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It has been a while since I posted some good old fashioned menstrual cup TMI, hasn't it?
See that, kids? It's a classic TMI warning that itself contains TMI. You know how many years you have to spend making other people cringe in order to master that? Many. It helps once you hit the legal drinking age, though.
Ah, the glorious bloody cup, the fountain of goop, the hemogoblet!
More years ago than I can recall, I got fed up with disposable menstrual products. First and foremost, they're just uncomfortable. You can pick your discomfort of choice--a mini-diaper or a wad of cotton shoved up your snooch--but that's hardly a choice. Worse, it's expensive discomfort, especially if you live with three other females of bleeding age, as I did at the time. And just for giggles, there was the bonus round question: clog the toilet or gift wrap it for the waste bin and hope the dog didn't pull it out?
And, more than I'd like to admit, there was the ecological hypocrisy of it. I'm with the environmentally-friendly on the need to think green, but in the articles lecturing women on how disposable diapers don't biodegrade, nobody mentioned menstrual mini-diapers. I saw eco-chicks cut down new moms because they opted for extra sleep over extra laundry, but cringe when a fellow eco-chick mentioned cloth pads, because that's different--it's always different when it's your pink bits and laundry routine being challenged. Happily enough, I see less cringing now. Maybe it just took a few years for the idea to settle in and be less new and scary. Maybe it's the rise of Etsy. It's a lot easier to embrace cloth pads when they come in a wide array of snazzy patterns.
In any case, I poked around and found out about menstrual cups, which at the time meant only the Keeper. For those who ignored the TMI warning (and are now regretting it), it's a little rubber cup that fits up in the vaginal cavity like a tampon, but instead of absorbing discharge, it catches it. Instead of replacing it every X hours, you empty it, rinse and re-insert; when you're done oozing, you disinfect it via your method of choice (e.g. boiling, Milton or vinegar soak) and store it for next time.
Hallelujah. There is a reason cup users often sound like cultists looking to convert. It was a revelation. Did you know super-absorbent cotton draws moisture out of you, which makes your flow seem heavier than it actually is? Or that by turning your juice box into the Gobi desert, tampons often play a part in causing or worsening cramps? For about the same amount that I paid monthly for tampons, I got a cup that did away with cramps, didn't leak or dry me out, reduced my period by a day, and lasted, what, nine years? Best bargain ever, even if I did develop a minor latex sensitivity in the last couple of years. Hell, I'm on allergy meds all the time anyway.
But nothing last forever, and I noticed my happy little cup was near the end of its lifespan. On the upside, there are now more options available, and not just "Oh, have you tried sea sponges?" Cups out the proverbial (and possibly literal) wazoo! Prices have also gone up, but such is the nature of life, eh?
I opted for the MeLuna, because (a) no tail to trim, (b) handy pull-tab model!, (c) actual varied sizes beyond 'before childbirth' and 'the Chunnel', (d) soft plastic rather than latex (allergy) or silicone (possible allergy--never found out if it was the powder or the gloves) and (e) look at it! It's adorable! A pair cost me $50, and I sat down to await my shipment, all the way from Germany.
(I almost didn't get it. The US Postal Service apparently had it in their system for two weeks before they bothered to attempt delivery, just days before they would be obliged to return it to sender, and right before the federal holiday and the weekend. The first delivery failed--it was my birthday and my cousin was in labor, so it was the one day I wasn't obsessively checking the mail. Figures, don't it?)
They arrived today, with three bonus cups in different sizes and colors. It's a whole panty hamster sampler set! And just in time, I don't mind telling you...
The only problem? The cats are sulking. Brightly colored little plastic cups? Toys! Toys I won't share! Toys that they will try to steal at the earliest convenience!
See that, kids? It's a classic TMI warning that itself contains TMI. You know how many years you have to spend making other people cringe in order to master that? Many. It helps once you hit the legal drinking age, though.
Ah, the glorious bloody cup, the fountain of goop, the hemogoblet!
More years ago than I can recall, I got fed up with disposable menstrual products. First and foremost, they're just uncomfortable. You can pick your discomfort of choice--a mini-diaper or a wad of cotton shoved up your snooch--but that's hardly a choice. Worse, it's expensive discomfort, especially if you live with three other females of bleeding age, as I did at the time. And just for giggles, there was the bonus round question: clog the toilet or gift wrap it for the waste bin and hope the dog didn't pull it out?
And, more than I'd like to admit, there was the ecological hypocrisy of it. I'm with the environmentally-friendly on the need to think green, but in the articles lecturing women on how disposable diapers don't biodegrade, nobody mentioned menstrual mini-diapers. I saw eco-chicks cut down new moms because they opted for extra sleep over extra laundry, but cringe when a fellow eco-chick mentioned cloth pads, because that's different--it's always different when it's your pink bits and laundry routine being challenged. Happily enough, I see less cringing now. Maybe it just took a few years for the idea to settle in and be less new and scary. Maybe it's the rise of Etsy. It's a lot easier to embrace cloth pads when they come in a wide array of snazzy patterns.
In any case, I poked around and found out about menstrual cups, which at the time meant only the Keeper. For those who ignored the TMI warning (and are now regretting it), it's a little rubber cup that fits up in the vaginal cavity like a tampon, but instead of absorbing discharge, it catches it. Instead of replacing it every X hours, you empty it, rinse and re-insert; when you're done oozing, you disinfect it via your method of choice (e.g. boiling, Milton or vinegar soak) and store it for next time.
Hallelujah. There is a reason cup users often sound like cultists looking to convert. It was a revelation. Did you know super-absorbent cotton draws moisture out of you, which makes your flow seem heavier than it actually is? Or that by turning your juice box into the Gobi desert, tampons often play a part in causing or worsening cramps? For about the same amount that I paid monthly for tampons, I got a cup that did away with cramps, didn't leak or dry me out, reduced my period by a day, and lasted, what, nine years? Best bargain ever, even if I did develop a minor latex sensitivity in the last couple of years. Hell, I'm on allergy meds all the time anyway.
But nothing last forever, and I noticed my happy little cup was near the end of its lifespan. On the upside, there are now more options available, and not just "Oh, have you tried sea sponges?" Cups out the proverbial (and possibly literal) wazoo! Prices have also gone up, but such is the nature of life, eh?
I opted for the MeLuna, because (a) no tail to trim, (b) handy pull-tab model!, (c) actual varied sizes beyond 'before childbirth' and 'the Chunnel', (d) soft plastic rather than latex (allergy) or silicone (possible allergy--never found out if it was the powder or the gloves) and (e) look at it! It's adorable! A pair cost me $50, and I sat down to await my shipment, all the way from Germany.
(I almost didn't get it. The US Postal Service apparently had it in their system for two weeks before they bothered to attempt delivery, just days before they would be obliged to return it to sender, and right before the federal holiday and the weekend. The first delivery failed--it was my birthday and my cousin was in labor, so it was the one day I wasn't obsessively checking the mail. Figures, don't it?)
They arrived today, with three bonus cups in different sizes and colors. It's a whole panty hamster sampler set! And just in time, I don't mind telling you...
The only problem? The cats are sulking. Brightly colored little plastic cups? Toys! Toys I won't share! Toys that they will try to steal at the earliest convenience!
