You Go, Girl!

I don't know about you, but I have some pretty remarkable stories related to, well....peeing in public places. For one, to make a very long story short, I was once rushed to a hospital (7 months pregnant) in an ambulance, only to find out that the contractions were mostly caused by a full bladder, which I was unable to relieve because of drugs I was on to stop contractions. (Read more about that wild ride here.)

Since then, I have had other moments of intense-need-to-pee-but-finding-myself-in-places-that-were-not-conducive-to-doing-so. For example, I once peed in a diaper, inside a mini-van, on the top floor of a parking garage, in a strange city, on the 4th of July. Yup, really. I did. (And let me tell you-- toddler-sized diapers were not designed to hold adult quantities of urine!)

Another time, we were stranded (parked actually) on I-294 in Chicago when the urge hit me so bad that I ended up having to pee in a large, empty, McDonald's coffee cup. I'm sorry!! What would you have done?! It was an EMERGENCY! (And remember, I am an expert on peeing emergencies!)

Believe it or not, there are other stories even worse than these, but I don't want you to think any worse of me than you already do now, so I'll quit there on that part, but I'm really excited, because I was poking around the internet recently and came upon a product so revolutionary that I asked if I could do a review and Giveaway! The answer was YES.

The Go-Girl is a "female urinary device" (a.k.a. "FUD") that allows women to pee under circumstances they might not otherwise be able to. (Congratulations, Lilu, for guessing! :) Ever been in a nasty bathroom with a toilet that you're afraid to sit on? (What? You've never been to my house?! JK) How about on a boat for hours, miles from a bathroom and too wimpy to jump in the water? Or in a tent in the middle of the night with pouring rain outside and an urgent need to hike to the outhouse a half mile away? Or in a line of 20 women to a filthy porta-potty? On an impossibly long road trip? It cracks me up to write this, but there is a solution! Check it out: I was amused by this idea, but I am impressed by the GoGirl. First of all, it's an American-made product; the brainchild of Sarah Dillon, a soccer mom who lives in Minneapolis! Introduced only just last January, the GoGirl's packaging is fun and functional, fitting easily into my purse. One Go-Girl is only $5.99 plus $2.39 for shipping, and you can save two dollars by buying three. (If you're not sqeemish about reusing it; it's also hand-washable.)

Here's a video of me demonstrating the product....(dont' worry; it's quick, and definitely worth watching.)

I did use my Go-Girl (for research purposes only, actually) and found that it was nearly impossible to pee standing up, with pants on, but I was able to use it facing the "normal way" and squatting, as in the "hover" method in a bathroom so nasty you wouldn't dare sit on the toilet. If you do this, do be a dear and wipe the seat if you drip on it (I HATE it when women who are freaked out about toilet seats hover, drip, and walk away! Disgusting!! If you're going to pee like a guy, lift the seat like a guy (or most guys, hopefully.) I really look forward to taking this baby on the next trip through Chicago!

What do you have to lose by taking a look at the Go-Girl website? (You know you're curious.) It's actually kind of entertaining, and they have a quarterly Go-Girl Sweepstakes, in which 20 winners can choose up to $500 in prizes, like mountain bikes, camping equipment, and gift cards!

As part of this product review, I am giving away "GoGirl" samples to two lucky winners. All you have to do is leave a comment. Link to my Giveaway in a post (about your own "bladder confessions," perhaps? to earn two more entries (leave the link in a separate comment, please). The deadline to enter is Sunday at 12am.

What are you waiting for? Go, Girl! (or Boy!)