So, this probably the same old hum-drum, and I've looked through the tags and such, but found nothing precisely like what I was looking for, so here I am!

I am 23, sexually active with my fiance but we have a very lazy sex life (read: once a week or less, less lately, more like 2 times a month) and I am not on BC. We have been dutifully using the same brand of condoms for as many years as we have been together, he with no previous partners, me with one long before him.

My cycle is usually on the long end, around 31-32 days, with a 6+ day period. My last one started on the 3rd of November and lasted 10 days, including a day or two of spotting in the estimate. The one before that was equally long. I tend to spot for a few days before and after as well to make up around 12 days or so, which is sort of miserable. I usually have a fair amount of normal discharge regularly. My period likes to "migrate" throughout the year, coming a day or three later every month until eventually it works its way from the beginning of the month to the end after several months. I chart my period on mymonthlycycles.com, which estimated that my period would be on December 3.

( Read on! )

The holidays are a wonderful time of year, aren't they? Family getting together, magic in the air...little cousins telling you they've lost their virginity and have already had a condom break in 4 times of having sex. (wait, what?)

So, today I saw my little cousin (well, I suppose she's not so little anymore...) and she told me she had lost her virginity and I asked her if she would like to go to a clinic and get a secondary form of contraception or just to talk to a doctor about sexual health etc. She said yes. Herein lies my question:

What have all your personal experiences been with the Planned Parenthood in Toronto (I think there is only one)? She lives in Toronto and this would be the ideal clinic to take her to (based on reputation and location), but I am not familiar with it. She's 15 (nearly 16) and although I wouldn't say she's shy, I would definitely say that she is not the most comfortable talking to adults about this sort of thing. Would you say that this particular clinic provides a comfortable environment? If you've been to this clinic as a young teen, did you feel confident that you were not being judged on your age?

There are a few other clinics I'm sort-of familiar with in Toronto, but if anyone could give me recommendations for clinics you've gone to & loved, it would be great! We really do need a place that will allow for reduced-cost contraception, too.

The second question is about this condom mishap. She said that he was able to pull out and judging by where she was in her cycle, I don't THINK she had ovulated yet/was close enough to ovulating, but I'm still pretty worried. Unfortunately this happened a week ago-- if she'd told me the day of/day after I would have just got her to take plan B. In any case, I just told her to drink some parsley tea and not worry about it, because then she'd stress and her period would be late. Is this the best advice? I didn't really know what else to say because, well...I've never had pregnancy scares (there have been times when I've wondered, but it's never been a "scare" or a worry...). I personally think it's best to wait & make this appointment at the clinic for January, when enough time has passed that we can do a pregnancy test AND talk about birth control at the same time. At the same time, I'm worried that she could have another mishap before she can get a secondary form of contraception. Thoughts? Note-- I'm seeing her on the 29th and I WILL be having a demonstration as to how one should properly use a condom-- just to make sure.

My third question is, does payment for PP in Ontario count under OHIP? All the clinics I've gone to have been covered by OHIP but I've never been to PP and I was wondering if it's different.

Thank you so much, VP!

(ps: I feel so old [though I'm certainly not!] that I'm the one imparting all my sexual related wisdom upon a newcomer to the world of intercourse...wisdom which I surely would not have without you, VP! <3)

 Hi Everyone!

I just joined the community and its amazing how much useful info can be found here.

Here is my question:

On Nov 23, my bf and I had unprotected sex and used the withdrawal method (I know very STUPID) so I panicked and I took plan b 3 hours later. I experienced light bleeding 4 days later that only lasted 3-4 days. I should also mention that i had just finished my period that morning. Anyways, so exactly 21 days later I had some very light bleeding, it only lasted about a day and a half. Was that my period? or should I still be waiting for my "real" period to come?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

About two weeks ago I experienced a little bit of bleeding after sex, and thought it might be related to my cervix. I didn't stress too much over it.

Today I started my period and it was very difficult to insert a tampon both times I tried over the course of the day. Usually it's not difficult to insert a tampon right at the start of my cycle, and even when it is I always find an angle that works. It's making me worry that maybe there's a problem with my cervix.

Any ideas? Should I try to see my gynecologist before I go back to school at the end of January or do you think I am overreacting and I can wait until my yearly check up in the summer to tell him about this?

Hey everyone!

