Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Cups

I hate having my period. I don't hate my period itself, my period really isn't all that bad, I just hate dealing with tampons and all that. 

One day I was reading about greener solutions to health and beauty. Baking Soda instead of shampoo and toothpaste, compostable toilets...you know, fun stuff. They eventually talked about greening up your period. I have to admit I was a little interested.

I'm a tampon girl. I'll even go so far as to say that I use OBs...no applicators and only a small amount of wrapping. Not too bad, but really not all that green. They use bleach and other chemicals. Knowing this, I was curious what other options there were. Some of the options that women have for greening up your period are organic cotton tampons, fabric reusable pads(not a chance), and then menstrual cups. None of these options sounded really great...especially the fabric pads. However, like most products I look at on the internet, I always read the user comments. 

It was interesting really. Most people that had bought and used the menstrual cups were raving about them. So I started looking at different menstrual cup options. The one that caught my eye was the Diva Cup. The name is cringe worthy, but the site was pretty helpful. I definitely put it on my list of things to try.

As luck would have it, we happened to drive by the store that carries the Diva Cup on the way home from a friend's house. Mario was nice enough to pull over so I could run inside and look for one. I totally made him come in with me...he wasn't thrilled but he obliged the ole wifey.  

There were two options of Diva Cups sitting on the shelf. While Mario wise-cracked about all the other green stuff on the shelves, I grabbed for one of the Cups and tried to figure out the difference. They looked the same, but one said it was for "women over 30 or for women who have had a natural birth or c-section". The other was for "women under 30 years old or for women who haven't given birth. I grabbed the cup for the over 30 crowd. 

Mario was curious what the difference was. I told him that I was going for the cup for 30 and over cup. Of course he started asking why I needed this one if I haven't had a kid. My response? "Well, honey, apparently when you turn 30 years old, your lady bits get all stretched out, cause it says I need the bigger size." He just laughed. I was offended really. I'm a big girl and I'm used to having to buy bigger sizes, but I certainly don't need a bigger size for my coochie! 

Of course, I did as I was told and took the appropriate size. I had pretty much finished my period earlier that same day, but I decided to give it a try. I figure, I don't want to have to try to figure it out while on my period. I should figure it out before hand.

Here's the thing, when you fold it up to slide in, it's a little wider than a normal tampon. It did take a while to figure it all out. It took some working and maneuvering, but I finally got that sucker in. There was some shoving, wiggling, and spinning. (You gotta spin it around when it's inside to make sure you get the right suction). It took a while, but it eventually was in place. 

It's different for sure. It's a cup that stays open to catch all the fluid. So there's a certain "fullness" that you feel. It wasn't uncomfortable, but I was totally aware it was there. I actually felt like if I sneezed it would shoot out and knock someone out. I'm sure it wasn't going anywhere, but it was an interesting feeling. I'm sure I'll get used to it. I'm willing to give it a shot just for the sake of only having to clean it every 8-12 hours. Way better than every 2 hours with tampons and not to mention how they dry me out...I like to call it cotton mouth. Plus swimming, running, dancing, and all those cliche activities that you really want to do when you are on your period, are actually doable! 

It comes with a cute little cotton bag to carry it in. And the best part? It comes with a little lapel pin that says "Diva". So now you can recognize all the other ladies that use a coochie cup....great. I might just give that to my mom...she'll love it and will have no idea what it's from! 

I'll let you know how it goes...I'm curious myself! I almost can't wait for my next period...ok not really. 

2 comments:

  1. LOL! You are just too funny. I have my own reservations about the "coochie cup" for one, how the heck do you clean it without creating a much bigger mess to clean?!?

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  2. Ha ha ha I have seen those in the store before and was always so curious... but no where near as brave as you.
    I just stared like a confused puppy with it's head tilted sideways for a really long time.

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