Second Day (Sept. 29).

Moon:  Waning Gibbous

Flow/Texture:  ¼ oz, dark red, elastic

Mood:  fine

Symptoms:  tiny cramping and bloating

Mucus:

Had some trouble with the cup.  It leaked twice.  I admit laziness and take the blame for the first time–I just couldn’t be bothered with checking the seal.  However, the second time–hm.  I guess my seal skills are lacking.  Right now, though, I’m perfectly comfortable.

I actually did that sneeze-squirt thing a few days ago–could be related.  My body does not like not working out.

The mornings are perfect for working out–no fear of dying from the heat, but these ridiculous hours and this thing are really just, ultimately, taking me out of life.  It’s going to be a while before things return to normal–assuming that it’s possible.

Ha, I pruned my plant today after fertilizing and watering her.  She’s inspiring–despite my ill treatment, she lives and blooms.  Hopefully, I’ll hop back on board soon.

Third Day (September 5).

Moon:  Waning Crescent

Flow/Texture:  ¼ oz, dark red/brownish, liquid-like

Mood:  ok

Symptoms:  headache

Mucus:

The cup is great.  The cup is good.  The cup does just what it should.

2nd Day (June 24).

Moon:  Waxing Gibbous

Flow/Texture:  ¼ oz., dark red, smooth, elastic, lining chunks

Mood:  great, energetic

Symptoms:  mild cramping and headache

Mucus:

Aww, I had my first leak since forever.  The  stain was huge, but all’s well again.  I knew that I had put the cup in wrongly, but laziness made me forgo the customary rotation.

Despite that, I was still able to feed my plant–though, now that I think about it, I could have saved that soaking water.  Ah, well.

Before Period–Day 19.

Moon:  Waxing Gibbous

Flow/Texture:

Mood:  serene

Symptoms:  bloating, cravings, horn (with accompanying dreams)

Mucus:  white, greasy/smooth texture, normal scent, tasteless

I was a ravenous thing this morning.  I ate something, watched some Law & Order and suddenly felt calm, ready to work, fast, and read.

I’m starting the water fast at the end of the week, at which time I will mediate, drink my water, and read.  I’m not sure how this will affect my workout routine, but I just feel that it’s time–perhaps I might do yoga.  This is a feeling, this calmness, serenity, and surety, that I’ve rarely felt so I’m going with it.  I’ll do whatever it wants and go wherever it leads.

I read half of the Book of Daniel and took some notes before going to sleep.

The wandering eye has seized me:  other cups are striking my fancy.  I blame my Diva Cup’s perpetually stained, hollow stem and the sealing holes that are annoying to clean.

I’m looking at the Yuuki and Lunette especially.  The Yuuki [youtube video] is really cute and has a solid stem.  I like the Lunette’s [youtube video] minimalist design and flat, solid stem.  According to the video, apparently the Yuuki cup has either a hollow or solid stem.  Damn.

While visiting the yOni menstrual tips board again, I found a few that captured my eye:

H o o o w l
at the moon

Wear red.
It stimulates the circulation and replaces the red you are losing from the aura.

Spend time by the ocean. Use the beauty and power of nature, especially water, to cleanse, clarify and wash away the old and no longer useful thoughts and feelings. Long, hot, perfumed soaks in the bath are great. Clary Sage and Rose oils are lovely.

All things grow with water. Release your tears and fear not the murky depths of your unconscious. Use your menstrual time to bring the mind home and contact your true nature.

