Her Death Experience On the Birthing Table and Periods After Pregnancy: Interview with Laura

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🎤In today's episode of "Unapologetically Woman." We talk with Laura Jimenez her life-changing experience with postpartum bleeding. Laura shares her powerful story of survival after facing death on the birthing table. Stay tuned for an inspiring conversation.

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Transcript

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: welcome back to unapologetically woman. I am here today with Laura who is a proud mom to four boys and the business owner of Jimenez affiliate Consulting helping entrepreneurs optimize their affiliate program and brand ambassador program for success and a proud wife of 20 years. Let's welcome Laura as she is going to talk to us today about her experience with her periods forth pregnancy and how it was just in her words of b****. So welcome Laura.

Laura Jimenez: Thank you so much for having me.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Thank you so much for joining me. earlier Laura and I were talking and I got to know more about her story and her experience. And before we get to the b****, before we get to her we're gonna talk about Laura's experience with her periods from the beginning, like that experience that all of us as women have to go through and I feel that it is just so unique in different for every woman and what they're feeling and even the times and how people viewed our periods so Laura, could you please tell us at what age were you when you first got your period and when you did get your Periods. What was that? socially for you in dynamics of school and even your relationship with those close to you and your feelings about it?

Laura Jimenez: While remember Barry vividly I started when I was 12 and I started in a car ride. And so I think we were coming back from school. My mom was driving me back from school and I was like, I gotta go the bathroom and my mom stopped off and we literally pulled over to the side and these were the times when you could just run into a gas station or a fast food joint just run into the bathroom without having to pay for anything. And so we pulled off to the side of the road and I went into a Hardee's and went to the bathroom and saw it and freaked out. but at that moment I was like How do I say it because for me at that moment I was going to school in Alabama.

00:05:00

Laura Jimenez: And it was a small little school and all you got as far as education, and our bodily Health was you're gonna get your periods One Day You're Gonna bleed use the pad the end. And that was one day out of the year and you got separated from the boys and God knows what they told the boys. That was what they told us. And then they give us this kid with one pad and a panty liner in it and some little pamphlet that you never read because you were like, it's gonna be for a while and You just kind of tossed it aside. So I didn't know what to tell my mom. And so I just went to the bathroom and then went back in the car.

Laura Jimenez: And then just sat there until we got home I don't know for some reason. I felt scared inside to even say something to my mom this is happening. And so I actually waited for probably about two and a half hours before I said anything to my mom and then I went to her in tears.

Laura Jimenez: And I think I started my period And she was like, sweetie. Why are you crying? let's go back to the store. Let's go get some pads for you and I was overwhelmed at that moment because when we got there there's of course nine million different kind of pads and you're just, 12 years old sitting there and people are staring because you're in the past aisle and I'm just like, okay great now I'm like a pariah. No One's Gonna talk to me somehow every single person in school is gonna know I'm wearing a pad immediate diaper thoughts came into my mind. everyone's gonna see and being in middle school, that's obviously a time when you're really insecure about yourself. you're wanting to make friends. It was a difficult time for me because I was always bullied because of my weight anyway, so I was like great this is something that's just gonna add to it.

Laura Jimenez: But luckily, of course, nobody knew that I was on my period it was all in my head and it was just a normal period lasted three days and then that was it and that's how it basically went, up until my teen years and when I got pregnant with my first son.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Okay, so it's just interesting because you had this fear, about your periods…

Laura Jimenez: Yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: and it's something like we never even experienced before but there's this embedded fear about it because you didn't have that understanding. Why you…

Laura Jimenez: Yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: we didn't have that education to really know what is really happening and to understand hey, this is a part of what makes you a woman. This is a healing time. This is a beautiful time for you because this means that you're healthy, this is a part of your Health like it's not being portrayed that way, so then it's like this fear you feel the shame because you're wearing a pack of thing if everybody could see it because I used to feel that way too. I was at the path. I'm like I didn't want to stick anything up there, I wasn't sexually active so that was an uncomfortable thing for me to be honest with you and I'm just like no so the path thing you think people could see it bulking out through your butt.

