By Heather Schweich

I honestly can’t remember a time after I started my period when I wasn’t aware on some level of Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS).

My mom was not a tampon user; they made her nauseated and feel horrible when she tried them in high school/college, so when I started menstruating she got me pads, just like her. Well, lower absorbency, but you get the idea.

The problem was that I was a ballet dancer. #1 Pads = not cool. #2 They would never stay in place. So I asked her to let me get some tampons.

She did, and I’m not sure if it was the box insert, a news story, or word of mouth but TSS was a huge concern for her. I didn’t really get the seriousness of it, but I knew enough that I was willing to go along with her guidelines: use natural fiber (cotton) tampons – don’t use a higher absorbency than I needed – use pads at night.

Fast forward 10 years. I was still very aware of that warning inside every box of tampons. I still followed all my mom’s guidelines. No biggie. The I got married and immediately got pregnant. No worries about TSS for awhile!

We cloth diapered our son and on some online boards or a Facebook group; I don’t really remember where I first heard about menstrual cups, but I swore that I’d never get “that crunchy.” And I didn’t think too much about it.

Fast forward another 2 years to after the birth of my second son. I started looking for even more ways to save money. And I heard for the first time that menstrual cups were not a TSS risk. It got me thinking. And thinking. And thinking.

I worked up the numbers and found out that while I would save money in the long run, it would take about 10 cycles to pay for itself (just what I happened to be spending on disposable products). I was interested, but the upfront cost was just a little steep for me. I also wasn’t planning on having that many cycles before I got pregnant again.

Then a friend told me about a sale on the Lunette. I decided to go for it and bought one; then later that week I won one in a giveaway from BePreparedPeriod and YouARELoved. From zero to two in less time than it took to ship! I traded one to another friend for an electronic drum set (she’d missed the sale and had been wanting to try one too) so we both benefited from my good fortune.

My husband and I are currently trying to conceive our third child, so I was hoping to be able to store my Lunette for awhile and try it in a couple years. But that didn’t happen last month; on the upside, I actually got to try out the cup and it lived up to everything I had been hoping.

I’ll be honest; I wore a panty liner and carried around a disposable tampon that first day. But I never needed them. The Lunette worked perfectly.

There was a bit of a learning curve that first day. And there were three big things that I remember hearing/reading before I used it that I am thankful for.

1. Find a fold that works for you.

Lunette Cup has a great video that shows 9 different folds for insertion. It was great having some different options in mind to try. What works for one person may not work for another! The first time I inserted it I had to try a couple times to get it into a comfortable spot. Later that day, it took about 7 tries. After that I was usually able to get it right on the first or second attempt.

2. Break the suction when you remove it, don’t just pull the cup out!

Anyone who has ever breastfed knows what happens when you don’t break the “latch.” OWW! Same concept here. It took about 3 removals for me to figure out what worked for me and how to push the cup in just enough to break suction and remove it without spilling any fluid. The first time was the worst mess, but I figured it out and things went a lot smoother from there on out.

3. Listen to your body.

You will know when it’s in the right location. The first time I put the Lunette in it was too low and I couldn’t even urinate with it inserted, it was also slightly painful. After I re-inserted I could still feel the stem which was different, but not painful. I know that many people cut the stem off for that reason, but I didn’t find it necessary to do so.

I also discovered that I’m not the best person to wear a cup at night. Some nights it worked well for me (no leaks, which was wonderful!), but on the second night I started having some very odd cramps, very painful, but different from my regular menstrual cramps. When I went to remove the cup I realized that my cervix had dropped inside the cup and was trying to push it out. As soon as the cup was out the cramping stopped.

I’m not sure if I’m just weird, or if that’s a fairly common thing; but personally it’s just a good thing to know, and listening to my body made that night a lot less painful.

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I’m definitely going to get either some Lunette wipes or another type of alcohol wipe to have in case I need to remove/empty it while I’m out of the house. It’s slightly inconvenient to have to rinse it between uses, but the wipes do great cleaning and disinfecting the cup while out of the house.

So.

Pros: I love being able to wear it all day long and not worry about leaks. It’s better for the environment and my body. It saves money in the long run. It only takes a day or two to learn how to use.

Cons: I can’t wear it at night all the time (just my body quirk). It takes a day or two to learn how to use.

Overall, I am very impressed and pleased with the cup. It is very comfortable and I can’t get over the fact that I had no leaks whatsoever while I was using it. Currently I only have boys, but if I ever get my girl I would definitely give her this as an option.

Thanks, Be Prepared Period & You ARE Loved for an awesome giveaway and thanks, Lunette for such a great product!

Heather Schweich is a wife, mother of 2 wonderfully rambunctious boys, a passable cook, former ballet dancer, slightly crispy mom. She loves blogging it all at www.2SleepingBabies.com, while laughing and just trying to make it through the day until both babies are, actually, sleeping.