Babylune

Seven Weird and Random Things About The Female Reproductive System

by kate baggott on November 14th, 2007

Tracee memed me. I am supposed to tell you seven weird and random things about myself. That said, I am trying more and more to keep the focus of this blog on postpartum recovery and reproductive health. But, the female body is a strange and wonderful thing. So, some of the things that are weird and random about me, are also weird and random about you. Unless you are man reading this with a sense of weird and random curiosity.

1. Just because your menstrual cycle hasn’t changed, doesn’t mean that your ovulatory cycle hasn’t changed. Some women can set the clock by their blood cycles. The longer you have been on the pill, the more likely your cycle is to stay the same even when you come off of it. That doesn’t mean, though, that you ovulate like clockwork. Most of us have heard that ovulation occurs around 14 days after the onset of menstrual bleeding, but your ovaries can actually give up an ovum any time during the month….even during your period.

Now, I am not trying to create fear in the hearts of rhythm method practitioners everywhere. You can learn how to recognize the onset of ovulation. Lots of women track their temperatures, look for mucous the consistency of an egg white and pee on ovulation predictor sticks to track ovulation. You can also, at the same time every morning, train yourself to recognize the signs. For several months, sit quietly by yourself for a few minutes in the morning, and write down a few words about how you are feeling. Warm? Happy? Cooler? Crabby? I think you will notice that when you feel warmer and happiest, you will also feel a mild softening feeling down below. If you find yourself feeling a little sexier than normal, then you’re probably fertile. Some women report that they can even feel the precise moment of ovulation.

2. If you are having trouble conceiving, try eating more sweet potatoes. Yams are nature’s fertility drugs. In cultures where people eat yams or sweet potatoes as their staple food, the incidence of twins is twice as high as it is in societies where the staple is wheat or rice. Native North American women used to chew wild yam roots to ward off miscarriage. Pharmaceutical progesterone capsules, used as fertility drugs, are actually created using synthesized yams.

3. During an unmedicated birth, first time mothers may discover that every word they have read about “manageable pain” and natural pain management techniques is complete and utter nonsense. It can help to scream this out loud when the next unbelievable contraction comes.

4. Regarding point three, it might not seem as bad the second time. Then again, it might seem even worse because you let yourself get sucked in again. Note point number one and the effects of ovulation on feelings of warmth, happiness and general horniness.

5. Your baby girl may have heavy vaginal discharge and even a little blood shortly after birth as the influence of your hormones starts to clear from her. You should not try to clean out her vulva. The discharge is a sign that it is cleaning itself and protecting your baby from infection.

6. While the proglastins myth is alive and well, if sex gets a stalled labor moving it’s not due to male hormones in sperm. It’s probably more due to the muscular contractions of female orgasm. So, if you’re going to do it at 40 weeks, female pleasure has to come first.

7. Many women have difficulty with sex for up to two years after giving birth. It often isn’t clear if the problem is lack of arousal or exhaustion. A less common problem, but one that should be ruled out where there is physical discomfort, is that some women are cut or torn during birth and are stitched back together too tightly. Scar tissue then forms leading to pain during intercourse. Further surgery is necessary to correct the problem.

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POSTED IN: Emotional Wellbeing, Fertility/ Infertility, Women's health, labor/ labour/birth