Use a menstrual cup

as of yesterday – can’t believe how normal this seems already and how ok I am with the whole process. It’s lovely.

as of the 26th… I am a wee bit impressed with my body as it usually gets thrown by jetlag and what have you.

I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to use it in Japan as bathrooms (even in houses) tend to have separate rooms for toilets and sinks, so I bought some tampons just in case but… the thought of opening the box was already more hassle and discomfort than I was up for and I’ve been managing ok (discreetly!) since. It really made me see how attached I am to the thing when faced with the threat of not being able to use it…

(as of yesterday)

I seriously can’t get over how simple this makes everything. It is so much less hassle and I am so much less aware – and the novelty of it is really kicking that normal “I’m menstruating, leave me to feel sorry for myself” feeling in the butt.

Edit: I had a bit of a woohoo moment today, at not having to start a bathroom “bin” this month. I love that there’s no extra waste with it.

is that I only have to look back at my entries to see that NO! I still have another 2 weeks!!!

_{why won’t it hurry up and come??}

(and no, this isn’t a continuation of the e-bay thread…!!!)

So yes, the cup has won me over. It was tough at first, it took some getting used to and some clever navigation but – the thing is amazing. The only downside is I will have to spend some of the money I’m going to save in tampons on post-it notes to remind me to take it out – that’s how utterly forgetaboutable it makes your period. Once you get past the messing about with the stalk it is utterly painless, very easy to use, and basically is like not having a period (except the chocolate cravings, which I suspect there is no cure for).

I wanted to wait until the end and see if it was a pain to sterilise – but I bought it its own little pan yesterday and it’s happily bobbing away, like, no hassle at all.

These things are seriously great and seriously recommended – it felt like a bit of a whim, and I totally had my doubts at the beginning, but it just takes the hassle out of the whole thing. You don’t have to worry about leaking if you’re half an hour away from a loo. You don’t have to worry about remembering to take things or buy things or finding places to stash/dispose of them.

It already feels natural.

I think I’m finally getting the hang of it… There’s a way of kind of bending it that gets it out half at a time. Phew!! No more fighting my passages to yield the cup!

I could feel it a bit when I was walking around earlier but otherwise I’ve hardly been aware of it at all.

And although it was a bit messy at the beginning changing over from tampons, I had a clean change earlier so I guess it’s doing what it should be. It certainly works, it’s just getting it to be comfortable too, but I think I’m getting the knack!

Well… I’ve emptied it once. It still hurts a bit but I noticed that the way I’d snipped off the stalk had left a rough bit on the edge so I took that off and I can barely feel it at all now – I think it’s a bit higher than this morning.

It’s still more hassle than tampons, but kinda fun. And I feel noble about the two tampons I’ve already not used. lol.

We’ll see.

So I had another go this morning and it still felt really uncomfortble, so I trimmed almost the whole of the stem and it felt a lot better. It’s just that tiny bit that sticks out from the base, at the moment it’s still less comfortable than tampons.

Does anyone know how far you can trim to? I’ve trimmed between the two grooves already…

but actually I’m a little upset with it. I couldn’t get it to sit high enough to not need to cut off the entire stem, and removing it really hurt – it just seems too big and clumsy for my delicate bits.

Plus I have swimming tomorrow and don’t really want to swim with it until I know I can trust it. So I’m back on the tampax tonight. But I’ll take it with me to work and see if it’s not a bit better tomorrow – I guess I’m just tired and was so excited about using it. Maybe I will get used to it, or maybe my body’s just not the right shape/size. Feeling a little defeated though.

_{I’ll try to do this as delicately as possible}...

• how big??
• whole process quite strange
• understand the hoover comment now
• sitting helped
• not less comfortable than the alternatives but… weird, for now
• looking forward to curtain up (ETA next week sometime)
• think I like it…