instead of this

My obgyn suggested I wait a week or two before putting anything near my cervix. This is for comfort as well as preventing infections. So no dicks, dildos, tampons, or instead menstrual cups.

I miss my instead!

This is my first period without them in over a year. It is also my first pad-only period since sixth grade.

I keep forgetting to put a spare in my bag. Usually, I rinse out the instead cups and use them again for a day or so. (My gyn has okayed this.) But pads only hold so much until overflow. Is it my imagination or have all the tampon/pad dispensers disappeared from ladies’ rooms? The only times I have had leaks with instead is when I inserted them wrong or when I sleep with one on the first or second night of my rag. My jeans now have two rust lines on either side of the crotch.

I had forgotten that very special sensation of hauling ass on a hot day in jeans with a full pad. As Dacia likes to say, crotch soup.