Utera Maxima

my dear friend at VulvaLoveLovely has brightened the world with her new uterus plush, Utera Maxima. these oversized ovaries span a whopping 69 inches--this uterus means business! right now i am fantasizing about both cuddling up to this cushie monster, and using it as a punching bag during that crampy week of the month. well done, Vulva! way to celebrate your lady parts!

coming soon: pendants!

make space in your jewelry box! my new line of handmade pendants feature vintage illustrations of lady parts (and boy parts too) that you won't want to miss out on. each pendant is 100% unique, one of a kind, and unlike anything you've seen anywhere. the newest way to celebrate your lady parts! they should be available by mid-May at the latest. stay tuned...

a commercial for home birth??

no, in fact, it's actually a commercial for mattresses! a commercial that happens to use real, actual footage of a family's home birth to depict how wonderful their mattresses are!

made in spain, the commercial is from a region and a culture where home birth is not seen in anywhere near the same light as here in the u.s. many parts of europe boast high rates of midwife-attended home birth that put the u.s. to shame.

really, i'm jealous. i wish the commercials that interrupted my weekly dose of grey's anatomy (yes, i admit it. i'm a junkie.) were this beautiful and serene. and i wish my culture accepted home birth enough to use it to sell mattresses.

placentophagy

setting the scene: i spent some time last night in a friend's closet, cuddling her kitty who just became a mama. she had 4 kittens latched onto her, blissing out on the hormone rush that comes along with nursing new babies. their eyes still closed from birth, feeling around with their tiny paws, they wiggled and writhed.

getting to the point: i'm describing this scene at the risk of sounding like a 12 year old girl who likes kittens and puppies and flowers and jumprope. what makes that risk worthwhile, is what i noticed on the kittens' tummies: their umbilical cords still attached, drying up and getting ready to fall off. noticing their umbilical stumps set off a chain of realizations...
1) umbilical cords are connected at one end to the kitten, and at the other end to the placenta.
2) placentas are born after the kittens/babies/whatever.
3) most mammals eat the placentas of their young after birth. this is called placentophagy.
4) human cultures throughout time have been observed doing the same, and many folks still do.



placentophagy: the more natural-birth-leaning subculture in north america is getting pretty big on the practice of placentophagy, either with the mom eating a part of the placenta after birth, or having it encapsulated and using it as a supplement for weeks or months after the birth. it's generally believed (no, i don't know of any scientific studies) that the hormone rich tissue of the placenta can help to ward off postpartum depression and help the new mom feel more balanced and more quickly recovered. many women save whatever placenta pills they hasve left over and use them as a supplement to bring hormonal balance during menopause, later in life. as a doula, i've encapsulated several clients placentas, and all the mamas have raved about having access to their placentas and their benefits.

watching these kittens and realizing that their mama probably stiill had a tummy full of fresh placenta was really neat. whatever you think of the idea of placentophagy, and whether you would do it personally or not, it's a reminder to us all that we, at a base level, are animals too. imagine our earliest ancestors, chillin' in a cave somewhere, giving birth and then having this fantastic protein packed snack afterwards. yummmmmm.

fertility charting sets

i've been using fertility charts since 2005 to chart my cycle, sometimes to avoid pregnancy, sometimes to achieve it, and sometimes to just keep track of my moon.  it's been a fantastic experience for me and my body--yes, my body has enjoyed the extra attention.  i'd never seen my cervix or paid attention to my mucus before, and now the three of us are best buds : )

which brings me to my point.  that's right folks, the fertility charting sets in my etsy shop have been re-designed!  you can now purchase a medical grade speculum, a digital basal thermometer, and 12 months of fertility charts for a teeny weeny $25!  or get the "deluxe" set for $35, which includes a copy of Natural Family Planning by Kippley--the ultimate guide to fertility charting.

don't mean to brag here (or shamelessly promote my wares...) but seriously, this set would cost mucho more dinero if you were to buy the items yourself.

surgical steel speculum $17

digital basal thermometer $9

12 months of fertility charts $9

The Art of Natural Family Planning $19.95

over the top mucho dinero price >>> $54.95

nuf said.