 | I love almost everything about this book. The cartoons are brilliant: the switch from “contented cow” to “psycho bitch”, and the way they show how fallopian tubes sift sperm (though the tail should have come off the sperm once it entered the egg) and the “flames of creation” cartoon about stretch marks. The writing style is funny, friendly and informative. The “adventure moments” do a neat job of acknowledging people’s different circumstances and preferences. Kate Evans is very sympathetic to those wanting a baby and experiencing fertility problems. How it hurts to want a baby. |
 I love those brave people who dare to ask the questions that others don't.
“Do you need a speculum?” I was asked recently, when talking about about how to check vaginal fluid. “Nope", I said, "there's no need for a big performance with a speculum and mirror*. It usually just means you notice it when you go wipe after going to the loo.” [Yeah, OK, you’re allowed one Eww] A friend once said she knew “Tonight’s the night” when she noticed strings of stretchy stuff like raw egg white coming out of her. Sure enough, 9 months later her first child was born. Egg white fluid is released into your vagina by the cervix (the entrance to your womb). It is like the “sperm motorway” and can  Checking cervical fluid is one of the things that can put people right off using fertility awareness as contraception.
Of course we shouldn't hate our bodies and what comes out of them. Cervical fluid is very cool stuff. And yet it can seem like a bit of a hassle. Do you have to use a scoring system for stretch, colour and texture? Do you have to buy a speculum kit from the lovely people at the Beautiful Cervix Project? |