I fought the Diva Cup (and the Diva Cup won)

We stock a selection of reusable menstrual products (pads and cups), naturally, customers contemplating the switch to reusables have questions about how everything works. With respect to LunaPads, most women ask questions about how the different pieces fit together. Given the crowd we attract, I usually liken the system to cloth diapers -- you have AIOs and AI2s -- the pad and the liner are akin to a cloth diaper cover and an insert. When women pick up the Diva Cup, they only ask one question, "What's it like to use this?", the question is often accompanied by a raised eyebrow, and a knowing exchange of glances between us. Their real question is: "How does this fit up there?" "Will it get lost?" "Does it hurt?" I am upfront and I admit that while I have not used a Diva Cup personally, I have many friends who do, and they all swear by it, proclaiming:

• it's comfortable to use while playing sports



• you can leave it in for up to 12 hours before emptying it



• it can lessen the cramps associated with menstruation (have I ever mentioned how awesome menstruation is? Women are so lucky. So. Lucky).

For months, I've been meaning to make the switch, but the timing has never worked out. I finally remembered to pick one up at the start of my most recent cycle, and I plucked up the courage to give it a shot, I mean, how hard can it be, right? Right? I figured I'd pop it in, and write a review that went something like this:

"ZOMG, I cannot believe how long I lived without the Diva Cup! It was *so* easy to use, and it works so well! Every woman should have one, why, I'm going to lobby the Harper government to hand them out to every girl as she transitions into womanhood, I mean, it's just so great! So. Great! Long live the Diva Cup, Diva Cup forever!"

Of course, everyone had warned me that making friends with my Diva Cup would take a bit of practice (and patience), however, I was confident we'd hit it off instantly. Sadly, my love affair with the Diva Cup has gotten off to a bumpy start.

When it came time to try out the Diva Cup, I got myself settled into the upstairs bathroom, the kids were downstairs watching TV playing harmoniously together, mommy needed a little privacy to wrap her head around what was about to go down (er, go up?). Like most women, I had my fears about how things would work out. I was worried that once inside, the Diva Cup would float upwards through my innards, like my vagina is a portal to some sort of blackhole and the Diva Cup would get lost for years, never to be seen again until I cough it up like a hairball. The wonderful instructions that accompany the cup kindly explained that my vaginal walls are only 3-4 inches in length, proving my 'lost in space' fears to be unfounded. As an aside, the Diva Cup instructions also pointed out that the average monthly total flow output is in the neighbourhood of 1 to 1.4 ounces -- just enough to fill a shot glass! Total!! Is it just me, or does that estimate seem, well, a little low? Judging from the apparent carnage I seem to suffer through every month, if I were to estimate what my average monthly flow output is, I'd put it closer to a liter, not unlike what must ooze out of a severe gunshot wound, but perhaps that's just me.

So there I am, Diva Cup in hand, I've reassured myself that it's not going to get lost, but now I'm starting to freak out about how big it is. Prior to this moment, I had been mentally preparing myself for the size/fit issue, but I've birthed four babies, one of whom was so big he practically walked out of my vagina with a cigarette in one hand, a bottle of JD in the other, and he was all 'sup, bitches? to the midwives, so really, I've got this, it will be OK. But there I am, doing the Diva Cup origami as is kindly suggested by the Diva Cup instructions, and no matter how I fold the damn thing, it's just so fucking huge!

The Diva Cup instructions, which are starting to get on my nerves, kindly suggest that I should 'relax' my vaginal walls before inserting the cup, and I'm starting to feel like maybe I should have taken her out to an expensive dinner beforehand and told her she looked pretty, because I can tell she's as nervous about this as I am. So I take a deep breath, and shove it all up there, but the cup unfolds before I've got it in place, and the idea of pushing it up further while it's unfolded kind of makes me want to cry. I withdraw, apologize profusely to my vagina, and read the bloody instructions again, which suggest it's completely normal for the cup to unfold while it's being inserted. Oh, well isn't that great, I was kind of hoping that it would unfold after I was done launching it up into my nether regions, but I guess that's too much to ask. I take another deep breath, apologize to my vagina again, who is now about as relaxed as a virgin on her wedding night, and we give it another go, this time with moderately more success. I manage to launch the cup further up into my nether regions than the first time, but I don't feel it unfold. No worries, I'm actually quite OK with that, let's push on, shall we?

