A revoltingly frank post about a disgusting topic ...

... so any males reading might want to skip this entry.

I just had my first period since the baby was born. Which means it's been something over two years since I last endured this. I'd forgotten how bad it was.

Not the cramps and backache so much. No, I forgot that I needed to sleep on a towel to avoid waking up in the morning with blood everywhere. I forgot about the best way to arrange the towel to minimize waking up every time I turn over. Not to mention such delightful things as the faint odor that you can never quite get rid of, no matter how clean you are. Dripping pads. Wearing your oldest and most tattered underclothes because of the inevitable stains. Not being able to go more than an hour between restroom visits.

Naturally, it was one of the heaviest periods I've ever had. And I spent the week in a simmering rage that took way too much of my energy to keep under control.

My 80 year old grandmother once said to me that she didn't know why the Creator didn't just make us women with a flap we could unbutton once a month and let everything out all at once instead of suffering through a week of misery. (Yeah, my grandma was quite a character.)

Two years wasn't long enough.