June | 2012 | bepreparedperiod.com

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Period Talk: A Parent’s Guide to Changing the “Ew” to “Phew” and Fun! – Posted by our friends at Maxim Hygiene

“We are so thankful for all the strong supporters of our monthly #PeriodTalk tweet chats with You ARE Loved! It is hard to believe we are already celebrating one year of chats! To help us celebrate our great friends over at Maxim Hygiene wrote this special post.”

The average girl starts her menses between the ages of 12 and 14 and most young girls in America don’t receive sexual or reproductive health education till much later, if at all. And whatever age they do receive it, some consider it to be too late. For example, many young girls who use tampons do not fully understand what Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) is or underestimate the possibility of getting it themselves. To make informed decisions, girls must be educated. Read the rest of their post…

Posted by The Be Prepared Period Team

Thursday, June 28th, 2012

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First Annual Online Menstrual Party – Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

First Annual Online Menstrual Party
In celebration of one year of monthly online educational chats, Be Prepared Period and You ARE Loved are proud to announce the First Annual Online Menstrual Party will be held on Friday, July 13 from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET. This public event can be accessed via Twitter using the hashtag #PeriodTalk.

Marysville, WA June 25, 2012
With the goal of doing more AND better menstrual education, Be Prepared Period and You ARE Loved joined together to launch a monthly menstrual education event in July 2011. These monthly gatherings, known to many as #PeriodTalk, have grown from a few to fifty or more participants discussing the month’s topic. Past topics include Periodic Stories: Ours and Yours, Exploring the Many Feminine Hygiene Options, and Puberty and Periods: Guiding Tween and Teen Girls.

While every #PeriodTalk is unique, each features considerable interaction between the hosts, special guests, and participants. The partnering organizations co-host and moderate the event, develop the topic, secure special guests, and offer relevant product giveaways. Special guests serve as subject matter experts; prior special guests include educators, small business owners of companies that offer innovative and empowering menstrual products, and representatives from companies that provide eco-friendly feminine hygiene products. Participants are encouraged to join in the conversation, and welcomed to ask questions. At the conclusion of the event, winners are randomly selected and announced for that session’s giveaways.

In celebration of a successful first year, the July 13, 2012, edition of #PeriodTalk will be a menstrual party unlike any other. Additional information, including links to register for multiple product giveaways, is available on the Tweet Chat pages of the Be Prepared Period and You ARE Loved websites.

About Be Prepared Period
Be Prepared Period is a woman owned business committed to ending the menstrual taboo, empowering all who menstruate, and providing quality feminine hygiene products at reasonable prices.
Contact: Tara Bruley (Tara@BePreparedPeriod), Founder & Owner

www.BePreparedPeriod.com

About You ARE Loved
You ARE Loved is a nonprofit committed to raising awareness about tampon related Toxic Shock Syndrome and providing factual information about menstruation.
Contact: Suzan Hutchinson (Suzan@You-ARE-Loved.org), TSS Survivor & Director of Connectivity

www.You-ARE-Loved.org

Posted by The Be Prepared Period Team

Monday, June 25th, 2012

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GladRag’s Cloth Pad Sampler Kit Giveaway

We are ready to party!!!

To celebrate one year of #PeriodTalk tweet chats we will be hosting our First Annual Menstrual Party (July 13th) with our wonderful co-host, You ARE Loved.

This month’s chat will include conversation, questions, polls and lots of interaction on a variety of menstrual products. And because no party is complete without prizes, there will be plenty of those too! Thanks to our wonderful friends at GladRags we are excited to announce that we will be giving away a Cloth Pad Sampler Kit (retail value $88.99) to one very lucky participant.

GladRags The Kit includes:

- 3 Day Pads

- 3 Pantyliners

- 1 Night Pad

- Classic Carry Bag

- 1 Mesh Laundry Bag

GladRags was inspired by the simple utility, earth-friendliness, and comfort of cloth diapers in 1992. Today, GladRags is still a small company but with a big presence, promoting positive attitudes toward menstruation and making the environment a safer, cleaner place. GladRags can be found in health food stores and natural pharmacies nationwide.

