Gotta love kicking off a new year with an annual exam. I was due to go at the end of November, but months ago when I called to schedule I couldn’t get an appointment until today.
I came in armed with questions today about family planning or in my current case not ready for babies yet planning.
If you know me in real life, perhaps this is a good time to stop reading.
I was a late bloomer sexually compared to many, but I bloomed at the right time for me and waited for love. However I’ve always been terrified of getting pregnant, I blame my mother for instilling an overly irrational fear (my mother’s mother’s sister got pregnant as a teenager and my grandmother got blamed for it by her parents for not “watching” her which lead to a long line of fear/guilt). ANYWAY.
So when it came to sex there couldn’t be too many precautions in my mind. Without being too specific on the internet I was overdoing it with the birth control precautions and lately it had been getting in the way – in the sense that I got overly anxious about all the precautions. Recently I’ve had some educational conversations with a colleague in the sexual health office on campus and I’ve read a lot, but I’ve been eager for today, to ask my doctor some point blank questions.
It was SUPER uncomfortable for me to ask these point blank questions and get in to detail, however it was also good to talk to an expert and get real answers, by someone who knows my body and my health and has my best interest in mind. We talked through a rational birth control plan and I feel better.
He did also ask about my desire to have children in the future, to which I told him I was really uncertain. He said I was (at 31) “still fairly young compared to his other patients in Northern Virginia.” He said most of his patients these days aren’t getting married until they are 33-34. He says it isn’t uncommon for him to see women in their 40s having children, but he said ideally if I were to start trying, I should start by 35.
Education is power folks. I also know I need to give myself breast exams every single month, as opposed to randomly. It’s best to do it right after you finish your period each month. I’m going to resolve to do them monthly starting this year. My doctor did mine today, but February I’m on it!
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