Just wondering if it's normal to have a super light period for no discernible reason? I got my period yesterday, it normally starts with lots of red blood but this time was brown and just a little bit, so I thought, I guess it'll start properly tomorrow. It didn't and all I've had is a tiny little bit of brown blood. I'm definitely not pregnant.

Hello Ladies!

I am looking to find an inexpensive but reliable beard trimmer, for my lady garden hair. I want to keep it short without having to shave, and I've heard that beard trimmers are great. The trouble is, everytime I go to a drug store they either don't have any OR they're $50+.

Are there any good trimmers that can be found in Canadian stores (like Shoppers, etc) for under $50? Also, could you recommend me some brands you like, regardless of price?

Thanks so much!

Okie so I'm asking for my friend cause she doesn't have an LJ.
Her new boyfriend is big and makes her bleed all the time.
Anyway to stop this?

I'm starting to get a little worried.

I started my period on the 19th or 20th day of November. I'm not sure which day it started. But it lasted until the 24th. That's normal.

According to an ovulation tracker I found on the internet, at

http://www.babycenter.com/ovulation-calculator?sub=true&month=10&day=20&year=2009&cycleLength=28&x=75&y=2

it said the best time to get pregnant was anywhere from Dec 1 to Dec 6th. So, I'm assuming I was ovulating during this time. My boyfriend and I had sex on Dec 6th, early in the morning. He told me that the condom busted and wasn't sure if he did or didn't come inside me.

This caused us to both worry and we decided to use Plan B One Step, only four hours after our unprotected sex.

My period was supposed to arrive around December 20th, I suppose since that was when I had my period the previous month. But it hasn't come.

I have been experiencing cramping since the 16th and usually I cramp for a week or two and then my period comes.

My questions:

If the condom busted, then where is the other half of the condom? Is it possible it is still inside me?

How come I have not received my period? Although I have taken Plan B, is it very likely for me to become pregnant?

Hello all,

Hope everyone is having a nice holiday season! To celebrate, I have some questions about periods!

1) I used to know when my period was due because the day before, my boobs and lower back would get really achey- typical PMS stuff. However, for the past 6 months, all that has TOTALLY gone away. Now, without fail the day before my period i start experiencing CRAZY cravings for chocolate. I am 100% sure that there is something biological going on, because i've always relied on my body to warn me that my period will be arriving and i never "expect" the chocolate cravings. 've tried googling it, however, nothing seems conclusive - so, does anyone know what could create a biological need for chocolate BEFORE one's period? I read that choc has lots of iron to compensate for blood loss, but i don't crave chocolate during my period... just in the day or 2 before.

2) another weird period thing.. this happens to me about 6 months out of the year... If i don't have any physical signs, and if i'm too busy to give in to choc cravings, i will have a dream during the night that i've got my period... it will be so crazy situation, like i'll be in a canoe and my period will arrive. Then i'll wake up in the morning, pee, everything's normal.. and like, 2 hours later, my period will show up. does anyone get these weird period-predicting dreams??? i'm really interested because i'm very curious about the connection of the mind ( unconscious, too!) to the body, and have always wondered if anyone else experiences this.

Looking forward to hearing what you all have to say!

Cheers!

Hey everyone!

I've been terrible taking my hormonal birth control pills this month and I have a few questions regarding my experience that I'm sure someone here can help me out with :)

Some history: I'm taking the Marvelon-28 combination pill and have been for over a year now.  Generally I've been fairly good at taking my pills within the same 2-3 hour window everyday but due to exam stress/a weird schedule this month I have been about 12 hours late twice.  The first pill I was late with was in my second row of pills.  I took it about 12 hours late and noticed some spotting on my underwear about 2 days later.  This was also the only day my boyfriend and I had sex without a condom during this pack.  The spotting has continued since then.  The next pill I was late for today (6 pills since the first one I missed).  I realized I was late when again I looked at my underwear and saw a great deal more blood than the spotting that had been happenning. 
So to recap: I was 12 hours late on both the 5th pill-2nd row, and 4th pill-3rd row.

Here are my questions vajpag:
*what are the chances that missing pills like this could result in pregnancy?  for instance, the official Marvelon instructions don't say that they recommend using back-up birth control after missing one pill... just after two.  Are these two pills close enough together to merit a need?
*I'm assuming the spotting was a withdrawal bleed.. would I be correct to assume that?

Thanks in advance for your help

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