On Tuesday night, the moment I had been praying never would come again, finally made it's way back into my life. What I'm referring to is that dreadful process all of us women have to go through once a month by nature, without any regard to what's going on in our lives at the time or whether we are okay with it or not. Obviously, I knew the day would come when it would finally start up again but, in all honestly I had become so accustomed to not having it that I almost repressed it from my memory! I was so happy to not have that in my life for such a long time, I did not even want to remember what the feeling was like.
I can recall speaking to my girlfriends about it and they would say to me, "Wow, that's a very long time. Are you sure that's normal?" In the back of my mind I would be a little concerned but, the larger part of me didn't care to even find out because it felt so good to just not have to deal with that part of being a woman. The thought of it finally creeping up on me, crossed my mind recently although, I tried pushing the thought aside. I knew it would come around soon since I have just begun weaning my daughter off the breastmilk for much of the day. (She only breastfeeds in the night now. Look out for an upcoming post on my weaning process.)
I must say this has been one of the many great benefits of breastfeeding. If I could continue to breastfeed just so, I would never have to go through a cycle ever again, I would, and by all means! Realistically though, I know the importance of the cycle in a woman's body. Hence, I know at this age in my life, not having a cycle would be abnormal. It doesn't hurt to dream though, does it?! (lol) In a perfect world, the duty of being a woman on this planet would come with less burdens:not having a monthly cycle would be the norm.
Now, all you soon to be moms who are jumping at the idea of breastfeeding for this all so good reason, don't get your hopes too high just yet. You must remember that no two persons are alike and every woman's body and needs are completely different. I've heard of women who also exclusively breastfeed their babies and still begin a normal cycle a couple months after childbirth. Another advisory side note is that, this is in no way a form of birth control from what I have researched. Obviously, I am not a professional nor do I know anything about getting pregnant without having a monthly cycle however, I wouldn't rely on it as a form of prevention.
It's amazing how your body can easily remember an experience once you are going through it again no matter how long it was since your last. Once my cycle came back, I nervously waited for the symptoms to begin not really knowing how bad it was going to be. However, once the symptoms began, it was like I had never forgotten them at all, it all felt so familiar again. (Not that the familiarity brought me any comfort or made the symptoms any better.) I'm not too happy about being back to my 100% womanhood but, I am grateful for the blessing of having nearly 22 months of a break!
...Sew This is Life!