Day 4
Well, last night, I woke up with the feeling that I needed to empty the cup, so I got out of bed, went to the bathroom, and it was about half full, but I had leaked 1 drop onto my overnight pad. I managed to empty the cup, rinse and reinsert without even my glasses on and return to bed. In the morning, the cup was half full again, but with no leaks. I decided that this cup does feel a bit stiff and remembered how with the “soft” Meluna, I couldn’t even feel it, so I decided to try the “C” fold facing backwards with that and it opened right away, though it was still difficult to tell that it had opened. I find that I need to reach up a bit on the sides to feel the open top half, because the bottom half, with this one, is just so darn squishy it remains squished feeling at the bottom, even though the top is fully open. As it moves up throughout the day, we’ll see if that changes, but the top is open, so I know I’m good. Also, I think the suction with the soft cup is much gentler than with the “classic,” so that also feels different. It will be interesting to see what happens to my flow within the next 24 hours. As I mentioned in my mikvah post, Jewish women must allow 5 days for bleeding before they can count their “white” days. The question is, will I be done by then? Last week I certainly wasn’t. Will the cup shorten my days of flow?
Later
So far very uneventful. I am back to the soft cup…MUCH more comfortable, and I even can gage when it’s open now, by using a bit of common sense and checking a bit higher up on the cup after I’ve inserted. I have to say that now I’m thinking that the Meluna with the ring on the bottom was actually easier to grab hold of than the one with the stem, now! lol. I like the stem, still, because it’s longer… but there is less to grab on to, so that makes it more of a challenge. I’m realizing that there are so many potentials for preference. It’s also really important to “size” your vagina. Some women have shorter vaginal canals than others, this will affect many factors with your cup.
I went back to wearing a liner today, but it’s not necessary. I feel like taking it off. I went 4 hours without changing the cup and didn’t leak even a drop. The only danger is forgetting that you have your period! Overall, that’s been my biggest challenge. I realize now how much my life revolved around my menstrual flow when I was menstruating in cloth pads only. After 4 days of using the cup (only interrupted by that one night of exceptionally heavy flow where I used pads alone), I think that I might prefer to have some “breaks” from the cup, perhaps overnight, where cloth pads are still crucial. When my period begins to really taper down, maybe I’ll give one of these smaller Meluna’s a try…
later
A quick word about vaginal secretions and cervical fluid…I still get to keep tabs on this while menstruating. Yippie!
To Be Continued…
The tabs and rings just get in my way. I have always cut them off. The best way for me to take out the cup is to bear down a little and pinch the bottom.
Thanks for your comment.
I've come to learn that this depends largely on the length of one's vagina. For some women with shorter vaginas, they really don't need anything additional to grab on to and will cut off the stems, rings, etc… but for women with longer vaginas, they really need to have something extra to grab onto to bring the cup down to reach so that they CAN grab onto the bottom. I didn't know this until I started researching and trouble shooting. 🙂 So it really is an individual thing.
Bearing down, though, is a GREAT rule of thumb for everyone. It's also important to note that the cup is worn very low in the vagina and that, for some women with longer vaginas, the cup will naturally work it's way a bit higher throughout the day even when inserted to be worn very low.
You are really making me want to try this but I'm afraid I'll hate it and throw away $30. I'm mostly suspicious because I have a retroverted uterus which can complicate cup usage.
Hi 4Daughters! A few things I'd like to mention about your comment… first of all, the Meluna cup might be the least expensive on the market. I think it's 13 Euro (around $20, I think).
The reason for this is because they are not made from (the most popular) silicone or (not as popular due to allergy and sensitivity issues)latex, but rather medical grade plastic and this is a more inexpensive material. Because it is plastic, there is a lot more that can be done with it as far as textures and colors, as well. But there are a lot of factors that come into play when purchasing a menstrual cup and there are many options on the market.
In my previous post, I included a link to this website: http://community.livejournal.com/menstrual_cups/1285963.html and I just can't say enough about it. There are women on there that have done comparisons and it is really helpful, but the truth is, it's difficult to really understand what they MEAN when you don't have a point of reference. But the really great thing about that site is that you can sell your cup second hand (it is sterilized by boiling) if you are unhappy with it and get some money back that way. The fewer times you've used it, the more money you can recoup, which means that if you try it out for a few days and find you don't like it, you may be able to get back nearly the amount that you paid for it.
The second thing I want to mention is that there are various giveaways happening all the time with the different companies that manufacture the menstrual cup (in fact, ahem, there might be another one coming up here at Wise Woman soon…). If money was a serious issue, I might advise you to zero in on which cup you would most like to try and then follow them on facebook or on their respective websites, where they typically advertize their giveaways, either from the company directly or from other blogs and websites that they donate to.
And lastly, I want to address the "retroverted uterus" issue. Many women have a variety of medical diagnoses. This can range from a "retroverted uterus" or "inverted uterus" to "narrow pelvis" and so on and so forth.
THESE CONDITIONS HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING ON USE OF THE MENSTRUAL CUP.
The cup sits low in the vagina, no where NEAR the uterus or even the cervix and forms a seal within the vaginal walls and simply COLLECTS the menstrual flow. It is a common misconception that these issues may impact the use of the cup, but it is simply not true.
The only issue that I have encountered is for those using an IUD, because there is theoretical and remote possibility that you may somehow pull the string of the IUD with use of the cup. Many women who have the IUD, though, DO use the cup with no issue whatsoever because the cup sits so low down in the vagina and the cup and the string never even meet.
The cup is NOT like a tampon. It is NOT worn high up in the vaginal canal. This is part of the reason it is so clean and easy to insert.
Thanks for writing in and please let me know if you have any further questions.