“Wow! My second cycle using GladRags, and I already can see what the raves are all about. I live in a warm, humid climate, and I like how GladRags don’t trap perspiration and heat like disposables. You can reposition GladRags easily — something you can’t do with the adhesive on conventional pads…I look forward to phasing out my conventional products and building up my stock of GladRags. Thanks for providing a quality alternative to feminine protection.” – Amy

For more information on GladRags, “Click Here.”

Want to stay updated on our giveaway opportunities? Sign up for our giveaway notifications and be notified the next time we are giving away more FREE stuff!

“Click Here” for more details about the chat. To Enter the giveaway: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by The Be Prepared Period Team

Wednesday, June 20th, 2012

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Playing It Safe With The Lunette Cup

By Heather Schweich

I honestly can’t remember a time after I started my period when I wasn’t aware on some level of Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS ).

My mom was not a tampon user; they made her nauseated and feel horrible when she tried them in high school/college, so when I started menstruating she got me pads, just like her. Well, lower absorbency, but you get the idea.

The problem was that I was a ballet dancer. #1 Pads = not cool. #2 They would never stay in place. So I asked her to let me get some tampons.

She did, and I’m not sure if it was the box insert, a news story, or word of mouth but TSS was a huge concern for her. I didn’t really get the seriousness of it, but I knew enough that I was willing to go along with her guidelines: use natural fiber (cotton) tampons – don’t use a higher absorbency than I needed – use pads at night.

Fast forward 10 years. I was still very aware of that warning inside every box of tampons. I still followed all my mom’s guidelines. No biggie. The I got married and immediately got pregnant. No worries about TSS for awhile!

We cloth diapered our son and on some online boards or a Facebook group; I don’t really remember where I first heard about menstrual cups, but I swore that I’d never get “that crunchy.” And I didn’t think too much about it.

Fast forward another 2 years to after the birth of my second son. I started looking for even more ways to save money. And I heard for the first time that menstrual cups were not a TSS risk. It got me thinking. And thinking. And thinking.

I worked up the numbers and found out that while I would save money in the long run, it would take about 10 cycles to pay for itself (just what I happened to be spending on disposable products). I was interested, but the upfront cost was just a little steep for me. I also wasn’t planning on having that many cycles before I got pregnant again.

Then a friend told me about a sale on the Lunette. I decided to go for it and bought one; then later that week I won one in a giveaway from Be Prepared Period and You ARE Loved. From zero to two in less time than it took to ship! I traded one to another friend for an electronic drum set (she’d missed the sale and had been wanting to try one too) so we both benefited from my good fortune.

My husband and I are currently trying to conceive our third child, so I was hoping to be able to store my Lunette for awhile and try it in a couple years. But that didn’t happen last month; on the upside, I actually got to try out the cup and it lived up to everything I had been hoping.

I’ll be honest; I wore a panty liner and carried around a disposable tampon that first day. But I never needed them. The Lunette worked perfectly.

There was a bit of a learning curve that first day. And there were three big things that I remember hearing/reading before I used it that I am thankful for.

1. Find a fold that works for you.

Lunette Cup has a great video that shows 9 different folds for insertion. It was great having some different options in mind to try. What works for one person may not work for another! The first time I inserted it I had to try a couple times to get it into a comfortable spot. Later that day, it took about 7 tries. After that I was usually able to get it right on the first or second attempt.

2. Break the suction when you remove it, don’t just pull the cup out!

Anyone who has ever breastfed knows what happens when you don’t break the “latch.” OWW! Same concept here. It took about 3 removals for me to figure out what worked for me and how to push the cup in just enough to break suction and remove it without spilling any fluid. The first time was the worst mess, but I figured it out and things went a lot smoother from there on out.

3. Listen to your body.

You will know when it’s in the right location. The first time I put the Lunette in it was too low and I couldn’t even urinate with it inserted, it was also slightly painful. After I re-inserted I could still feel the stem which was different, but not painful. I know that many people cut the stem off for that reason, but I didn’t find it necessary to do so.

I also discovered that I’m not the best person to wear a cup at night. Some nights it worked well for me (no leaks, which was wonderful!), but on the second night I started having some very odd cramps, very painful, but different from my regular menstrual cramps. When I went to remove the cup I realized that my cervix had dropped inside the cup and was trying to push it out. As soon as the cup was out the cramping stopped.

I’m not sure if I’m just weird, or if that’s a fairly common thing; but personally it’s just a good thing to know, and listening to my body made that night a lot less painful.

