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Ethical living

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Original poster

Mooncup ishoos

18 replies

BumperliciousNeedsToSleep · 27/04/2008 17:31

So I bought a mooncup. Ok I bought it last month when my 1st post-partum period arrived but I was too scared to use it.

So I tried this morning for the first time, and well, let's just say the bathroom mat now needs a wash...

I can now get it in ok and it feels ok when in, but fuck me, how the hell do you get it out without having childbirth flashbacks? (seriously)

OP posts:

Spidermama · 27/04/2008 17:37

Bumper you're well along the road. Let me say that first and pat you on the back.

I bear down and kind of pinch the end which I find is quite sufficient to break the seal then you can take it out without having to splash its contents.

FrannyandZooey · 27/04/2008 17:38

oh dear
I had a test run before my period started - I think it could be tricky trying for the very first time while bleeding
having said that you should be able to get the hang of it quickly - without wanting to embarrass you, can you talk us through what happened and at what point it all went wrong?

Original poster

BumperliciousNeedsToSleep · 27/04/2008 17:46

Well, the first time it sort of took me by surprise and flicked ot scattering it's content but I have tried it twice since and it just seems to hurt when coming out as it is so wide. I can't seem to get a grip on it to squeeze it to break the suction. You would think that 10 months after having given birth a bloody mooncup coming out would be no problem.

Maybe it's just fear because I have so recently had a baby (and an episiotomy) that it just feels horrid. Is there a technique to stop it coming out fully open IYKWIM?

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FrannyandZooey · 27/04/2008 17:51

ok I think you are quite brave to be using one if still feeling tender
are you properly healed inside? if not I would recommend pads for a bit longer

otherwise you need to bear down as SM says and squeeze it quite hard to release suction. If some squirts out inside you that shouldn't be too messy
then you can gently kind of rock it down until it comes out
I used to find mine v uncomfortable if I tried to pull out before suction was properly released
squeeze really hard until it kind of schlurrps

Original poster

BumperliciousNeedsToSleep · 27/04/2008 17:59

Squeeze it with your fingers you mean (as opposed to pelvic floor - ha ha!). The thing is when it is in I can't seem to get a grip enough to squeeze, maybe I am wearing it too far up? The taking is out is tender (I now feel like you do when you take a tampon out that is still v dry) but it's that and the actual coming out thought the hole (for want of a better word) that is uncomfortable.

Maybe I should go to the doctor. this may seem really silly and irrelevant but I really hated childbirth, not even because it hurt (that didn't help) but I found the feel of the baby being in the birth canal really weird and I didn't like it. Maybe that is affecting how I am feeling about it. It's sounds so stupid and I really want to give this a try.

Ok, if it is not better tomorrow I will swap to pads then see the dr when I get a chance to check all is ok down there.

Sorry if this has decended into TMI

OP posts:

Boco · 27/04/2008 18:04

I posted pretty much exactly the same thing the first time I used one - about getting it out. There is a knack. I was definitely putting it too far up. And it's squeezing with the right muscles that brings it down far enough to grab it. When I posted this, Aitch came along and described the need to bear down without following through, and I nearly passed out with the tmi-ness of it all!

FrannyandZooey · 27/04/2008 18:12

yes squeeze hard with your fingers
do you have it quite high up then? it only needs to be sitting just inside your vagina, unless it feels uncomfortable like that
you don't need to fit it up near your cervix or anything

try to more or less fold it up inside you while you are taking it out, the same way as you do when putting it in
I do know what you mean about it dragging and hurting otherwise
squidge it nice and small so it can come out more comfortably

FrannyandZooey · 27/04/2008 18:14

and don't worry, every mooncup thread is TMI

don't answer if you don't want to, but are things ok during sex? if sex is still not really comfortable then I would think a mooncup might be a bridge too far, although you could persevere as you are more in control then during sex

if you think things inside are still not right then yes see the doctor
but a lot of it could be psychological, this is a huge thing we go through when giving birth and I know I was not totally comfortable with everything 10 months post partum

Original poster

BumperliciousNeedsToSleep · 27/04/2008 18:20

Things are ok actually. they weren't the first time (so waited another 6 moths before even trying again ) but are fine now.

A few months after the birth I had to have a smear and that farking hurt! It never has before.

I'll see how it goes over the next 2 days and then if all is not well I shall pay my doctor a visit.

Thanks for your help! I only got a mooncup because of you guys waxing lyrical about it and am determined to join your superior lentil-weaving ranks!

OP posts:

Original poster

BumperliciousNeedsToSleep · 27/04/2008 18:20

6 moths? Well there were moths coming out of somewhere...

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BBBee · 27/04/2008 18:24

don't worry bump - i felt like this about mine intially - loved it apart from the removal and the suction feeling.

it should be quite low down so you are not hocking it out very far. I put my finger up the side to break the suctioin and that is not very far. I also do it sitting on the toilet between my legs so minimise the flicking blood and gore.

I am now obsessed and love the cleaness of it all.

best wishes

(and who is TMI now?)

FrannyandZooey · 27/04/2008 18:24

smear hurting could have been tension, or just bad luck
i reckon if sex is ok then you can cope with a mooncup - it's just finding the right technique for your body

LOL at moths, I seem to have SPD and reckon there are cobwebs growing in mine

BBBee · 27/04/2008 18:25

moths?

some lentil weaver sex indicators - never knew that. will go and look for moths and kill them

Original poster

BumperliciousNeedsToSleep · 27/04/2008 18:26

Thanks

BBBee TMI = too much information, a common mnet phenomenon

OP posts:

Original poster

BumperliciousNeedsToSleep · 27/04/2008 18:30

Ouch on the spd F&Z, i had bad sacroiliac pain so can sympathise a little.

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FrannyandZooey · 27/04/2008 18:30

mine is mild but I don't fancy putting anything up there thank YOU very much

DontCallMeBaby · 27/04/2008 22:40

This is useful - I kind of use the punch-down fold to get my mooncup OUT (normal C fold to get it in). It seems to make it less likely to sproing open at an inopportune moment - am still not too tidy in removal, but at least it doesn't smart as much.

redwino · 28/04/2008 20:10

I just got one too and just been using it for first time. Would recommend to anyone that they consider trimming fingernails before using. I didn't . Ouch.

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