Anyone who has been pregnant knows of the seemingly never stopping need to pee. And you need to remember to drink a lot of water and stay hydrated, which doesn't make it any easier. It’s kind of a hassle, but not such a big deal when there is a nearby toilet.
But what about when you’re outside, it’s cold and there is no bathroom available? And you really can’t wait much longer! Well, let me share a tip with you about a very special piece of plastic that made my nomadic, outdoorsy pregnancy into a peeing freedom journey.
I was 24-years-old and living in Mexico City when I got my first PStyle from my friend Elisa. It was wrapped in a beautiful flower-print cloth baggie that looked a lot like a glasses case.
I didn’t have any idea what it was, so I examined the plastic funnel in search of something that would give me a clue about its use.
Elisa kept on smiling widely. She seemed pretty amused at my confusion.
“Do you know what it is?” She asked.
I shook my head.
| “It’s for peeing while standing up! You will never have to envy men anymore!” |
Picture found in the Disordely Chickadee blog. Click on image to visit site. Although Elisa awkwardly tried to show me how to use the device, peeing while standing up and in front of someone else proved to be a very difficult task. “It’s hard at the beginning,” she explained, “just practice in the shower.”
I didn’t practice in the shower. In fact, I didn’t practice at all. The ability to pee while standing up had in fact been the number one thing I envied about boys when I was little, but I lived in the city, had a toilet in my apartment, and no real need (or much non-criminal chance) to pee outside. So I just kept the PStyle in my drawer for a few months.
I was never the outdoorsy type while growing up. The one time I remember trying to pee outdoors when I was around 12 I ended up peeing all over my pants and felt like a complete failure at the squatting technique, which made me not want to try it again. But that year many things in my life pushed me towards the decision of quitting my job and going out in a traveling adventure towards Central America that connected me a lot with nature and completely changed everything for me. It wasn’t an easy transition. It was incredibly beautiful, but it was hard for me to get used to not having my daily comforts, like, let’s say, an easily available clean toilet with a toilet seat. Yes, toilet seats are a huge luxury in Mexican and Central American public bathrooms. And that’s when the pStyle became a lifesaver.
The hardest part was to learn to relax my bladder while standing up, and I kept being afraid of making a huge mess. But with some practice, peeing while standing became a lot easier and Oh, so liberating! I soon stopped wanting to walk ridiculously far away from everything, I started being able to pee right there on the side of the road just like my guy friends would do. “Nobody would really think you’re peeing anyways,” said my friend Jenny, “they would probably think you’re just dumping the contents of a water bottle or something like that.”
By the time I got pregnant, the pStyle was already considered an essential tool I needed to always bring with me everywhere I went. You know, just in case.
When you’re pregnant and love camping and hiking but hate having to walk out of your tent several times at night and having to expose your butt to the freezing night air, the pStyle is a really good thing to have.
I didn’t practice in the shower. In fact, I didn’t practice at all. The ability to pee while standing up had in fact been the number one thing I envied about boys when I was little, but I lived in the city, had a toilet in my apartment, and no real need (or much non-criminal chance) to pee outside. So I just kept the PStyle in my drawer for a few months.
I was never the outdoorsy type while growing up. The one time I remember trying to pee outdoors when I was around 12 I ended up peeing all over my pants and felt like a complete failure at the squatting technique, which made me not want to try it again. But that year many things in my life pushed me towards the decision of quitting my job and going out in a traveling adventure towards Central America that connected me a lot with nature and completely changed everything for me. It wasn’t an easy transition. It was incredibly beautiful, but it was hard for me to get used to not having my daily comforts, like, let’s say, an easily available clean toilet with a toilet seat. Yes, toilet seats are a huge luxury in Mexican and Central American public bathrooms. And that’s when the pStyle became a lifesaver.
The hardest part was to learn to relax my bladder while standing up, and I kept being afraid of making a huge mess. But with some practice, peeing while standing became a lot easier and Oh, so liberating! I soon stopped wanting to walk ridiculously far away from everything, I started being able to pee right there on the side of the road just like my guy friends would do. “Nobody would really think you’re peeing anyways,” said my friend Jenny, “they would probably think you’re just dumping the contents of a water bottle or something like that.”
By the time I got pregnant, the pStyle was already considered an essential tool I needed to always bring with me everywhere I went. You know, just in case.
When you’re pregnant and love camping and hiking but hate having to walk out of your tent several times at night and having to expose your butt to the freezing night air, the pStyle is a really good thing to have.
| I would even say that learning to pee while standing up is good as birth preparation, since it requires you to relax certain muscles that you don’t normally relax in a standing position. And you can practice your Kegels after taking a leak to make sure you fully empty your bladder. |
Some other wonderful things about the pStyle are that it eliminates the need for toilet paper, it’s easy to clean, cheap, reusable, and all around just great! And you won’t ever have to sit down on a nasty porta potty ever again. At least not to pee!
The one thing that I found frustrating about it, but I’m just gonna go ahead a blame my “pregnancy brain” for it, was that the pStyle was very easy to lose. I lost at least two or three and they are not easy to find in regular stores. Some health food stores carry them, but for the most part you gotta order them online and they don’t come with a baggie or carrier to make their availability easier. A couple of times during my pregnancy I became desperate enough I ended up making my own disposable pStyle by cutting a water bottle in a similar shape. I would strongly suggest investing in a carrier bag with a clip that can be attached to your backpack or your pants.
After a while of using the pStyle, my relationship with my body, my pelvic floor, and my bladder really changed. It’s been a few years now since Elisa gifted me that first plastic funnel and I’m proud to say that not only did I master the peeing standing up method, but with the gained confidence I also became quite a pro at squatting and peeing while exposing as little as possible and without peeing my pants. I love squatting now that I know it’s not my only option.
If this all sounds wonderful, you can go ahead and order a pStyle (or a few). They come in different colors! And if you live in Olympia, WA, you might be able to find them in the Olympia Food Co-Op.
Would being able to pee standing up make a difference to you?
Have you ever used the pStyle or another female urination device? What did you think!?
The one thing that I found frustrating about it, but I’m just gonna go ahead a blame my “pregnancy brain” for it, was that the pStyle was very easy to lose. I lost at least two or three and they are not easy to find in regular stores. Some health food stores carry them, but for the most part you gotta order them online and they don’t come with a baggie or carrier to make their availability easier. A couple of times during my pregnancy I became desperate enough I ended up making my own disposable pStyle by cutting a water bottle in a similar shape. I would strongly suggest investing in a carrier bag with a clip that can be attached to your backpack or your pants.
After a while of using the pStyle, my relationship with my body, my pelvic floor, and my bladder really changed. It’s been a few years now since Elisa gifted me that first plastic funnel and I’m proud to say that not only did I master the peeing standing up method, but with the gained confidence I also became quite a pro at squatting and peeing while exposing as little as possible and without peeing my pants. I love squatting now that I know it’s not my only option.
If this all sounds wonderful, you can go ahead and order a pStyle (or a few). They come in different colors! And if you live in Olympia, WA, you might be able to find them in the Olympia Food Co-Op.
Would being able to pee standing up make a difference to you?
Have you ever used the pStyle or another female urination device? What did you think!?