Laura Jimenez: That's exactly what I thought. I just immediately like the feel and again it was in my head. Obviously. I know now that I'm older but in my head I was wearing, a size, 12 year old Huggy diaper. And it was just gonna be seen from everyone and everyone was gonna know what everyone was going to just start talking anytime someone whispered or something. I was like, my God, they saw it. my God, Dixie it. my god. Did they know and you couldn't say the word period And if you went to God forbid you started while you were in school and you had to go to the nurse. That was the most agonizing feeling in the entire world. And then you would stay there for five minutes trying to explain that you started your periods without wanting to say the word period because it had this negative connotation to it it had this

Laura Jimenez: like I said, a pariah feeling like you're going to be judged you're going to be shamed how dare you have your period kind of feeling and you would go there and you would just be like can I need The thing in your drawer, I need one of those you didn't even want to say the word pad and God forbid say just what that even the thought of tampons. that wasn't for ladies. I'm not that old. I know I just made myself sound like I was hello, but it still even And you…

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: What?

00:10:00

Laura Jimenez: this is the late 90s and it still didn't have a positive connotation to using anything other than pads.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: yeah, and I'm so glad you brought up that time, the time because it's like women are constantly fighting for our bodies and unfortunately because of the way Society is portraying things is having the way we view our bodies in a negative connotation and we feel shame about talking about these things, and that's why when one woman comes out and starts talking about her experience, especially when it comes to her periods. You see women flood me too because there is

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: That shame there. Is that embarrassment that's perpetuated, through society and it's like okay we got started talking about this war. So I'm very glad that you brought that up. it was the late 90s we 2024 basically, you…

Laura Jimenez: Yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: this is ridiculous like that women are still second class here and That's just very interesting and let's continue on actually with your story. So you're carrying around this feeling for probably decades not I'm thinking about it.

Laura Jimenez: You yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Yeah, right that's being embedded in you and then you said around your teens is where you had your first daughter son.

Laura Jimenez: son all four Sons

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: All four of us. All right.

Laura Jimenez: Yes. Yes.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: All right.

Laura Jimenez: My oldest son was born what right after I turned 19, so I got pregnant with him when I was 18. And even up until then I was still carrying that. not wanting to discuss any kind of issues that I was having because that was my issue. I felt like it wasn't anyone else's issue to deal with it was mine. That was something I had to figure out I had to deal with and at this point, I still even felt weird going and buying tampons. But after having him and of course I joke with them all the time. He was my first and he was a week late.

Laura Jimenez: And I went in to be induced and I was going perfect everything was going absolutely to a tee. And the lady came in and she said wow, it's so cold outside. It's like negative eight degrees. And when I tell you the moment that lady said it's negative eight degrees outside my labor. Not he was like no. I'm not She said it was negative eight degrees outside. I did not dilate more than three centimeters. in 14 hours He was like,…

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: 

Laura Jimenez: I'm warm I'm staying here. I'm cool when they did the section, I had a emergency section. They put me to sleep, but the doctor told me that when they opened me up. He had actually went back up because he was head down and ready and he had actually gone back up.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Yeah.

Laura Jimenez: And I was like and to this day. This kid does not like the cold at all and it just amazes me. It makes me laugh every time I think about it, but after he was born it was a normal recovery, even though it was an emergency section. after a couple of weeks the bleeding stopped I got back to normal after I breastfed him for I was able to do it for a maybe. three months And then after I stopped was when my periods started continuing and they were normal they were still, three days still still doable, put a tampon in normal time frame perfect at two years later. I had my second son. And he was born VSC section as well a little early because I had preeclampsia.

Laura Jimenez: But after him the periods started going a few more days, so instead of three days it was four or five days and it still was kind of normal. It wasn't too bad. It was still doable and I was like, okay, this is fine. after that was 20, that was when I was 21, I had my second son. when I was 25, I have my third son. And after him the periods got heavier and got longer. So now it was a full five days or sometimes going into six days and I was noticing that I was changing my tampons more often and I even started going from tampons, which I had used since I was probably guess I started using when I was 14.