I'm not quite finished yet, because now I need to rotate the cup 360°, which at this point, is about as appealing as a root canal performed by a drunk monkey. So I grab the cup's stem, twisting it slowly, beads of sweat dripping off my brow, and I think I can feel my vagina quietly weep each time the cup moves (not that it was particularly painful, but my vagina at this point was decidedly unrelaxed). After the cup has been rotated, I tentatively stand up, and take a few steps. While having the cup in place certainly wasn't uncomfortable, I could feel the sensation of something being up there, quite frankly, it felt like I had a thighmaster launched up my hooha. To say I had the gait of a cowboy who had just rode in on the Pony Express is an understatement, every step I took was more bowlegged than the last, as my brain worked overtime to convince my vagina that it was playing host to an uninvited guest. At this point, my vagina and I decided we'd both had enough, issuing the Diva Cup its eviction notice. My vagina and I both released a sigh of relief as the cup signalled its exit with a defiant 'pop'.

With what I have to assume is the worst of it out of the way, I will give the Diva Cup another go next month, things can only get better, and besides, I like a challenge. The idea of using the cup is so appealling, perhaps the next time we attempt to make friends, I will buy my vagina a box of chocolates and a dozen roses to help her relax beforehand.

Mama cloth: what, why, and how!

We added reusable menstrual products to our store a couple of years ago, and like cloth diapers, we field a lot of questions about them. Recently, I've had a couple of suggestions from both staff and customers that I blog about them, so here you go!

If you're asking 'why should I switch', if you're using cloth diapers, you're probably familiar with the reasons -- the same benefits apply to both reusable feminine products and reusable diapers:

• you will be more comfortable
• you will divert garbage from our landfills (approximately 20 billions pads/tampons are tossed every year in North America alone)
• you will save money
• you will not be exposed to the chemicals present in traditional pads and tampons

In terms of options, cloth pads are a reusable alternative to disposable pads. We stock Lunapads, a system comprised of three items:

• pantyliners - used alone, pantyliners are ideal for daily discharge or very light menstrual flow, and are popular as backup protection for menstrual cups, like The DivaCup. Need a cloth diaper reference? A pantyliner is like an all-in-one diaper, absorbent and waterproof.
• pads -- a waterproof pad with wings that fastens around the gusset of your underwear. Need a cloth diaper reference? A pad is like a diaper cover - it contains the blood, preventing leaks through your underwear.
• liners -- comprised of 2 layers of highly absorbent cotton, liners absorb the majority of your menstrual flow, leaving the Pad base relatively clean and dry. Need a cloth diaper reference? A liner is like a prefold or a fitted diaper -- it absorbs the blood.

A single pad will get you through a whole day; you just change the liner when you need to. The pads and liners come in different sizes that accommodate light to heavy bleeding -- you simply buy liners that suit your menstrual cycle.

If you prefer to use tampons, a menstrual cup is a reusable option to tampons. A menstrual cup is a bell-shaped cup that is worn internally to collect blood flow. It is emptied several times a day, as needed. We sell the Diva Cup (only in size 2, required after pregnancy), a silicone cup that is latex-free, BPA-free, and plastic-free. A menstrual cup can be worn for up to 12 hours at a time, it is safe for overnight use.

So, you want to know what I think? First, off, I'm going to admit I've not had much experience with them. In the past ten years, I've had (brace yourself!) two (two!) menstrual cycles, not by choice, but due to the fact I've been either pregnant, breastfeeding, or both. I have made the switch to using cloth pads, and I've used them post-partum for two babies, so I can tell you about that. First of all, it's not gross (I know that's probably what most people assume). The pads do not smell -- due in part to the fact they are more breathable than disposable pads, due in part to the fact they're not scented with masking chemicals. The cotton pads are far more comfortable than stiff paper pads, and they are less likely to leak because cotton absorbs faster than paper.

I have never used a menstrual cup, though I have friends that do. From what I've been told, it's something that requires a little practice to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, the cup is so comfortable you won't know it's there.

In terms of washing cloth pads, I just store and wash them with our cloth diapers, so it's really no more work for me. When you're out and about, you can store use a wetbag to store soiled pads. If you check the Lunapads care & instructions, you'll see that even if you don't use cloth diapers, caring for cloth menstrual pads amounts to little more than a simple load of laundry.

So there you have it -- using reusuable feminine products is really no different than using reusable cloth diapers, in terms of reasons and results. If you're considering giving Lunapads or the Diva Cup a whirl, you can use coupon code MAMACLOTH until October 15th to save 10% on the Lunapads Intro package or a Diva Cup. Offer valid online and instore, cannot be combined with offers or discounts.