Experiential birth control

Although lately I find myself more interested in the thought of having children, it's videos like this that cause me to menstruate instantly:

Good lord.
h/t to STFU Parents

Baby Not On The Way blog

I'm interested in how women interpret their periods differently. It can be an annoyance, a relief, a surprise, and it can also be a disappointment.

One of my friends has kept a blog over the past year or so about coping with infertility. I just met her a few months ago, so learning about the ups and downs she's had with trying to conceive as well as trying to adopt has been really eye-opening for me. While reading, there was one post in particular that stood out, titled The Monthly Reminder of My Failure:

I think any woman who has dealt with, or is dealing with, infertility can agree that the day your period comes is one of the hardest days of the month.  Not because of the bloating, the cramps, or the crabbiness; but because of what it symbolizes--another month gone by without the prospect of a baby.  For me, it also serves as a reminder of my failure.  And, while I know that my ability to get pregnant isn't in my control, I still feel as though I have somehow failed.  

Even now, when we are no longer receiving infertility treatments, and we are moving towards adoption, I still feel a bit crushed when my "monthly visitor" arrives.  It's like somehow there's a part of me that's still holding out hope--believing that maybe my body will decide to begin working properly and "Aunt Flo" won't come for a visit again.  Logically, I know how unrealistic this is--I know you can't get pregnant when you don't ovulate--but still, once a month, I am crushed.

I had never ever even thought of this before. Actually, Megan's blog has made me think more carefully about a lot of topics about babies. In another post, she lists some of the best and worst things you can say to a couple who is dealing with infertility. She also writes about the anxiety she's felt surrounding other people's baby showers.

What I personally am reminded of through reading Baby Not On The Way is 1.not to jump to conclusions about others, and 2.there are always new things to learn.

Life Clock and Menstruation Clock

Check out this art from Brigitte Coremans. She's got two different things going on here.

The first, Menstruation Clock, records a woman's daily temperature and records it on a seismograph-like chart each day. The result is a pretty neato fertility chart.

The second, Life Clock, is a series of beads. Each bead represents another egg that could be potentially fertilized. Each month, a bead moves from one side to the other. There are 500 "eggs" in this project--the colors change as the series progresses to show the gradual change from young to old, in a way.

Says Coremans:

"During the embryonic development of a feminine fetus, the egg cells are formed. In the twentieth pregnancy week there are approximately seven million eggs. During the further development in the uterus, a robust number goes lost, through which by the time of birth 'only' one million eggs remain. At the moment a women starts menstruation there are 400.000 left. Each menstruation cycle around 400 eggs die and only one (or two in case of a twin) will be released and can be fertilized. This process will repeat itself for an average of 40 years. "