were super snug all of a sudden, which enhanced both my hips and ass. By midday I was suddenly very irritable, and by last night I was ready to incinerate everyone and everything in sight (to Dan, my mom, all four cats, and a few random drivers: I’m sorry!). In summary, a week’s worth of PMS crammed itself into a 24 hour period. Speaking of periods, mine arrived this afternoon. I seriously don’t know what to expect with my menstrual cycles. Things are seriously out of whack and unpredictable. I’m keeping my multi-vitamins, calcium supplements and protein intake up and consistent, but the continued weight loss and subsequent release of hormones into my body is keeping my cycles going every which way.
Oh, and I’m taking the kids to the pool today (Saturday) for the first time this season. We held off on going on Friday because it was cloudy and the temperature didn’t get above 70°. So here I am, dealing with major cramps and pain and bleeding like a stuck pig, and I’m going to be going to the pool. Fabulous. Bring on the supersized tampons! But that has me seriously cringing, as I’m sure you girls with significant period pain can certainly relate to… I don’t want to even sit down, let alone shove a wad of dry cotton into the super-sensitive girly bits…
Speaking of pain, I’m currently taking the edge off of it with crushed Midol Complete tablets. But because Midol contains NSAIDs, it’s essentially a no-no for me, so this is just a temporary solution that I really can’t continue with. I do have some liquid Vicodin left from my surgery, but there’s only a few doses left. It certainly gets the job done, but what happens when I run out? Tylenol just ain’t cutting it, and while heating pads are certainly nice, they don’t do much either. I’m thinking of contacting my doctor and asking if he would be willing to prescribe me a lower dose of Vicodin or something similar that I could use for period pain. The pain is bad enough that I just want to lay around and cry, and I’m not exaggeration. It’s really debilitating. 
He’s pretty cool about the whole surgery and trusting my judgment on things, so I’m hoping he’ll say yes, or come up with something else that will do the job without putting me at risk for stomach pouch irritation or bleeds.
I know I’m up late tonight, but after my long day yesterday (two hour drive each way + eight hours at the office + a quick stop for food and swim gear for the kidlets on the way home = me rolling in not long before midnight on Thursday night) and a pretty busy afternoon and evening today, I needed the quiet time to just sit and catch up with things. My personal inbox exploded over the last few days, and my work email inbox is filling up since I haven’t taken care of it since Thursday afternoon. I’m also waiting for my nails to dry — had to change from the orange I’ve been wearing for the last few days to a hot pink that’ll match whichever outfit I decide to wear to the wedding on Saturday night.
Speaking of which, the wedding rehearsal and dinner was held at 5:00pm on Friday evening. Dan is one of the groomsman, and silly me, who has never attended a wedding before (for real!), didn’t realize right away that the groomsmen pair up with the bridesmaids. Pfft. I know I’m just being a silly jealous twit, but I couldn’t help but to go rawr (in a bad way) at the sight of some pretty, slim girl on Dan’s arm during the rehearsal. Dagger eyes may or may not have been briefly made. And to think I get to witness it again on Saturday evening! And see them sit together at the wedding reception! I better self-medicate or something, haha. Just kidding. Dan’s youngest brother’s girlfriend is also attending the wedding, and since he’s also in the wedding party (as an usher), she and I will be hanging together (and may or may not make snippy comments and funny remarks like we did tonight, heh), so she’ll keep me in line. ;)
Oh, and speaking of clothes, who would have thought that finding a damn outfit for a wedding would prove to be so damn difficult? But there are several issues at hand, first and foremost being I don’t like to dress up. Hand me jeans and a spiffy top with some chunky shoes or cute flip-flops and I’m good to go. Heels and a skirt? I’d rather wear a burlap sac and go barefoot. So for the past week I’ve been looking online and offline for something dressy-but-not-dressy. I settled on this dress, but had to travel to a Target that is nearly 50 miles away in order to get it in my size (my local Target only carried the dress in larger sizes — score for needing a smaller size!). But… eh… I just don’t like dresses. So I went back to Target tonight and came home with a black skirt that is two sizes too big (I had planned on wearing it with this tank and a cute little black shrug thingy I also found at Target), and a perfectly-fitting yellow dress that is way too sheer (I don’t do slips, and since all of my bras and panties are bright, funky colors or covered in patterns, the dress is definitely a no-go!). But not all hope is lost — I just may still be able to save myself from wearing an actual dress, as Target did have another black skirt, a cute ruffled/tiered one that IS in my size. So in the morning I’m going to get myself and the kidlets dressed in our suits (and a cover-up for me, thank you!) and leave by 10:30am so I can run over to Target, return the too-big skirt and too-sheer dress, and pick up the tiered skirt in two sizes (I don’t feel like dragging the kids into a fitting room and trying on clothes; I’ll just return whatever one is too big/too small later this coming week), and then run over to the pool in time for it to open.
Whew. Sorry for the marathon blog entry… but it does a good job at representing the marathon my life has been lately!
TL;DR summary: I am bleeding and in pain; I’m taking Alyssa and Ryan to the pool on Saturday; skinny girls touching my husband suck; clothes shopping when you’ve lost major amounts of weight and are more self conscious than ever is a frustrating exercise in futility; I hate dressing up but will hopefully make do with a cute, flirty tank top, a ruffly black skirt that hopefully isn’t too short, a black shrug, and platform flip-flops.
Hi Jenn!
I’ve been stalking your blog for awhile and I know this is probably TMI for a first comment but – I hate tampons. And pads? Ugh. Plus, not so great for swimming. I use Instead Softcups (and this next part is COMPLETELY TMI holy cow): Not only can you wear them for hours beyond the length of time you can wear a tampon, but you can wear them during sex. Took a bit of getting used to the first two or three times I tried to use one, but now I wouldn’t go back.
So uh, yeah. Hi. Total stranger, and now you know my Feminine Hygiene fanciness. WOO!
I am lucky enough to not experience cramping when I’m PMSing but I do occasionally suffer through really bad back pain which pretty much makes me want to cry. When I was younger I had really bad cramps which apparently have decided that I was tortured enough as a teen so they no longer bother me. I hope you feel better for the wedding and perhaps since you can’t have Midol, you might be able to take Motron? That was my holy grail growing up but then again it 800mgs which is perscription only so that was another matter entirely!
I would probably contact the doctor about what to do about the pain, especially since you can’t take much. That sucks
I hope you feel better! I know it sucks, especially when there’s nothing you can do about it. Maybe get some of those heating pads? Those are always my favorite.
Sorry that Dan has to partner up with that girl. That always makes me uncomfortable and I hope that my boyfriend doesn’t have to do that. I would probably sit there all jealous as well.
I like the dress choices that you have. Makes me want to go to Target and go dress shopping!
Someone had mentioned Instead Softcups, which in theory are great, but in practice were a little difficult for me to insert and keep inserted effectively. I have a big problem with disposable pads and tampons–pads make me break out in rashes and tampons give me horrendous infections and the thought of disposables in general freak me out since they are made from synthetic fibers and you can see how damaging they can be to your girly bits just by putting a tampon inside a glass of water. It’s pretty gross. You should definitely check out Lunapads and Gladrags if you’re looking for pads, which are great when you are in a ton of menstrual pain and Lunapads also sells the DivaCup which is a great tampon alternative that’s comfortable and easy to work.
I hope everything works out for you and you get better Jenn. I wish I can say I understand how big of the pain it is for you but I can’t.
All I can do is wish you all the best and wish you fast recovery.