00:15:00

Laura Jimenez: I had started getting comfortable and started using them because again the fear of the pads and going in the bathroom and ripping the pad off the liner and making that sound thing. I started transitioning back to pads because it would notice I was changing the tampon more frequently. And that was something that was starting to aggravate me, but when I went and talked to the doctors they're like, it's fine. It's normal. It's whatever and that's kind of like the answer. I've always gotten from anyone is it's normal. It's okay. It's whatever. And no one's ever really made me feel I was heard in and my questions about it, which again pushed me back toward that.

Laura Jimenez: Pariah feeling and that don't talk about it. Just push it down deal with it. You're good. It's normal. Just shut up about the whole thing. and so I think that probably just reaffirmed all those feelings that I had when I was 12 anytime a doctor would just tell me it's It's It's fine. and I think that a lot of women have to deal with that because a lot of times things that we go through aren't being taken seriously by our doctors, our physicians or even people that we trust and we tell they just think that we're over exaggerating how we feel and that's obviously not right and it's on something that women should have to go through especially like you said, it's 2024, basically

Laura Jimenez: And I mean we've come a long way from the 1800s and us not even being able to speak without being spoken to we should be able to be heard with our feelings and our symptoms and be taken seriously.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: I highly agree and this is important and this is why women come together to speak about it and we build these communities and that's why you just see so much, lately I get Goosebumps thinking about it. I see the empowerment movement with women, and I see women starting with themselves because they're starting with themselves and how they view themselves. You hear them start to reach out to other women, for them to start looking within themselves because we don't really technically what I mean, the powers already within you, but you have other women who encourage you to access that power that's within you so that you can be empowered and that's the beautiful thing about coming out and I really honor your story for being able to come out and speak out about it now because

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: There are women who are listening right now to Laura's Story and was like, I went through the exact same thing and to know someone else went through it. It's very comforting. So yeah,…

Laura Jimenez: Yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: I definitely Thank you Laura for sharing that first part. Okay you guys of her still praying because we're not done we're gonna take a quick break and then come back. We are going to talk about Laura's experience with her periods post forth pregnancy. So stay tuned

00:20:00
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: All Welcome back everybody to unapologetically woman. We are back with Laura's Story as she continues to tell us her experience post pregnancy. And now she's coming up to her fourth baby. And this is where she says things change for her and Laura. I know, we were talking earlier and you were talking to me a bit about the complications that were different from the other ones with the fourth baby, along with that. So let's start with, the experience from the birthing experience.

Laura Jimenez: Definitely. So I'm around 33. I got pregnant with my fourth son. And everything was completely normal during the pregnancy. They had actually told me starting at the 14 week ultrasound that I was actually having a girl and so of course me and my husband were thrilled because we had three boys, so we're like, my God last one and it's a girl how amazing and I had multiple ultrasounds during my pregnancy because I have epilepsy and so I had a few episodes and they had a check and make sure the baby was okay and each and every time they told me it's like girls a girl. And the week before my section another person, did an ultrasound he was like, did you ever find out what you were having and I was like, I'm having a girl. Can you believe it? He was like your girl has a penis.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: haha

Laura Jimenez: I was like excuse you sir. What? and he showed me in his little legs were up on the screen just like this and his little balls were right there and you can see the little penis in the ball outline in his little legs up and his feet and everything and I was like All He's gonna be living in some pink onesies because I had already gotten onesies and burp cloths and everything that was The stroller was pink and black luckily. It was more black than pink. And I was like, okay we had this name. So now I have exactly four days to come up with another boy name. which we ended up just letting his Godfather decide his name?

Laura Jimenez: we went in normal day to go have the section went in and was waiting. and got put on the table and everything and I thought everything was going perfectly normal, up until the moment. I heard the doctor say.

