Menstrual Cup Journal: Day 5

Day 5

Well, I’m totally happy to say that my adventures in the menstrual cup have been rather uneventful.  Yesterday evening I decided to sleep in the soft cup and found that the “C” fold does work best with a softer cup and a “punch down” works best with a stiffer cup. In both cases, because of the pubic bone in the front, it seems that the cups open easiest if the folded side faces back. I’ve also learned that one of the air holes on the cup should be right inside the crease of the fold to assist in it’s opening quickly and properly in the vagina.

The soft cup is much more comfortable to use. It’s not even that I feel the harder cup, but when I’ve tried both I guess I do realize though much I notice the harder one over the softer one.

This morning, I woke up and my cup was about 1/4th full. That was after a full night sleeping in it. And there were no leaks. That means that I could have gone to bed without my back up pad! So, this morning, I decided to “move down” to the medium size, soft Meluna cup. This one has a ring grip, which I can’t tell if I like more or less than the stem, lol. It’s easier to find and to pull on than the stem. Of course, I have to reach in further than I do with the stem. But not so much further that it makes any practical difference.

Image by Meluna

This cup went in quickly and easily, more so than the large cup, and is very comfortable. It definitely would not be able to handle my heaviest flow day, but I think for a woman with a normal to slightly heavy flow, this would be totally sufficient for the entire cycle. I also noticed that the “classic” of the same model doesn’t feel that much firmer. I mean, yes, it is more firm but perhaps because it’s a smaller size it’s just less noticeable. So far, so good.

Okay, so I have not been wearing any back up liner and have not had any leaks. I went to empty the cup and the first thing I noticed was that, with the medium sized cup, I needed to get into a good deep squat in order to insert my thumb and first finger to take it out. With the larger size, I was able to just use one finger to pull the cup (against the pressure of my vaginal wall) out far enough for me to grab hold with two fingers (much easier while sitting on the toilet), not so with the medium cup. It’s too far up. (Though for a woman with a short vaginal canal, it might be a perfect fit). The next thing I noticed was that the suction was AMAZING! No wonder women have been finding that use of the cup shortens their periods. I could absolutely see this suction effecting how quickly the menstrual flow makes it way down into the cup. And the third thing I noticed was that my cup just had, literally, a couple drops of menstrual flow in the very bottom. Imagine my surprise! I don’t want to speak too soon, but if this continues, I might actually be able to do my first “check” for a “white day” this evening, which would be about 3-4 days earlier than I was able to last month. That is certainly noteworthy! The only issue is that while I was sitting with this medium cup, I noticed a bit of cramping sensation. Now I had washed the cup with soap and water before inserting (after boiling), so perhaps that is the issue, but I also washed the other cups throughout my period with soap and water almost every time I emptied and reinserted them (sometimes I just rinsed with water) and had no issue. I’m going to have to keep an eye on that.