The topic of this page is menstruation. This page contains information and explicit details about my vagina and pubic area.
If this makes you uncomfortable, leave now.

       This is to document my learning experience with my Fleurcup. I do not claim to be a professional, nor do I claim to know everything.
That being said, if there are any questions, feel free to ask me. 

       I had looked into cups before, but seeing as tampons were never my favorite thing, I’d decided to skip out on the menstrual cup. I thought about getting lunapads but they were just so dang expensive and it would suck to have to wash them so constantly.

       About halfway through my last period I noticed my pad and tampon collection was dwindling. So my mind casually wandered back to menstrual cups, and after doing many days of research I finally picked one out; the Fleurcup.

       It arrived the week after my period had ended so I decide I’d practice inserting and removing in a dry run type of thing. I took it in the shower with me after boiling it and tried a couple different folds. My hand couldn’t hold onto the cup in a few of them so eventually I settled on the punchdown fold.

       Insertion was surprisingly easy the first time and the placement was just about perfect. I couldn’t feel it at all… in fact, I was having a hard time grabbing onto the damn thing to remove it! I began to panic. After realizing freaking out was not going to solve anything, as I seemed to clench all of my muscles, I made up my mind to continue with my shower as normal.

       When it came time to finish up my shower I spread my legs wide, relaxed everything I could, grabbed the stem with one hand and stuck a couple fingers from the other up my vagina to break the seal. I even almost got the cup back into the punchdown form. From there removal was easy and painless.

       The next week I took my cup into the shower with me again(there were showers in between). This time I didn’t quite get the cup where it needed to be before it blossomed from its fold and formed a seal. Actually it was really close to my vaginal opening and putting a lot of horrible pressure on me. So once again, I freaked out and nearly ripped the damn thing out of myself. I was still in discomfort so I decided to put the cup away for a while.

July 19th:

       I woke up at two in the afternoon to discover my cycle had started. I reached for my cup and drudged to the bathroom. I washed the cup and hopped in the shower. I inserted the cup with no problem, although I believe my cervix had descended because I couldn’t get it as high as I remember doing on my first insertion. After making sure the cup had opened up and a seal had formed, I finished my shower and set an alarm on my phone for 4 hours to remind me to check for leaks, as my first day is always pretty heavy flow.

       When the alarm went off I checked and had no leaks so I continued about my business for two more hours. When it was finally time for me to remove the cup I tried it while sitting down. This was a bad idea as the cup was not vertical and so could not hold all the necessary contents. It was a mess. There was blood all over everything and since the cup was full I couldn’t fold it in on itself. Again I experienced extreme discomfort so I grabbed an overnight pad and waited out the rest of the night in bed.

July 20th:

       I got up and grabbed the cup, determined to make today a better day. This was the first time I had attempted to insert it while just sitting on the toilet so after a little bit of maneuvering(it’s like when you have to find the perfect angle to insert the tampon, only my cup angle is slightly different) I finally got the cup where it needed to be with the one leg up approach I had to use my first couple times inserting tampons. 

       Again I set an alarm; this time for six hours, and when it went off I went to the bathroom to discover very light leakage in my underwear. Not really a huge deal. This time I removed the cup while standing up and it was a lot easier and also a lot cleaner… until I got overly excited and dropped the cup into the toilet. No I’m not kidding. At least I hadn’t actually used the toilet. So after fishing it out and boiling it I reinserted it; again in the one leg up position. The second run of the day went swimmingly and then I decided to wear a pad to bed to not chance it.

July 21st:

       Woke up, inserted the cup, set an alarm. Went out. Came home and relaxed. Removed, cleaned, reinserted. Pretty uneventful day, but I actually left the house using it and was confident that I was not going to leak. I did notice, being more active, with the natural muscle contractions it felt as though I needed to queef almost constantly. I even bucked up and slept with it in.

July 22nd:

      This morning I removed the Fleurcup, rinsed it, and reinserted it. Set the alarm and made sure I was at home when it went off. I still am a little sloppy when it comes to the removal so I haven’t mustered the courage up to try it in a public place. I had quite a bit of leakage for some reason and I did figure out that it pressed a little bit against my bladder causing me to feel like I needed to pee quite often.

October 20th:

     I moved to my college campus just before my August cycle started and I forgot my cup so I got through 2 periods using pads while away. My period began last night so I fished out my Fleurcup and boiled it. I remembered how to insert it just fine but when time came to remove it and empty it I was still having the same problems I had when I started using the cup. Because of these problems I am still worried about the prospect of emptying it in public. Actually I’m just worried about how I’ll achieve rinsing it out more. For this reason, I’m considering getting a second cup and a small bag with waterproof lining so I can do a switch out and clean the soiled one while still being protected.