Well, this is an update on my condition after stopping the birth control pills. I was actually expecting my period to be erratic during the first few months after stopping the pills, but turned out that my period came pretty much on time and it was LIGHT, too (no stomach cramps whatsoever). YIIIIIIIHAAAAAA!!!!
I used to have SUCH heavy periods during my teenage years that I kept on producing a huge blood spot at the back of my skirt (we wore uniforms at school). I hated that so much since it was embarrassing. Plus back then I think the sanitary pads weren't too highly absorbent and they weren't winged. I LOVE winged sanitary pads!!! They're really amazing he he he he...plus these days they are really MUCH thinner than what they used to be.
Funny thing was that I began to feel PMS more than when I was still taking the birth control pills. Or maybe another cause is that I've been busier these days and when I get tired, it's easy for me to be cranky. I'm SO grateful that my hubby isn't someone who's easily angered or upset. However, I promise myself that I'd do anything within my power to control myself when PMS hits me he he he...
I must say, though, that I don't really like making love with condoms, but what more can I say? I don't want to be pregnant yet since I want to go to Indonesia first after my course is finished, so I just have to bear it until then and I'm looking forward to the days without condoms. ;-D
One thing about PMS...I'd LOVE it if men can undergo just one day when PMS hits a woman so badly...maybe then they'll understand better what's going on he he he he...because honestly speaking, it's really indescribable sometimes. Funny thing is that I had been PMS free during my pill days. Weird, isn't it? Strange but true he he he...
Anyway, I SALUTE men who put up with women during their PMS days and don't make silly jokes about it and don't say anything negative about it. :-D
So, finally hubby's decided that I should stop taking birth control pills. Well, he didn't say anything much. He decided it by ordering some condoms ha ha ha ha ha...I still have enough pills until the end of this month, so I'm gonna keep taking them until I have none left and then we'll see how it goes.
It's gonna be interesting to see how my body reverts back to its natural cycle. I started taking birth control pills about a month before my wedding day. The reasons?
1. I wanted my face to be acne free on my wedding day. After all, it only happens once in my lifetime HE HE HE HE HE...I'd had problems with acne during my university years and it cost my parents A LOT of money to help me out with the problem. Of course after I graduated from the university, the acne only came out near my menstruation week. And yes, my regular menstruation period was 7 days.
2. I didn't want to have my period on my wedding day or honeymoon. Since I took the pills, I could "arrange" the time when I had my period. After all, my period didn't happen every 21 days, but sometimes it took 28 days, sometimes 31 days or even longer than that, so I couldn't really predict it if I didn't take the pills.
Well, so far I've only enjoyed the "benefits" of taking the pills. My blood count during my period has been much lighter (and my period only lasted for 4 days instead of 7), plus I don't feel any stomach cramps and I didn't feel too bloated up, either. Plus I don't get any acne problems, too, and it's really practical when I want to arrange the schedule to spend a night at the cabin or something so that it doesn't coincides with my period. However, I know that it's not good to take pills for too long as it ruins my body's natural cycle, so I'm gonna have to let go of all these "benefits" he he he he...
Hmmm...it seems that this post is really a feminine post ha ha ha ha ha...I beg your pardon for my male visitors he he he he...Anyway, I'm really curious about what will happen once I stop taking the pills. I'll write an update about this later on he he he...
We're still going to try having a baby only at the end of the year (or near the end of the year), though. I just thought that it'd be good to have a longer pill-free period before we actually try having a baby (as per MC's advice). And then a month before we try having a baby, I read in one website that it's better for me to start taking folic acid supplements.
I found out in a site that if a woman takes an oral contraceptive pill, then she should wait 3 months before trying to have a baby. So it's all good that I'm gonna stop taking the pills soon he he he he...
I also read that it takes an average of 4 to 5 months to get pregnant, but 85% of couples need a year to get pregnant. We'll see how we're doing later on. I'll surely be telling you ALL about it...well, you know me, I thrive on writing in details HA HA HA HA HA HA...Anyway, if you wanna read the article, go here: Trying to Conceive After Birth Control. Btw, this is NOT a sponsored post he he he he...
I also found out that taking too much of a certain vitamin A could cause birth defect, so pregnant women should avoid eating liver, liver products, and cod liver oil. However, it's OK if you take too much folic acid since your body will get rid of it anyway as it's water-soluble. Here's the info about that: How much folic acid should I take while trying to get pregnant?
Interestingly enough, a site says that you only need to take folic acid when you start trying to have a baby until the fetus is in its 12th week, because then the baby's spine will be developed already. Here's the link: Folic Acid.
Gee...do I sound obsessed about this? Well, not really actually. It's just that I'm curious and I thought that while I have time, I'd just browse about this topic. :-D By the way, can anyone suggest to me good parenting and child care books? I figure that while I still have time, I can prepare myself by reading them he he he he he...Or do you think it's not necessary?
The other week I wrote an email to my brother, asking him if he wanted me to send him some Finnish condoms, since I thought maybe he'd be interested in trying some. He didn't reply, but this morning he sent me an SMS, asking me to send some.