—-

I’m definitely going to get either some Lunette wipes or another type of alcohol wipe to have in case I need to remove/empty it while I’m out of the house. It’s slightly inconvenient to have to rinse it between uses, but the wipes do great cleaning and disinfecting the cup while out of the house.

So.

Pros: I love being able to wear it all day long and not worry about leaks. It’s better for the environment and my body. It saves money in the long run. It only takes a day or two to learn how to use.

Cons: I can’t wear it at night all the time (just my body quirk). It takes a day or two to learn how to use.

Overall, I am very impressed and pleased with the cup. It is very comfortable and I can’t get over the fact that I had no leaks whatsoever while I was using it. Currently I only have boys, but if I ever get my girl I would definitely give her this as an option.

Thanks, Be Prepared Period & You ARE Loved for an awesome giveaway and thanks, Lunette for such a great product!

Heather Schweich is a wife, mother of 2 wonderfully rambunctious boys, a passable cook, former ballet dancer, slightly crispy mom. She loves blogging it all at www.2SleepingBabies.com, while laughing and just trying to make it through the day until both babies are, actually, sleeping.

Posted by The Be Prepared Period Team

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

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Super Sweet Softcup/SpaFinder Giveaway!

We are ready to party!!!

To celebrate one year of #PeriodTalk tweet chats we will be hosting our First Annual Menstrual Party (July 13th) with our wonderful co-host, You ARE Loved.

This month’s chat will include conversation, questions, polls and lots of interaction on a variety of menstrual products. And because no party is complete without prizes, there will be plenty of those too! Thanks to our awesome friends at Softcup we are excited to announce that we will be giving away a Super Sweet Goodie Basket to one very lucky participant.

The winner will receive a Black Softcup Tote Bag STUFFED with:

- A $50 SpaFinder.com Gift Card

- A Box of Softcups

- A Box of Reusable Softcups

- A Softcup T-Shirt

- A Softcup Tumbler Mug

- A Pink Softcup Purse Pack (holds 2 Softcups)

- A Purple Leather Softcup Pouch

- A Pink Softcup Hat

- A Stuffed Toy Uterus from iheartguts.com

- Exfoliating Cleansing Cloths from Specific Beauty

- 1 Box of Sensa

- Mission Lip Balm

Now, who wouldn’t be excited to win ALL of that!! For more information or to purchase a box of Softcups today, “Click Here.”

Want to stay updated on our giveaway opportunities? Sign up for our giveaway notifications and be notified the next time we are giving away more FREE stuff!

“Click Here” for more details about the chat. To Enter the giveaway: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by The Be Prepared Period Team

Thursday, June 14th, 2012

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Feby Bracelet Giveaway!

We are ready to party!!!

To celebrate one year of #PeriodTalk tweet chats we will be hosting our First Annual Menstrual Party (July 13th) with our wonderful co-host, You ARE Loved.

This month’s chat will include conversation, questions, polls and lots of interaction on a variety of menstrual products. And because no party is complete without prizes, there will be plenty of those too! Thanks to our awesome friends at Feby.com we are excited to announce that we will be giving away a Female Empowerment Bracelet (Feby) to one very lucky participant.

The Female Empowerment Bracelet helps you get in touch with your Body and your Self! Feby’s unique color system makes it easy to identify the natural cycles of a woman’s body.

How it works:

Red is for blood signifying the days of your period. The first bead is the most important.

White is neutral. We always have hormones coursing through our bodies but these days are calmer.

Pink indicates ovulation. These are the days we are most fertile or able to become pregnant.

Black beads represent the days we may suffer from premenstrual syndrome or PMS.

For more information on Feby, “Click Here.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by The Be Prepared Period Team

Wednesday, June 13th, 2012

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DivaCup Giveaway!

We are ready to party!!!

To celebrate one year of #PeriodTalk tweet chats we will be hosting our First Annual Menstrual Party (July 13th) with our wonderful co-host, You ARE Loved.

This month’s chat will include conversation, questions, polls and lots of interaction on a variety of menstrual products. And because no party is complete without prizes, there will be plenty of those too! Thanks to our awesome friends at DivaCup we are excited to announce that we will be giving away a DivaCup AND DivaWash to one very lucky participant.

