Duggars By the Dozen - General Discussion -14

[lizzybee]

Who is that guy?

I'm pretty sure he's one of the film crew.

Yep. Middle, white shirt.

s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/73/f5/fd/73f5fdaa547fd4cc503b19f6c7f97870.jpg

Edit, and one more:

4.bp.blogspot.com/-lfE2_ZNnZT0/UL4sg0368RI/AAAAAAAAFEA/hqYn0l3c1Lw/s1600/IMG_1417.JPG

[ksgranola1]

Thank you, pfled.

[JillyO]

I bought it in July so I've used it for about four? periods now. I haven't had it long enough to say that anything definitely has changed. But I had an issue with my period taking forever to stop and start (like spotting and spotting and spotting) and I have definitely noticed that isn't happening anymore. So I won't say for sure that the menstrual cup helped it but I'm thinking it may be evening out the period length. Cramping? I can't definitely say yet, but I think the fact that it isn't cotton (or whatever) is helping.

Things I like:

1. It's tidy. No muss about it. No trash or waste, just pour it out and rinse and it's ready to reuse.

2. I don't have to buy tampons, try to guess how many I'm going to need when I leave the house, or worry about forgetting them, etc.

3. Whether I'm bleeding lightly or heavily it is easy to insert/put in place. There's none of the deal where you're too dry or your body is sore from changing tampons.

4. I can wear it for 12 hours and literally forget about it.

5. I can see how much I'm bleeding by the measurement (I don't know why, but I like to know)

6. No TSS concerns, no chemicals.

7. Did I mention I haven't had to buy tampons in months?

I think it's one of those things where you either love it or it's not for you. In my case, I hope I never have to go back.

Thanks for the info. One question about the bolded part: What do you do in public bathrooms?

[batuityma]

Don't know where else to put this, so will drop it here.

I get a "duggar update" in my email. Today is Johanna's 10th b-day so I got a bunch of pictures of her including this one.

What do you suppose JB would do if he knew that guy was gay.

Forget it; can't get picture to post.

I don't keep up on everything here. Just curious how we know he is gay?

[MatthewDuggar]

I don't keep up on everything here. Just curious how we know he is gay?

I was wondering the same thing. Plus don't the Duggars supposedly have a "no gay crew" mandate?

[LovelyLuna]

Thanks for the info. One question about the bolded part: What do you do in public bathrooms?

you only have to change it every 12 hours, so once when you wake up and once at night. Unless you are traveling on a road trip its not usually an issue.

[lizzybee]

Thanks for the info. One question about the bolded part: What do you do in public bathrooms?

Um, I haven't crossed that bridge yet to be honest. If I know I've got to go somewhere I empty it right before I leave and I haven't had to deal with it outside of the house. I saw another lady say once that she empties it and rinses it with a bottle of water in her purse she keeps for that purpose. I imagine for me it'd be similar.

[DarkAnts]

you only have to change it every 12 hours, so once when you wake up and once at night. Unless you are traveling on a road trip its not usually an issue.

People like me with higher flows have to empty it more frequently. I use the lunette cupwipes when I am on the go.

[zygote373]

Thanks for the info. One question about the bolded part: What do you do in public bathrooms?

I very rarely need to change it in a public bathroom. My cycles have gotten heavier as I've gotten older, though, and every once in a while it will get full right at the end of the work day. I usually just dump it out, wipe the outside with toilet paper, and put it back in without rinsing it. Obviously I wash my hands before doing all this, but a little blood leftover in the cup has never been an issue for me.

Also, I too have noticed that putting the cup in can speed things up. I notice my cramps get a little worse when I have it in, so maybe something about the cup being there induces the uterine contractions that push the blood out. Or maybe the vacuum seal helps draw it out. All that is total speculation, though.

Anyway I LOVE the cup. I've been using one for about 11 years and I'm on my third cup. I can't imagine how many tampons and pads I would have used in that time. $$$$. My favorite part is that I only have to change it 2-3 times a day, though. Saved me so much anxiety when I'm out and about. Also I'm lazy, haha.