Laura Jimenez: At this point the baby He had been removed and they were drying them all said he had a little bit of issue catching his breath when he was born. But once they suctioned out everything and got him cleaned up. He was perfectly fine. They had taken him away and she was closing me up and when she said, I was like, what do you mean? that's not something you want to hear.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Yeah.

Laura Jimenez: Is not a word you want to hear while you're laying on this table?

Laura Jimenez: I was like what's going on and I see suddenly all these people running. So you're laying on this table. You've got this cloth up over right by your boobs. So you can't see anything other than what's on your peripheral and I have a reaction to the epidural medicine. So my arms have to be tied down because they shake so my arms are tied down. I can only move my head like this and I suddenly start feeling really nauseous and I tell the nurse. I'm gonna throw up. And they were on both sides of my arms. I was like, what are you guys doing? I'm gonna throw up and I just turn my head and I vomit all over this poor nurse. And they're sticking my arms and…

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: my gosh.

Laura Jimenez: I'm like, what are you guys doing? And then I realized that they're putting IVs in And I looked up and I said why is it so cold in here? And they start rushing faster and faster.

Laura Jimenez: And I remember vividly and I told my husband this and he started crying. I turned my head. To look at the nurse to ask what's going on and in the corner of the room. I saw my mother-in-law and my mother-in-law passed in 2012. And I saw her just standing there. and I was like what? And I looked back up. And as soon as I looked back up everything just started like tunneling and going black.

Laura Jimenez: And c I heard, everyone moving around really fast and I kind of blinked a few times. And then I blinked again and I was in the recovery room. And there were bags of blood up over my head. There was three bags of blood and two different IVs in my arms aside from the other one that they had with fluid and they had these hot water bottles all over my body literally lining my body like a chalk outline. and I remember asking the lady What happened? can somebody tell me what happened?

00:25:00

Laura Jimenez: No one was listening to me. I don't know if I wasn't speaking loud enough or what because I was just kind of like coming to finally somebody came over and they're like, hey, you're awake. And I was like, yeah, I'm like but I heard so bad my left side. it's really painful It's really hurting. and I was like what happened and the lady was she didn't want to tell me it was almost like she wanted to keep it a secret. But another nurse that I had become friends with…

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: What?

Laura Jimenez: who had been there, the entire time she came out to me and she said Laura listen. The doctor cut something she wasn't supposed to cut.

Laura Jimenez: you started bleeding out and you lost a lot of blood and she couldn't get it closed quick enough. And she was like we almost lost you.

Laura Jimenez: And I was like, that's why I saw her. And she was saw who and I was like I saw my mother-in-law. in the corner of the room And she was just like my God. Are you serious? I can't believe that and I was just like I could feel everything draining and it's literally how people describe it. cold. Everything was going dark. It was almost like you remember the TVs we had as kids when you turn them off at night, right? It would just go.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Yeah.

Laura Jimenez: Yeah, and that's everything just went and that was it. I ended up going to the ICU. because they wanted to monitor me and so I didn't actually get to see my son for the first. 23 hours of his life

Laura Jimenez: and then I had to actually beg them to take me to him and they were like, you can't go there until you can prove to us that you can stand up and that you can walk and that is the fastest I've ever forced myself to get out of the bed. I walked over to the bathroom took a shower. show them I could sit on the toilet so they could take the catheter out all of that. And I was like there were you in pain and you had to grin and bear it cuz I wanted to go see my son. And I stayed a day and a half inside the ICU and then they let me out on the floor. And then that's when I was able to actually be with him all the time.

Laura Jimenez: And so that was very traumatic for me. I was like, okay guys. I need to get up out of this Hospital. I don't want to see a hospital again in my life. I don't want to go to another hospital. I don't want to see another hospital. I don't want to see another doctor. Nothing. It was just so traumatic at that moment. I was like, I just want to get out just let me get out and of course, after you have a section they make you wait a few days before you can actually go home. So I was still in there for two and a half almost three days after I got out of the ICU. And then I was able to come home. And I had to explain, everything that happened to my husband because at the moment they had actually told my husband to go home.

