Lunapads

Yay! The 16th Biennial Meeting of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research will be hosted in Vancouver by the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CeMCOR) at the University of British Columbia, June 7-9, 2007. This is a multidisciplinary conference for womens health scholars, health care providers, advocates, writers, students, artists, and others interested in the menstrual cycle and ovulation.

Want to get involved?

(more…)

I’m 25 and had my first period at the age of 11. I have two beautiful daughters ages 9 and almost 5. For the past 14 years I’ve always had terrible cramps along with my period, I would often miss school on the first day of my period as the cramps were so terrible. I would miss out on a lot due to how bad my cramps were. I was put on prescription 800mg Ibuprofen for the cramping, and a mini pill birth control to try and help calm my periods down. After having been on them for 7 years and giving birth to my younger daughter, I decided I no longer wanted to take the birth control pills to ‘control my periods’ and because I was nursing.

During the last 2 years my period got much heavier, more painful, and more frequent. I was going through super sized tampons within an hour or two, using heavy flow overnight pads and going through them like crazy. I was in pain from the increasingly painful cramping, irritated at having my period 2-3 times a month, and wasting money on the disposable tampons and pads that I was going through like crazy. I saw my midwife with the records I kept regarding the dates, pain level, heaviness, and the amount of products I was using each month. She decided I need to go back on the mini pill birth control and that I should go back to ‘normal’ in the next few months. I did as I was instructed and although the pain and heavy flow was still there I went back to a predictable ‘once a month’. After everything was back to normal I decided I no longer wanted to take the pills period.

(more…)

If you live in and or around Vancouver, please join us at “maternal creations” an arts and crafts event created and hosted by my fabulous midwives.This event will feature mothers from the Vancouver community who have come together to sell and exhibit unique trinkets and enjoyables that are sewn, thrown, painted, beaded, quilted, molded and stamped. There will be clothes, jewelry, baby-carriers, ceramics, bags, cards and knitted wear. Lunapads will be there to sell post partum pads and blankets, and, with some degree of nervousness, I’ll be showing one of my own pieces of art (a chinese water painting). I’m looking forward to a great social gathering and opportunity to find some unique holiday gifts from local artisans.

Friday, November 24th, 4-8pm
Saturday, November 25th, 12-5pm
admission: Free

at: Pomegranate Community Midwives
2647 East Hastings (between Slocan & Penticton)
604-255-5556
www.pomegranate-midwives.com

A fantastic opportunity to learn more about your cycle, as well as to support the valuable research being conducted by the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CEMCOR).
Are you a woman who:
- Is between the ages of 20 and 40?
- Has menstruated within the last 3 months?
- Has not used oral contraceptives/hormones within 3 months?
- Has not had a hysterectomy?
- Is a resident of the BC Lower Mainland?
If you responded “Yes” to all 5 questions, you are invited to participate in a one month menstrual cycle study conducted by Dr. Jerilynn Prior, Professor of Endocrinology at UBC.

(more…)

Anyone out there using mainly tampons (but open to trying the DivaCup) in Vancouver, Victoria or Prince George BC? Family Practice resident doctors from UBC will be conducting the Finding Lasting Options for Women (FLOW) study, a randomized trial comparing tampons to menstrual cups. If you’re between the ages of 19-40 and are willing to help out, email flowbyflow@gmail.com with your phone number and city.

Being an avid camper and a die-hard natural menstrual products user for years, one would think the two had collided by now. But oddly enough I had always been ‘fortunate’ enough to often not have my period while out in the woods, or I was near some more modern services that made using cloth pads and the DivaCup much easier.

This Thanksgiving weekend I was set to head out camping for three days with only pit toilets and my period started the morning we were leaving…

(more…)

While not quite a guest blog entry, this doesn’t quite qualify as one of our ‘regular’ entries either. Krisztina is what you might call a Lunapads alumni. She worked here for quite some time, leaving us for other adventures about 3 years ago, and I have her to thank for helping me get this job here. She’s still a dear friend of mine and keeps in touch with all of us at Lunapads regularly. Read on for her ruminations on choosing a name for your child…

I’ve been thinking a lot about baby names these days. You know, like that game we used to play as kids, conjuring up our top 5 names for girls and boys for when, in the distant future, we’ll have babies.

Well, the distant future has arrived and many of my friends are now with child. Which leads to discussions of names; which names are popular, which are to be avoided, which seem obscure now but might end up being overdone in a few years. Like Isabel. I know about 5 newborn Isabels, I kid you not. When my little sister Isabella was named in 1992, people would scrunch up their noses and say “Isabella? That’s my grandmother’s name!” It’s 14 years later and she’s now got one of the most popular names around.

(more…)

I am writing to tell all of your readers and customers about a FANTASTIC book—if they haven’t already heard of it and read it because it’s taking North America by storm. It’s Ami McKay’s ‘The Birth House’. I picked up this book because I had the good fortune to hear and be wowed by the author read and answer questions at Halifax’s first International Writer’s and Reader’s Festival last spring. Ami McKay is as delightful and intelligent in person as she is in her ability to tell a story.

Among the many reasons I, and my book club mates, enjoyed this book is the attention McKay pays to women’s ways of being. The connections we create through birthing rituals, knitting circles or book clubs are historicized, validated and celebrated in the author’s first novel. Equally impressive is the attention McKay pays to bringing to light the long road women have had to journey to have control over their health care and birthing processes. Through delightful accounts of a mechanical tool’s ability to make the main character heal on her own (who knew the history of the vibrator?!) to a well-developed cacophony of local characters up against an equally brilliantly-illustrated circle of women friends, McKay’s story of Dora Rare is one of historical and contemporary significance.

I’ve bought the book for friends and family living in the US, Canada, and Northern Ireland. While set in Canada’s rural Nova Scotia, Dora Rare reaches across borders not only because of the universal social themes but also because it’s a darn good yarn!

Best wishes from Canada’s East Coast, DeNel S.

In keeping with the theme of the last post (“We’re listening”) Lunapanty thongs are back! A quick history: Madeleine created Lunapanty Thongs over 10 years ago, and we started selling them online 2 years ago when we introduced our best selling Lunapanties line of products. However, with cash flow being tight, we made the decision to discontinue our thong line last year to lower inventory levels. Since then, many of you have pleaded with us to bring them back. So here they are, but on a trial basis. Your feedback and demand will determine if we keep them, and what sizes and colors we will carry. For more about why our thongs are so amazing (especially if you don’t think that you’re a “thong person”), read on…

(more…)

We are proud to introduce our new Lunabalm, a travel-safe version of Lunablend. It’s got orange, lavender and geranium essential oils to soothe your cramps and PMS or just make you smell real pretty any ol’ time! Our good friend Heather Martin, whom you all met in a recent guest blogger post (our number one fan), gave us the idea one day when she mentioned how much she loves her Lunablend but how she wanted a balm so she could throw it in her purse or suitcase without worrying about leaking oil. We loved her idea and jumped into gear creating Lunabalm, realizing it was a product other women would love as well. - Thanks for the idea Heather!

Your feedback and ideas are important to us. If you have a great idea for Lunapads, please send us an email and help us to continue offering products that work for the women of today.