For those of you that are not familiar with The DivaCup, it is a wonderful menstrual alternative. It ends hassles with unreliable disposable tampons and sanitary pads in endless absorbencies, shapes and styles. This makes it perfect for all activities.

“I bought one of these two months ago and it is the greatest thing ever! I don’t need pads or tampons at all anymore. It has made getting my period a much more tolerable experience. No leaks, no worries! I recommend this product to every woman! I dont think I will ever switch back to pads after using The DivaCup!” – Kristen

For more information on DivaCup, “Click Here.”

*With this giveaway being designed to promote our upcoming TweetChat, Friday, July 13 , 2012 the winner must be present to win. (Present, being defined by posting at least one #PeriodTalk tweet between 1:40 and 2:40pm Eastern on July 13th.) Want to stay updated on our giveaway opportunities? Sign up for our giveaway notifications and be notified the next time we are giving away more FREE stuff!

“Click Here” for more details about the chat. To Enter the giveaway: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by The Be Prepared Period Team

Tuesday, June 12th, 2012

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Preparing Your Daughter: It’s a Choice

I was 13 when I got my period and although it was 33 years ago, what I remember most about that day is how lonely I felt. Menstruation wasn’t something discussed among friends, much less at home. I was prepared in the literal sense. I had a box of pads under my bathroom sink and I knew I would bleed and what to do about it. Still, I wasn’t prepared emotionally. Facts weren’t very helpful when I felt like nobody understood and nobody wanted to talk about it.

When I found myself the mother of not one, but three daughters, I knew it would be up to me to make sure they were not only physically prepared for whatever life threw at them, but emotionally prepared as well. From the time they were born, I made it a point to talk to my girls. We talk about everything… from school to friends to puberty and even those darn boys. I always knew that talking and being open and honest with them was going to be the answer to raising smart, secure and self-confident children. I never wanted my kids to feel they couldn’t come to me and ask questions, or talk, or tell me how they were feeling. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by The Be Prepared Period Team

Thursday, June 7th, 2012

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Swimming During My Period?!?!

Swimsuit Season

Swimsuit season has officially arrived! If your summer is anything like mine, you will be in the water a lot this summer. And, more than once you may find the fun in the water is planned on a day when you are menstruating.

Stressful Situations

When it comes to swimming or even just being in a swimsuit during your period, many girls and women worry. We worry about so many different things, including:

- How can I make sure no one knows I am menstruating?

- What swimsuit should I wear so I don’t feel so awkward?

- What if I have a wardrobe malfunction and people see my tampon string?

- Where is the closest bathroom and how can I escape there without being noticed?

- Who do I really want to share this part of my life with?

If you are a tween or a teen this is especially challenging. Everyone has expectations of what you should be doing. People know you love the water, but you may not want everyone to know when you are on your period (much less what feminine hygiene products you use or what products you are not comfy even trying).

Common Myths

It is amazing that even though half the world’s population menstruates for part of their lives, many girls and women don’t really know what is or isn’t a myth. For example:

- Myth #1: You should avoid swimming during your period (or at least skip water activities if your flow is heavy). Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by The Be Prepared Period Team

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

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My Tween, Her Period, & Summer Fun

A guest post by S. Medlock

My oldest daughter is almost a teenager. Recently, we have been going through a lot of changes together. She started her period a few months ago; this will be her first summer to have her cycle. Neither one of us is sure exactly what this will be like.

So far her cycles have been irregular, and her flow has been incredibly light. Since it has been easy so far, she’s super confident to the point of being over-confident. “It’s no big deal” is her favorite thing to say, but I know that she’s going to be in shock when her flow finally comes full blast. Even though there will be caregivers around wherever she may be, it’s not like knowing I will be there when “the BIG cycle” comes. Because her cycles have been unexpectedly light, I’m afraid I’m not going to be around when the “BIG cycle” comes. I also worry she or I will forget something important during our summer travels. I’m just afraid that when the “BIG cycle” comes she won’t be prepared. I have so many questions. Summer makes this much more complicated, especially for our family travels (knowing we may need to take more traveling breaks while on the road).

I want to know so much! Does anyone have a checklist of things not to be without on a short trip, long week vacationing or summer camp? Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by The Be Prepared Period Team

Monday, June 4th, 2012

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