[missegeno]

I very rarely need to change it in a public bathroom. My cycles have gotten heavier as I've gotten older, though, and every once in a while it will get full right at the end of the work day. I usually just dump it out, wipe the outside with toilet paper, and put it back in without rinsing it. Obviously I wash my hands before doing all this, but a little blood leftover in the cup has never been an issue for me.

Also, I too have noticed that putting the cup in can speed things up. I notice my cramps get a little worse when I have it in, so maybe something about the cup being there induces the uterine contractions that push the blood out. Or maybe the vacuum seal helps draw it out. All that is total speculation, though.

Anyway I LOVE the cup. I've been using one for about 11 years and I'm on my third cup. I can't imagine how many tampons and pads I would have used in that time. $$$$. My favorite part is that I only have to change it 2-3 times a day, though. Saved me so much anxiety when I'm out and about. Also I'm lazy, haha.

I'll add my two cents to the cup convo. As others have noted, it's wonderful that it can stay in as long as it does. In public bathrooms, I tend to just wash my hands on the way in, dump the blood in the toilet, and wipe the cup with tp. Easy peasy, and no awkwardly trying to discreetly carry and open tampons or pads! Plus the amount if money I've saved on those things over the last 4 years just keeps growing!

It has also been crucial for backpacking. You know, the kind where you are out hiking all day (not much time to be dealing with lady parts), and have to keep weight as low as possible. Rather than wasting bag space on pads and tampons that I will have to carry in and then carry out after use (and that can attract critters!), I just bring one small item (the cup) and dump it wherever we put our poop. Yes, it sounds gross. But it's actually so much easier and safer that I don't hesitate to take on these trips like I did before the cup came into my life.

Two things to note - rinsing in cold water before doing the warm wash or boil of it will help it to stain less quickly. And on one backpacking trip, I completely forgot about it for two days because it was so comfy and my flow was light so it was nowhere near full. When I finally removed it, it smelled awful. Like something had died. Ugh. But I just set it in the sunlight for a few hours after cleaning and the smell was back to like new.

[QuestioningQuivers]

I will add in my 2 cents as well. I LOVE my cup. I only change twice a day. Once when I wake up and about 12 hours later. It is fantastic. I have save SO much money already in the 2 years I have been using it, and I can always have it in my purse ready to go if needed. You can even wear it when you *think* you may be starting and it won't hurt to put it in and take it out. It works great when we take camping trips, or any crossfit workouts.

My periods went from 7 days to 3 days using the cup, and I don't notice it as much as I did tampons. I also have the lunette cup wash for at home, and the wipes i keep in my purse incase i need it in public, but I haven't had that yet. Also, if you go for a handicap stall some have sinks if really necessary.

[RosyDaisy]

The guy in the picture with Hannie looks kind of like Sean Casey from Storm Chasers.

[JillyO]

Thanks for all the input, fellow FJers. :u-rock:

[singsingsing]

I am one of those weird people who tried the cup and absolutely hated it. It just wasn't for me. But I'd still encourage anyone interested to try it, because even though it didn't work for me, there are a lot of objective benefits, and so many women absolutely swear by it. Don't sweat it if you find you hate it, because some women do. But for a lot of women it seems to be a life saver.

[TeenWitch]

I very rarely need to change it in a public bathroom. My cycles have gotten heavier as I've gotten older, though, and every once in a while it will get full right at the end of the work day. I usually just dump it out, wipe the outside with toilet paper, and put it back in without rinsing it. Obviously I wash my hands before doing all this, but a little blood leftover in the cup has never been an issue for me.

Also, I too have noticed that putting the cup in can speed things up. I notice my cramps get a little worse when I have it in, so maybe something about the cup being there induces the uterine contractions that push the blood out. Or maybe the vacuum seal helps draw it out. All that is total speculation, though.

Anyway I LOVE the cup. I've been using one for about 11 years and I'm on my third cup. I can't imagine how many tampons and pads I would have used in that time. $$$$. My favorite part is that I only have to change it 2-3 times a day, though. Saved me so much anxiety when I'm out and about. Also I'm lazy, haha.

Um...what? Does that hurt? I guess not, if you love your cup.