Laura Jimenez: So my husband was not in the hospital when all of that went down and he didn't know anything about it until the next day when he came to visit me and he was like I'm here to see my wife, and they were like what room she in and he told him, labor and delivery or whatever and they were like, no, we have a Laura Jimenez, but she's an ICU and when I told you I heard him scream. From the front door of the hospital.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: right

Laura Jimenez: and my ICU room he was So upset, obviously, I mean no one called him. No one said anything to him.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Wow.

Laura Jimenez: I couldn't call him. We had both just gotten new phones and he had actually taken my cell phone with him when he went home by accident.

Laura Jimenez: So it was very much a feeling of just being alone being terrified one was going on. Trying to recover. And just being again, by myself.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: There's something that you'd like. One the neglect do you not gonna tell me…

Laura Jimenez: Yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: what the hell just I would have got a little Gangsta with that because it's like you better tell me what the f*** is going on like that would have gotten serious. Number one like number one, but Two like you died.

00:30:00

Laura Jimenez: Yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: And you're here. …

Laura Jimenez: Yeah. Thank you everybody.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: I hate ura. Expecting that. whoa, and what's crazy too the last thing you said about Feeling coming back. that started when you were younger.

Laura Jimenez: Yeah.

Laura Jimenez: Mm-hmm

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: That feeling of being alone going through this and…

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: it was just really intensify Same energy. I'm like, wow, it's still a pattern there and I'm like, that's really insane to me. I'm sorry you had to go through that. But I'm very happy that you shared your story because there are probably a lot of other women. Who are getting have sections and they have been complications?

Laura Jimenez: Yeah. the thing that I have noticed and I'm obviously very

Laura Jimenez: I don't even know how to describe it. I'm very lucky that I did kind of have people who listen to me, but there are unfortunately women in the world and it happens to be women of color who their doctors don't listen to them. And their doctors don't pay attention to them and they have these complications and they don't make it. And they try to speak up and they tried to say what they have to say and they're silence and their silence often results in their death. And it's not something that's broadcast. It's not something that's

Laura Jimenez: shown to the public so that we can make a difference in that, it can be brought to the attention of the people who can make a difference. It's just kind of pushed to the side and shunned away and that's obviously something that bothers me a lot. I don't have to face that scrutiny. I don't have to face the issues that women of color have to face and I can't ever say that I truly understand but I feel it in my heart. I'm a very big empath and seeing the stories that I have seen just within the past few years coming out of the same hospitals where I had Immaculate treatments women of color, they've gone in and said look, my blood pressure is up high. I need help.

Laura Jimenez: And then they just get turned away and then they come back and they die and they're like why didn't she say something? you just didn't listen. and I think that just Society in general need to listen to women's voices a lot better than what they're doing right now because we have been told pretty much all of our Lives to stay quiet to stay silent. Just be girly and listen and do what you're told and as time that we stand up for what we go through and say what we feel and have someone listen to us and have someone validate us which is why I was so happy about this podcast. I mean, it's going through and it's saying

Laura Jimenez: this is what I've experienced. This is what I go through if you go through it don't feel ashamed. don't be scared. It's okay.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: yeah, yeah, exactly and wow Laura, you are really did she's Lazarus y'all like

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Yeah, she's Lazarus in the flesh. she is the Lazaria. Okay, …

Laura Jimenez: it's

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: how do you want to make that All right, but he came back. All right from the literally, and it's because of The neglect when it comes to Women's Healthcare and it's very unfortunate that you had to experience it. But then I feel like you're here to tell your story about that experience,…

Laura Jimenez: yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: because more women need to hear and understand that and then I think it'll help women be more consciously aware of who their doctor is and making sure they're building a better relationship and it's not just some. it's like as soon as you recognize your doctor is not honoring your feelings. That is the time to be like, okay, I'm going somewhere else. You're not getting this pharmaceutical money, why take their money.

