WARNING: If frank talk about menstruation (and all its components) will gross you out, or if you know me personally and would not like to know me this intimately, please read a different post.)
I recently did what I said I would never do... I bought and used a
Diva Cup (menstrual cup). I'd looked into this a few years ago and was grossed out and offended. I rolled my eyes at the women who said it was empowering to see the lifeblood that came out of them every month.
But then, now... years later, 3 babies later, I was ready. I was tired of the pads. The smell that pads produce. The irritatation, the disposal, the leakage. I couldn't ignore it any longer. After my period's 18-month hiatus (during and after pregnancy with the twins), I decided I was woman enough to try the Diva Cup. I convinced myself that I could conquer the awkwardness. Afterall, did it make any sense that my husband, midwife and OB were more familiar with my insides than I was?
I was never a tampon-girl. Tried it once and the idea of toxic-shock scared me too much. Plus, it was almost impossible to remove. But that's another story for another blog. I say that to say that insertion of foreign objects is new for me.
Okay, so it was time to try the
Diva Cup. I waited until my period was showing signs of coming because I wanted to trouble-shoot before I actually needed the thing to work. It took several tries. At first it was impossible to turn, because it wasn't opening up completely (from the fold). I watched Youtube tutorials and read the directions 100 times. It really would have been helpful to have an x-ray mirror in the bathroom to be able to *see* where I was going and if it was in correctly.
I found out that the key is to know that you're going horizontally and you're not sticking anything UP. Visualizing that helped a ton. I read online that some women felt like the cup traveled up during the day, but I felt the opposite. I think, if anything, it moved down. I kept wondering if I inserted it far back enough....I'll try again next month.
The only thing that was annoying was the stem. I'm betting I will be one of those people that cuts it off because it truly is irritating and a constant reminder that you're on your period and have a silicone cup inserted in your vagina.
After my flow really started flowing, I was surprised to notice the difference! It was sooooooo much cleaner and fresher feeling than a pad. That's when I knew that I was going to be a Diva girl for the long haul. It's going to take a little getting used to dump the blood, wash the cup and reinsert...but honestly, it's not any grosser than the other methods of blood gathering that you're used to.
Overall, the biggest challenge for me was knowing there was a learning curve, needing the time to learn and practice and having 3 little ones that offer virtually NO PRIVACY when I'm in the restroom. When I was home alone with them, I would have to hurry in the bathroom and sometimes I would resort to a pad because I couldn't take the time to relax and concentrate and turn the cup, etc. while an 18-month-old screamed on the other side of the door.
If you have kids, you know the questions and how interested they are in every single thing you do (not to mention wanting to help or do it themselves): "Mommy, what's that?" "Mommy, why are you bleeding?" "Is that blood?"
With privacy, I'm sure I would have been able to master the DivaCup in one cycle. But I'll take it easy and have patience.
Though I think I love the Diva cup, don't think you'll catch me wearing that silly lapel pin that it comes with. Really, Divacup?
