Friday, March 11

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

Nicer weather today. This has really been a winter of big swings up and down.

We went to the city, thinking that today my sweetie was getting a vasectomy (TMI?), but it turns out this appointment is just the one where the doctor sets him down and talks to him about the procedure, tells him it is not easily reversed, and does he really want it. Could that not have been done over the phone, or by Zoom or something?

We were both braced for this to be the actual procedure, and now he might not get a date for the procedure until some time in May. Wow.

I had wanted him to get one a LONG TIME ago, but...men. It literally took me telling him that my doctor didn't want me on the pill at all any more, and I was really pushing my luck with it. I needed to be off of it, to find out if I even HAVE periods anymore, but I DO NOT want to be trying to figure that out without him also having a vasectomy. I know the chances would be small, but the last thing I want is just one pregnancy scare after another because if I have periods at all, they won't be regular. I can't call myself finished with periods until a full year without any period at all is completed. Yes, we could just use something else, but a vasectomy is a lot more of a sure thing.

I did get to a fabric store to look for heavy ripstop nylon to fix horse blankets, and I found some. I also got some nice material that I would like to make into something some day. Not that I don't already have lots of that kicking around, but you know how it is.

We went to see River, and that was nice. He did well today, and was focused. I'm not doing any long-lining on my own just yet, still the usual ground work and Liberty and some riding. We briefly saw other people as we were finishing up.

We came home and watched "Midnight Special", which was good in many ways, but still hit that trope of "magical child with unexplained powers" that didn't really go anywhere. Good elements within it, though. Good acting. Good effects for an indie movie.

Today I learned that some urban birds are using cigarette butts to keep parasites out of their nests. I didn't know that birds often use plants with pesticide properties in their nests, but the native tobacco plant would have nicotine, which is an insecticide, so it makes sense that the birds would start using cigarette butts.

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2012.11952

Comments

[lantairvlea]

Men can be pretty weird about vasectomies, but it seems women don't have similar hang-ups about getting their tubes tied or other procedures despite being more invasive. Hopefully they can get him in sooner than May!

[gottawonder]

That's the thing. I don't want to get my tubes tied, never mind that it would be nearly impossible right now with the backlog for surgery from Covid. I have just had to take the frickin' pill for way too long.

[lantairvlea]

I was on it off (for pregnancies) and on for 14 years, so probably 12 if you knock off three hears for the three pregnancies. So glad I don't have to worry about it anymore and grateful Chris went under the knife instead of me as I wasn't looking forward to abdominal surgery, even if it is endoscopic.

[gottawonder]

That's the thing, is the worry. My husband has not had to remember it every day for years, and then dealing with it if you miss a day, and have to take two, then you hope there aren't any side effects from that, and so on. Like most women, I've taken care of our birth control for our entire marriage. That means dealing with all the doctors who hold your pill prescription hostage until you get your pap test done every year (mine all did that), going to buy the pill all the time; just all the mental work of keeping track, and the physical risk as well. Who knows if some of the mood swings and bouts of depression were made worse by being on the pill.

I want to just be done with the pill, and NOT have to get an IUD or anything else. Just done!

[lantairvlea]

That's terrible your doctors would hold thr perscription hostage for a pap smear! Especially now that they habe determined that every third year (or so?) is fine for low risk women.

I hear you! Hopefully soon and at least May is a light at the end of the tunnel, right?

[gottawonder]

Only in the last few years has my doctor gone with having one test every couple of years. Through my lifetime of being on the pill, doctors typically wanted me to have a full pap smear and bloodwork, every year before they would give me my next year's prescription.

[lantairvlea]

That's awful, here's to hoping you can say goodbye to the pill in just a couple months if not sooner!

[arrctic]

I've had Paragard IUD for the past about 15 years (after getting fed up with the pill and having a then husband who insisted on not wearing condoms and that the pull-out method was just fine...), and feel like it may be one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. If you've never tried one, you might look into it. Some people have real problems with them, but I never had. Insertion and removal were both painless, and I never noticed any differences in periods or sex.

[gottawonder]

I considered an IUD, but at this time of my life, I am very close to not needing any birth control at all. I should be close to complete menopause, which does make me consider whether my husband HAS to have a vasectomy, but I want to go through my last stage of having periods knowing for certain that I am not going to get pregnant, because my periods will be irregular. I don't want endless pregnancy scares.

I'm glad the IUD worked so well for you. I have a lot of concerns around it, maybe those were unfounded.

[sherlockishere]

I'm so glad to find you here!