00:35:00

Laura Jimenez: Be more than a number.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Be more than that number exactly, to take that control and that's what I feel like your story. Does it empowers women to take control. So now that you've gone through this live death life experience technically

Laura Jimenez: Yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: you said that your periods started to really change after that and I'm assuming that's because of what happened.

Laura Jimenez: I think it is. no one has ever been able to tell me but I was able to breastfeed my fourth son for a…

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: 

Laura Jimenez: After a year, we stopped and then my period came back four or five weeks later. and it was a b**** I mean I have never in my life thought that I period could get bad and again that you don't talk about your periods mentality. No one has ever told me hey, this s*** can get rough. No one has ever said this s*** will knock you on your ass. And make you cry. It's never been explained to me, but all of a sudden it went from maybe five To seven to nine days. And as the years go on it's closer to nine days now, so my son is six years old right now.

Laura Jimenez: I'll go nine days, and I'll be bleeding the entire time and it's so heavy that the first few months. Probably up to almost a year. I stayed home. I didn't go out during that time because I couldn't go from point A to point B and then have to change. and then Five minute, an hour later. Stop what I was doing and go change, no matter how big the pad was no matter how much the absorbency was it was going through and it was going like this and it was going fast and you can just wear a tampon. Just get a Super tampons laughed at me, my face they were like, yeah, right. It was horrible.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Yeah.

Laura Jimenez: It was absolutely horrible and

Laura Jimenez: I stayed that way and again by myself with this fear with this, cramps started getting worse. I started developing headaches, at the week of my period which I had never had before I started, just being debilitated. Just having to lay down so tired that I couldn't move I couldn't physically bring myself. It would be a pet talk in the morning when I woke up. Laura get out of bed. You gotta go make the kids breakfast Laura get up out of bed, five 10 15 minutes night time was horrible because I wasn't getting any sleep because I physically couldn't move from one position. Because if I did I would bleed all over the place.

Laura Jimenez: If I even thought about moving, or sleeping more than two or three hours, it was all over the place and I have to wake my husband up and I have to change the sheets and throw them in the washing machine and then what's the point of even going back to sleep at that point? It was horrible. and that continued until probably about Maybe two and a half years ago and I met who's now one of my best friends in the entire world. She was like, hey, you're going through some s***. I can tell just you in general. I don't know what it is, but you're going through some s*** and we sat down and we talk.

Laura Jimenez: And not just about a period, we talked about a whole bunch of things and about identity as a woman and about that sense that you've lost yourself. I'm no longer Laura. I'm mom and that's all I am, and at that moment, again, that's something that was drilled into me from Little when you're a mom You're a mom until they Longer need you and they're out of the house. then maybe you could be Laura again, but for those 18 years 19 years, whatever you're just Mom your wants don't matter. you don't need time. And she was like b****, please. You said what?

Laura Jimenez: And I was like, I don't do anything for myself. I don't just like what the f*** you mean you don't do anything for yourself you don't go to the spa and I was like no I don't even wear makeup. I don't paint my fingernails anymore. I don't pay my toenails anymore. I take a two minute shower. that's it in and out no and she really got me to stop and to start thinking about myself. Validating the things that I feel expressing the things that I need which in reality turned and made things. A thousand percent better and my marriage with my kids letting them know and creating that boundary that hey I need these 10 minutes to take the shower.

00:40:00

Laura Jimenez: The Plato pizza will be eaten in 10 minutes, but you don't have to come in shove it in the shower with me. I'll be mommy again in a minute. But right now This is my privacy. and then at that moment I was like hey I can say What I'm feeling right now with my period I can express this to my husband. I can let him know. Hey, I physically can't get out of bed right now. I can't do this. I can't move. I don't want to cook dinner. there's food in there, but I don't want to cook dinner. Let's order a pizza. I don't want to see anybody right now because I feel frustrated and I feel angry and I feel sad and I want to punch something and I want to cry in something and I want to eat ice cream all at the same time.