One of my closest friends, who's currently living in Germany, is going home next March, so I'm going to send her some stuff I've compiled for my family (I'm also going to burn them some picture and video clip CDs) plus the condoms. I don't trust Indonesian postal service, so it's MUCH better for me to ask my friend to bring it to Indo. BLESS HER!!! I don't know what to do without friends like her he he he he...
Plus she's going to bring some stuff from Indo and send them to me. Mom's going to buy me some warm balm and instant mixes (spices) so that I can recreate the kinds of food I usually eat in Indo he he he...
My brother jokingly said that he may try to sell some of the condoms in Indo HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...I remember a friend of mine who got married years back telling me that Indonesian condoms weren't good. She went to Singapore once and bought some condoms there and said that they were different. Gee...I don't know about that since I've never tried any Indonesian condoms.
Another friend of mine is allergic to Indonesian condoms, so they have stopped using it as a form of birth control. I myself have told Arttu that after we've had enough children, I'd love him to undergo vasectomy and he's agreed to do it. After all, I think it's the perfect form of birth control after we decide that we won't have enough kids. That way we don't need to use any condoms or I don't have to take any birth control pills or use any type of birth control that messes up my hormones he he he he he...
I think I'm gonna order some ribbed condoms for my brother...let's see if he and his wife like them or not HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...
P.S. One of my friends whose parents are both doctors told me that her parents used to give simple lectures on birth control in villages and the villagers would bring along their young kids with them. The government sometimes gives out free condoms through doctors like her parents, and she said that back then (in the 80's) lots of young kids used the condoms as...BALLOONS!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...Yeah, they played with them while their parents were listening to the doctors' lecture hi hi hi hi hi...Ahem...
The other day when I talked to my Mom via Skype, she told me some funny/weird stories he he he he...
First of all, in Bandung, my hometown, there's a new policy for newlyweds who are going to sign their marriage certificate in the registrar office. As I said before, in Indonesia newlyweds MUST obtain a marriage certificate first from their own religious offices (with the stamp of their church or Mosque or temple) before they can sign their official marriage certificate in the registrar office. Without the official marriage certificate, your kids can experience trouble in the future (I'm not sure what kind of trouble there can be but I've heard some vague stories about this).
Nowadays since the President has commenced the planting of 1 million trees all over Indonesia, the registrar office has told the newlyweds to bring TWO types of trees there before they can sign their marriage certificate. They have to bring an orchid and a mahogany. Isn't that funny?
Thankfully my bro's wife's Dad was the one looking for those trees, so my parents didn't have to worry about all that. Bless him!!!
Anyway, I told one of my friends about this and she started being fiery right away. She was afraid that it was all some kind of collusion. She was afraid that the registrar office would get the trees BACK to the places that sold the trees so that the owners of those places could split the profit with the people in the registrar office. This kind of thing happens A LOT in Indonesia, by the way!!! I wouldn't wonder IF they did such a thing, but I don't want to think about it 'coz I don't wanna fume inside he he he...
The second funny story was the angpao (envelope with money inside) given by my bro's wife's colleague. Her colleague had gotten married already years back and he gave her four types of condoms in the envelope, though he also inserted money inside HA HA HA HA HA HA...
My Mom was laughing while telling the story. Crazy colleagues!!!! Some people just LOVE teasing the newlyweds so much (remember that free sex is frowned upon in Indonesia, even though some teenagers have done it already discreetly).
After my bro and wife got back to work, the naughty colleague asked her, "So, have you tried them? Which one do you like best?"
My bro's wife was smart enough to reply with another question, "Which one do YOU like best?"
However, the guy was also smart enough to answer like this, "The BEST kind is WITHOUT using it!" HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...
Today we're going to go to a supermarket to buy some grocery for my mother-in-law. We'll drop by there and then take one gift to bring to her elder sister who had her birthday yesterday. Only tomorrow morning we'll spend a night at my in-laws, so don't expect any post from me until Wednesday afternoon he he he he he he...
Speaking of my mother-in-law, she went to the doctor again since her ankle felt painful again. The doctor opened it up and checked it and put it on cast again and told her to drink medicine for 3 weeks and after that they'd take another X-ray of her ankle. Then I sent her an SMS (it was easier for me to communicate with her that way since I could write SMS with the help of the dictionary and I could read her reply with the help of the dictionary again), telling her that if she needed help to cook before X-mas Eve, we could go there earlier. Apparently she had already cooked everything, so she just said that she needed help serving the food and cleaning everything up on X-mas Eve.
Gee...she's really one tough woman!!! I mean, she probably shouldn't have walked too much, right? Oh well...I did ask her not to walk too much ha ha ha ha ha...
Okie dokie....now it's time for me to have lunch before we go. I'm going to post the pictures of my plum-marmalade pastry later after Christmas, OK?
Take care, everybody, and have a BLESSED Christmas to all of you who celebrate it and have a WONDERFUL holiday to the rest who don't celebrate it!!!! Don't falllll to those who experience snow (icy snow) and God bless you all...