This must be what the girls in the customer reviews were talking about when they said it got suction cupped to their cervix and needing a nurse to remove it. :(

I was close to buying one, but something about that seems terrifying to me! :pink-shock:

[singsingsing]

I will be honest, I only used mine a few times and one of the main reasons I gave up was because taking it out was one of the most painful experiences ever. As in, before that I had always thought if I ever gave birth I'd have natural deliveries. Removing to diva cup I was like, "GIVE ME THE EPIDURAL NOW." It was awful. Absolutely awful. Now obviously that's NOT the norm, it was because I wasn't doing it "right" (even though I'd meticulously read the instructions and practiced) - if I had given it more time, gotten used to it, just kept at it, I'm sure it would've been okay. But I was in no way willing to embrace that learning curve. It just wasn't worth it, for me. I also found it really messy and frustrating to take out, rinse, and put back in again. Full disclosure, though, I don't like walking around all day with something stuck up my vag anyway. I only use pads (though I've used tampons in the past, and they're fine - no real issues, just paranoid about leaks and to a lesser extent TSS which I know is ridiculous, but I like pads anyway, so there you go).

But if you're really interested and you want to get rid of pads/tampons, just give it a try, seriously. Just because my experience was bad doesn't mean yours will be. The worst that can happen is that you'll decide you hate it and you'll be out the cost of the cup. No big deal. Unless you're one of those unlucky ones who gets it clamped to your cervix? :shock: I don't know, I've never heard of that! But honestly, if the risks/downsides sound like they'd trump any potential positives for you, it's okay to say, "You know what, I'm cool with tampons, thanks."

[DarkAnts]

Um...what? Does that hurt? I guess not, if you love your cup.

This must be what the girls in the customer reviews were talking about when they said it got suction cupped to their cervix and needing a nurse to remove it. :(

I was close to buying one, but something about that seems terrifying to me! :pink-shock:

You need to do research and find the right cup for you. I started with a lunette because it is smaller then the Divacup and more flexible. I replaced my lunette with a diva cup and hated it. There are many cups on the market these days. Figure out what you need and look for the cup that suits your needs.

The first period is full of trial and error as you find the most comfortable way to insert the cup. Like another poster said, there is a learning curve. Be patient.

[TeenWitch]

Haha I am with you on TSS. I do use tampons, but I refuse to sleep in them and always take them out after 6 hours on the dot...

[zygote373]

Um...what? Does that hurt? I guess not, if you love your cup.

This must be what the girls in the customer reviews were talking about when they said it got suction cupped to their cervix and needing a nurse to remove it. :(

I was close to buying one, but something about that seems terrifying to me! :pink-shock:

It's a very gentle seal. It's important, though, because it helps keep the cup in place. You just have a break it before you pull it out. I do this by running my finger around the edge of the cup pressing in a little until I feel a release. If I don't break the seal before I pull it doesn't hurt, it just feels weird. It's another one of those things that is part of the cup learning curve. The only time my cup has ever hurt is when I put it next to instead of around my cervix. My cervix is over on the side, so this is easy to do. OUCH.

I do love the cup. I haven't worried about TSS in so long I forgot that was on of the major benefits! I almost always put it in before my period starts to avoid the all-day bathroom dashes to check.

My girlfriend actually hates the cup, though. It's not for everyone. If you're on the edge, I recommend giving it a try. What do you have to lose? If you don't like it/can't get used to it, then you're at the same place you started and now you know it's not for you. But if you do like it, it's really the best.

[LovelyLuna]

if anyone who dose not want to try the cup but wants to save money (and be kind to the environment) try cloth pads. Ive been using them for 2 years and love them to death. No sweaty plasticly pads for me!

[Valerie3kids]

The cup information is priceless and will be passed to the remaining members of the family that still need such items. The price of tampons is beyond ridiculous.

I do feel the need to ask how do you take care of a cloth pad? laundry wise etc.? Are they hard to secure into place?