Laura Jimenez: And that was liberating it was freeing and then that opened up conversations because then I was telling my husband I can't physically go out because I can't be changing my pad every five minutes. I can't worry about am I gonna bleed on the taxi see and am I gonna bleed on the bus seat or am I gonna believe wherever and we started talking and my husband I think originally jokingly, said what about an adult diaper? and I was like

Laura Jimenez: You may be on to something and so I just took my happy little ass right to the store and I was looking around and also, People gonna look at me funny. But I don't give a f*** at this moment and…

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: That's right.

Laura Jimenez: I went straight to the aisle, and I looked and got the little incontinence, That I think they're called pants or something like that and they're just kind of like an adult pull-up. you just slide it on underwear but it's absorbent. It's large. Like I said before I'm a larger lady. So, these little teeny tiny little don't cover anything. And I was like, what? I'm gonna try it. I got it home. I tried it and that night was the first night in years that I was able to sleep the entire night. and I get eight hours of sleep and I was like f*** that. I'm not buying anything else.

Laura Jimenez: I was like, I will buy these from now on and every month I buy a pack and I use it for my period. And at first I kind of was again self-conscious because at this point it feels it is a diaper. Alright? Yes, everyone gonna be able to see is everyone gonna know everyone it went right back to that 12 year old feeling and then I snapped myself out of it and I was like Does it matter are you comfortable? Yes, are you protected? Yes, can you now go out and live life? Yes. And so I got over it and I was like, yeah, and now, if a friend comes over and I see it. I'm like f***. Yeah, we're a diaper you getting me.

Laura Jimenez: you should try it and I've even had some friends actually try, when they know they're gonna go out for a long period of time or whatever they're like, holy s*** Laura it works. I'm like, yeah, I know it does.

Laura Jimenez: I'm like, there's nothing better than to know that you go out and you can still enjoy your life. You can still do the things that you want to do. You can still have the fun that you want to have you can go and play with your kids at the park and spend a couple of hours there or you can go out and go to the amusement park or whatever go on date night and not have this worrying waste in the back of your head. it's just one less thing to add to the weight of our shoulders. And yeah, once I said f*** everything got a little better now granted the cramps are still there. The headache still there, they're still days when I'm just like Dave we're ordering pizza. I'm sorry, or sometimes luckily my oldest son. He's 19.

00:45:00

Laura Jimenez: And so, he was raised to understand that there were times, when I had my periods so I raised them. So that whoever they eventually end up with doesn't actually have that. Scaredness to talk to them that fright, my son's know what goes on so they know, women have their periods. They know s*** sucks, once a month for us, sometimes it's horrible. Sometimes it's okay and they know how to treat a woman and so luckily he'll help cook or help clean or whatever and I have that assistance now that I'm actually able to speak out and say no I'm not okay. I don't have to be Superwoman all the time.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: I'm still glad you brought up that point. It's one of the things that I talked about with my clients because we do menstrual cycle planning. And the first thing a part of the mind is the concept of self and that's really what it's all about is how we see in view ourself because however we see of you ourselves. We're gonna project that and then we're gonna end up attracting that and then when you started voicing,…

Laura Jimenez: impact

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Because you were ashamed that was to speak out. That was The Cure because now that you realize I do feel ashamed you realize that's the problem that the solution is To get rid of it, but the hard thing is speaking up, that is the challenge…

Laura Jimenez: Yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: because you're so comfortable being ashamed. remember we were talking about this since you're beginning time at 12 years old. That shame that this is decades. We're talking about here, and I want people to understand, from the time. She was 12 up into her 30s. This was shame that she carried with her period that happened every single month and that's what we have to undo. So it's like wow,…

Laura Jimenez: Yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: we just went through your transformation and I want people to understand the self-discovery journey is there it's forever.

Laura Jimenez: yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: There is point where you're done if you ever think that you Have learned everything that you need to learn and you have completely cut off communication with opportunities, when we do that because it's a forever Journey, it is and I'm so happy to see you evolve that way, and Way and learn this way and be like I feel this way and it's okay unapologetically that I feel this way and…

Laura Jimenez: exactly

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: that's great and that empowered you.