Be
selective
about how
and who
you spend
your time
with

Have a day off.
~~~
I’ve found this to be my best medicine. Meditate, dance wildly, be creative, have orgasms, watch the moon, sleep more, read, do nothing, do whatever turns you on.

Gather a group of women together, the more diverse the group the better. Tell them in advance that you’ll be getting together to talk about your moon time. Have everyone bring food. Make herbal tea. Share stories about your menses and what it has meant to you. It’s so empowering to be able to share these stories with other women.

Try not wearing pads or tampons. Just let your blood flow, fill all of your folds and run down you legs. Obviously, the price of laundry detergent means you can’t do this too often, but it’s incredible – the warmth, that heady smell, being bathed in your own lubrication…this is womanhood!

Fifth Day (March 17).

Moon:  Waxing Crescent

Flow/Texture:  light, teaspoon, dark red, elastic, few brown chunky bits

Mood:  A-ok

Symptoms:  headache

Mucus:

She went tricksy on me today, had me thinking she was bidding adieu.  She had a little more to share, apparently.  I didn’t mind.

Besides the headache, I felt an icky-sickly feeling as I took the cup out to empty it, reminiscent of a pelvic exam–oh, speculum.  Tomorrow should be fun.

Oh, I must bestow some praise to the cup regarding the third day:  Sometime during the morning hours, I felt that surge of menstrual juice–you know, like the vagina’s suddenly vomiting blood.  I imagined having to wring out my nether clothing and wipe dry my soaked, glistening legs.  Well, I checked my panties only to find them spotless.  Yeah!

Thanks again, Diva Cup.  You really are glitter and awesome sauce.  And the fact that I can’t even feel you inside me right now…excuse me while I cry tears of joy and wonderment.

The Replacement

is here!  Yay!

Now, I’m free to bleed with joy.

Opening the box feels just like the first time.  I’m all grins.

Yes, I will boil it, watching it carefully, of course, before bagging it.

I won’t make any promises (and here I’ll retract any I’ve made up to this point) about boiling, except to be more careful.

The Replacement.

I just ordered a second Diva Cup.

I’d like to feel relief and joy, but really it just burns my buttons knowing that I had to order a replacement.

However, I now love the cup even more and appreciate what it offers.   Plus, I’m more aware of the evils contained in the “sanitary napkin.”

I’ll be putting the wine down for a while–the last bottles have stunk to high heaven–in favor of chocolate.  I’ve neglected it for quite a while as I’ve seemingly lost the taste for it. I think it’s time to get it back.

First Day (Jan. 20).

Moon:  Waning Crescent

Flow/Texture:  medium flow, dark red, chunky, elastic

Mood:  disgusted

Symptoms:  moping, mental masochism, whining, cramps, weakness, light-headedness

Mucus:

I’m a moron and I’ll feel like a moron well after the replacement arrives.  I’ll probably feel like a moron every time I use it.

In short, I woke up this morning to boil my cup then fell promptly back to sleep afterward.  Silicone is not, in fact, indestructible.

I was tempted to forget about January so I could avoid facing my shame by recording this moment of stupid.  Good lord.

I’m wearing a pad and I hate it.  It’s a freaking diaper.  I hate seeing my fluid all soaked up, unplayed with, and virtually unchartable.  Yeah, I could wiggle my finger around in there for a proper inspection (which I did), but damn it, it’s the principle of the thing!

I could also put a rush on the order and have the replacement in time for the third day, but I’m opting to treat this as a learning experience.

Well, looks like I stumbled upon a good reason to buy Lunapads in junction with the Diva Cup.  Who knows when the stupid might strike.

Diva Cup Review.

First Impressions:  It’s a thick, sturdy cup.  I evidently expected something flimsy.  I had no concern about it collapsing inside me.  Nevertheless, it is smaller in size than I imagined, being about the size of a tulip bloom.

Sensory description: It’s very smooth and quite soft on the outside.  Except towards the bottom, including the stem, where six concentric circles create the grip, all of the texture and writing appear on the inside.

From the smooth feel and mild rubber scent, I’d say it’s made from the same silicone as my Sugar Drop dildo.  Since lube makes her a breeze to slide in, lube should work easily with the cup.

The rim measures ½ mm in width.  Below and surrounding the rim are the four sealing holes–I easily punctured them the “Diva” pin included in the box.  Below them are the measurements rising from 7.5ml to 15ml on one side to ¼ oz to ½ oz on the other.

The stem measures about 1 mm, about the length of a fingernail.  I like the short stem.  The cup rides up only slightly, without breaking the seal.  Consequently, I find the stem usually right at the opening, hiding behind my urethra.  I have no problem gripping it.

The longer stem of the Moon Cup would have certainly protruded much further–perhaps right out onto my panties.  I know that trimming it is an option, but I would chop off too much.

Usage: The learning curve has to measure more than half a day.  Still, unless I’m on my period, how will I really know it’s working?

On the first day, I was persistent with my use of the push down-fold.  It worked alright–if we discount the “popping incidents” just inside my vagina (ouch).

Later that night, I struggled with it.  Either I couldn’t hold it securely in that position, or the cup wouldn’t open as I tried to rotate it.  So I read the directions.  Mercifully, they helped loads.

Before, I kept the cup folded until it was completely inserted.  Then, I tried to make it pop. With the C-fold, which is actually a U-fold the way I stick it in, the pop and rotation happen quicker. My hold is more sure.

Sense the Diva Cup is thick and firm, it requires the same firmness in grips, else the cup will open prematurely. Ouch again.

I’m pretty confident that I’ll become a cup convert.  I like it a lot.

First Day (Nov. 30.)

Moon: Waxing Crescent

Flow/Texture: light flow ¼ oz (7.5 ml), dark red, elastic, thick

Mood: fair

Symptoms: cramping, bloating, fatigue, irritability, headache

It’s two days early–it came sometime after midnight.  I don’t remember that ever happening.  What’s more, it caught me while in practice mode with the cup.  I was pulling it out after working out (Tae Bo & yoga) and to my honest and great surprise, I found the menses.  Holy crap!

There was no blood on the outside of it, so, apparently, I stuck it correctly. I’m wondering if the sucking action encouraged the early arrival.

I took a sniff or two and was shocked to find a scent not unlike my regular mucus and fluids.

I had played with the thing virtually all day yesterday–folding it, squeezing it, stroking it, essentially drawing out the time at which I would insert it.  Oops.

Before trying it out, I boiled it for about five minutes.  Yeah, and I had forgotten how well silicone retains heat.  So, after it cooled, I lubed it with my natural, oral lubrication and set to work.

It was a struggle, but I stuck with the Push down-fold and eventually got it to open inside me. I slept wearing panties in order to check for leaks.

After the first check around 1:30pm, I saw noticed no leaks, which was great.  However, after the second check later that evening, while on the toilet, I saw that I was leaking.

My confidence in my ability to make the cup pop and spin had diminished and the drippy drips were the result.  Admittedly, it got frustrating–I just couldn’t get the thing to pop. I wonder if the Hitachi and the resulting orgasmic contractions were involved.

The directions did help in the end.  As a result, I’ll use the C-fold for now.

And still no scent!

I’m going to need a lot more practice time.  Actual lube may be the solution–should make rotating the cup easier.   Sitting on the toilet seemed to work better than squatting.  Oh man, it’s so going to fall into the bowl.

I’ll give my impressions and description their own, separate post.

Cramps were mild, yet irritating simply for being there.  The water helped.  The bloating is slowly subsiding.  The fatigue vanished a while ago.  The headache–Once again, after massaging olive oil into my temples, the headache disappeared before I knew it.  I have my cure.