[Catey]

While this is probably not the whole story I do think that there is a strong subconscious antagonism in the Duggar family to the idea of Jana courting. The dichotomy of "good woman/mother"- "bad woman/whore" is still present in our culture and it´s (imho) easy to see that the Duggars have strong issues with it. Josh´s behaviour presents but one example of this. Anna never stood a chance of turning him on, independent of how attractive she may be as a person, because she represents the good woman, the mother, the family-approved bride. It´s the eternal curse of the fundie wives that they are expected to give their husbands all they´d ever sexually want in a woman which (although they´d never admit it) means - in their world of division - that they have to have quite a bit of the "whore"-aspect in them. But on the other hand, they of course have to be godly and pure and maternal. It is nearly impossible to not fail in one way or the other.

JB and Michelle were able to find a pretty well working solution to this really tricky problem, due to the fact that Michelle was not raised fundie. Her "mowing the lawn in a bikini"-past still does a lot towards providing her with a "slutty aura", thereby keeping JB turned on even after so many years of marriage. And the memory is kept alive by incidents like the one on the golf course where JB treats her like a slut - not only in front of her daughter but also in front of the whole tv audience. That´s why I think it is possible (not certain, but possible) that JB has actually succeeded in staying physically faithful to Michelle - which means a lot considering that he is sexually obviously (excuse the expression but I think it fits here perfectly) pretty fucked up. (I say "physically faithful" because I am sure he has had his share of looking at porn and because he has obviously very unclear emotional boundaries as far as some of his elder daughters are concerned.)

All this means that while the "holy mother-whore"-dichotomy is strong in the family, it´s not (and cannot be) Michelle who keeps the "holy mother"-position occupied. In the symbolic order of the family, it´s Jana who has that role and that´s imho why everybody, Jana herself included, subconsciously finds it extremely difficult to imagine her involved in an intimate relationship.

Stopped lurking long enough to say, AWESOME take on the dynamic of this family!!!!

:character-oldtimer:

[MayMay1123]

Haha I am with you on TSS. I do use tampons, but I refuse to sleep in them and always take them out after 6 hours on the dot...

as someone who damn near died from TSS, heed this advice fellow FJers!

[EmCatlyn]

The cup information is priceless and will be passed to the remaining members of the family that still need such items. The price of tampons is beyond ridiculous.

I do feel the need to ask how do you take care of a cloth pad? laundry wise etc.? Are they hard to secure into place?

Though I cannot comment on how 21st century women handle cloth menstrual pads, I have to share the story of how one of the first things my mother bought with the very first money she earned in her teens was a box of Kotex. Her family (mother, grandmother, aunt) disapproved greatly of the extra expenditure of money on something disposable. This was in the 1940s. The family had no washing machine. Menstrual pads, like diapers, were washed at home.

My mother told me that the pads were put to soak in a bucket of cold water first, then moved to another bucket that had clean water and detergent. After soaking in that, the pads, which were folded, a little bit like diapers, were scrubbed on a washboard until they came clean. They were hung to dry in the sun or in the covered back porch if it was raining. When the pads were not drying quickly enough, my grandmother might iron them.

My mother attached her pads to her cotton panties with safety pins, but her aunt had a belt with buttons that went through the button holes in the pad. My mother's aunt used these cloth pads until she needed a hysterectomy around 1961 and I have a vague memory of seeing a bucket with bloody cloths at her house, asking about them and being told it was rust from a gate that had gotten on a blouse. :) (I would have been around 4. )

In 1975 as a student in a summer program in England I ran out of sanitary supplies on a Sunday when everything seemed to be closed. Remembering my mother's story of cloth pads, I improvised successfully with a terry wash cloth wrapped in two cotton handkerchiefs safety-pinned to my undies. On Monday, after running to Woolworth's for supplies, I successfully soaked the washcloths and hankies clear of bloodstains and dried them on the windowsill before putting them in my laundry bag.

Anyway, my mom, who saw Kotex as one of the Great Steps in Human civilization would have been fascinated by the cup and would be amused that anyone is back to using cloth pads. :wink-kitty:

[blackgold86]

Have had Implanon in my arm for 2 years now. Need to get it removed in January. Havent had a period in 18 months and I am not looking forward to getting them again! :cry: