Girl Stuff!

Ladies!!  This is gonna get personal real quick.....

I finally took the plunge and used a menstrual cup!!

So, now you know what you are in for so read on at your own risk! ;)

Its all about this thing this time:

I have been thinking about making the switch to a cup for awhile now, but its only been since I birthed a child that thinking of using a tampon totally freaks me out.  Why?!  Cause I'm weird.

I knew I didn't want to do the pad thing forever either.  So, I did some more research into these cups and really liked what I found.  Not only did I run into positive reviews EVERYWHERE the women were really jazzed up about them, too.  They weren't like... "oh yeah, these are great."  It was more like... "OMG THESE ARE AWESOME WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DO NOT USE ONE WHATS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?"  :)  When I was at the checkout counter with my cup in hand even the cashier leaned in and said, "this thing is awesome you are gonna love it!" no lie.

It comes in two sizes.  Size 1 if you are under 30 and/or haven't had a baby either by c-section or vaginally.  And Size 2 if you are over 30 and/or have had a baby either way.  I am 26 and have had a baby vaginally so I got Size 2.  It comes with really great instructions and tips on placement and proper cleaning of the cup and you can find some really great YouTube video reviews so I'm not going to go into too much detail on the ins and outs of all that.  All I really want to point out is that it is a lot easier to get the hang of than it sounds.  If you try one you will NEVER go back to using tampons/pads.  You will wish you had known about it a long time ago and/or wish you had not put off giving it a go!!!

Some pros to the cup:

1) Medical grade silicone up in your personal space instead of cardboard/plastic wrapped bleached COTTON.

2) More environmentally friendly and sanitary since all your girl stuff goes into the septic system (where it belongs) instead of the trash.

3) Really easy to insert and take out after a few times.  (I was really skeptical of how easy this would be, but even surprised myself and got the hang of it after 2 attempts!  Just keep in mind that proper placements means you shouldn't feel it at all, so if you do, try again! Once I had it pushed up TOO far and it kept hurting me, tried it again, and haven't had that problem since!)

4) Not a risk for Toxic Shock Syndrome since your flow isn't being absorbed by cotton and held against the vaginal wall.  

5) Depending on how heavy a flow, the cup typically needs to be changed only 2-3 times per day!!  Yeah, awesome!!
6) You can use the same cup for years so long as it is cared for properly and does not show signs of deterioration.  You will save some cash-ola for sure!
7) No more "woops ran out of tampons trips to the store" or "did I bring pads in my purse!?"  / going out for the night you don't have to tote all that stuff around with you!

Some cons to the cup:

1) $28-$40 for one cup depending where you shop.  Another reason why I was hesitant to try it.  I didn't want to lay down some cash and then chicken out and not use it, in the end I was so pumped about it that wasn't a problem! HA!

2) Taking it out takes a little more practice than inserting it. (In my experience.)

So go on!  Give it a try... you will not regret it!!  Oh, and tell all your friends!!!