The easiest way to tell that Liz Grey* has her period is to check out the size of her purse. When Aunt Flo arrives for her brutal, stormy visits, Liz switches to a tote bag to lug around her box of super-plus tampons. For those five days a month, life gets tricky: Her commute causes panic if she gets stuck in traffic, and long meetings have her nipping out to the washroom with her purse for her tampons? hourly change. ?My periods have always been heavy and crampy,? she says. But after two kids, now seven and two, it?s gotten gorier than an episode of The Walking Dead.
Then there?s Nicole Forrest*, 37. Before she had her baby, her periods were hellish, thanks to endometriosis

(a condition that causes uterine cells to grow outside of the uterus), with excruciating pain and violent diarrhea. But when she got her first postpartum period seven months after giving birth, she was delighted to find that the pain had all but vanished. ?It?s still heavy, but I have none of the other symptoms. It?s such a huge relief!? And for Lillian Brown, 37, a mom of two kids ages three and six, trying to track her post-kids period is futile. ?Between the spotting and the actual period, I?m seeing some form of blood half of the month.?
So why do some women?s periods worsen, other?s improve, and some just go haywire, after having kids"
In theory, the period you had pre-pregnancy is the period you should have post-pregnancy. If you?re not breastfeeding, you can expect your period to return ab...