Laura Jimenez: It did I mean it's at this point. I am who I am. And like you said, it's an always learning and I'm still on a journey to still find that balance between being Laura being a wife being a mom being a business owner. I'm still finding that balance and finding out how to improve myself how to learn not only things about my business but learn things about myself learn how to take care of myself because like I said before, There are some women out here who don't even know their own bodies. They don't even understand how their body works or why their body works and you see it on tiktok videos, they'll go up and they'll ask, questions about the female body to people on the street. And they'll have no idea.

Laura Jimenez: and it's not just men, of course, we know men have the most craziest answers for women's body parts and what happens to us and I've even seen one where some man thought that we literally bled for 30 minutes out of the month and we got to choose when that one was a

Laura Jimenez: That one was interesting, but it's women as well. There are some women who don't know their body parts who don't know the functions of each body part who don't understand why they get a period or how they get a period. There are some women who are in their 20s, they're 30 still don't understand that they could have a baby and get pregnant their first time having sex or the guy pulled out I couldn't be pregnant we don't understand it. The education is still not there in 2024. It's one day out of a year and girls are thrown into a room and told one thing and boys are thrown into a room and told one thing and that's it.

00:50:00

Laura Jimenez: And again, it's still you get the little pads and the little pack or whatever and that's It happened in my goddaughter. she's 16 years old and she tells me they came in and they gave us it's like the toothpaste day when we were in school and the dentist came and he gave the toothpaste of the toothbrush and the coloring book and then you were cool. That's how they've turned it into. It's just like an excuse to get out of class for an hour. You go in they give you some pads they say here. You're gonna need these then leave. And there's no education. There's no showing there's no explaining. There's no understanding. it's gonna happen get over it by

Laura Jimenez: and we need education. We need understanding. We need voices to be heard.

Laura Jimenez: Hey exactly and that's again learning something new. I never knew it. I never thought To correlate my periods will move Cycles or anything like that. It's just always been a day that it happened. it was just okay, it's gonna come and as it coming around the same time or whatever and…

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Yes, I highly agree with that.

Laura Jimenez: I never even thought that there was anything symbolical about it.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: I highly agree and I feel like

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: How do you say? I feel like now that women are coming out their educating more women,…

Laura Jimenez: 

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: about the body and I think it's absolutely beautiful because

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Just being a dance Artist as well. I really value the body I see it as a temple and is so sacred. And so it's even around that time, I tend to see it as a secret time.

Laura Jimenez: Yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: I was interviewing a lady the other day who called it her Moon time, because I was telling her as mine's always occurs right before the full moon the waxing gibbous,…

Laura Jimenez: 28 days

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: and it always happens and I started using the moon for my watch literally I would know that the new moon.

Laura Jimenez: Yeah.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: I'm ovulating because the full moon here. I come it's on and then I learned just naturally. you're known as a red witch, and I'm like, wait, what's this? I started learning about the dark feminine energy, and understanding hey when your periods consistent around a certain Moon times because there's I think 12 days is

00:55:00

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: It's just signaling what you're going through your season,…

Laura Jimenez: Yeah, once we know what's there.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: and I've been like wow,…

Laura Jimenez: I think it's just the Journey of finding it and…

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: I really have been embracing re my authenticity like my passion like…

Laura Jimenez: I want to find it you realize how amazing it is and…

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: who I am my transformation and…

Laura Jimenez: how powerful it is.

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: that's considered part of the dark feminine energy, being authentic, in that part, of you being able to speak up for yourself because that's who you are unapologetically while Society is telling you to behave this way as a woman and to embrace that other side to be like, no I know woman Watch Me Bleed m***********.

Laura Jimenez: Thank you so much for having me. It was an honor. I mean as long as at least one person out there now no longer feels alone and…

Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: I like it.

Laura Jimenez: no longer feels like there should be ashamed. Then I think I can go on with my day. Very happy.