You don't want anything hanging out of you once everything is in place. But if you have a high cervix, leave the stem of the cup untrimmed (if you get a cup with a stem). Insert the cup and get it situated. If part of the stem is hanging out, you will want to remove the cup, and trim the stem with a pair of scissors. If the stem is just inside the vaginal opening and you can't feel it, then you're all good.
When you're ready to remove the cup, squat/bear down and the stem will be near enough the opening that you can grip it with your finger and thumb without having to insert 2 fingers inside you at once. If your cup is lower, or you've trimmed down the stem, insert one finger and press sideways against the base of the cup to break the seal, then bear down and pinch the base of the cup. When you pull it out, you want to pull one side out before the other so it eases out. I like to do it over the toilet so I can pull it out and dump it right in. Then I wipe (still holding the cup in the other hand) because I get strings of blood from my vagina to the toilet, and then stand, rinse the cup in the sink, shake most of the water off, then sit back on the toilet and reinsert. If I'm at work, I just dump the contents, wipe myself, and reinsert without rinsing. Occasionally I'll wipe the cup with a piece of toilet paper before reinserting.
The first few times you try it, wear a pad in case you don't have it in right and you leak. When I first started using the cup, I missed my cervix as often as I got the cup in correctly. You might want to try at home and wear other protection to work or out of the house, just to get the learning curve. I've been using the cup 6 years now and I hardly thing twice about it. Every now and then the cup doesn't pop open inside and I have to wiggle and rotate it a bit, but I don't put the cup in crooked anymore, or have any problems inserting or removing. You'll get the hang of it!
Thanks for the ideas, that sounds less intimidating than what I was imagining! (: I'm just worried that I'm passing my cervix. This last time I tried to find it, it was sort of painful and I couldn't stick my finger in as far as before without sort of bumping into something that made it more painful? But I didn't feel a donut haha. If that makes any sense at all. I am on a heavy day of my period though. It just seems like I feel a lot of bumpyness and tissue everywhere, not just vaginal walls, or something or maybe I'm imagining it. Everyone makes it seem so easy, "just stick your finger in and find your cervix" but anatomy just seems more complicated than that...and feels more complicated.
When you're ready to remove the cup, squat/bear down and the stem will be near enough the opening that you can grip it with your finger and thumb without having to insert 2 fingers inside you at once. If your cup is lower, or you've trimmed down the stem, insert one finger and press sideways against the base of the cup to break the seal, then bear down and pinch the base of the cup. When you pull it out, you want to pull one side out before the other so it eases out. I like to do it over the toilet so I can pull it out and dump it right in. Then I wipe (still holding the cup in the other hand) because I get strings of blood from my vagina to the toilet, and then stand, rinse the cup in the sink, shake most of the water off, then sit back on the toilet and reinsert. If I'm at work, I just dump the contents, wipe myself, and reinsert without rinsing. Occasionally I'll wipe the cup with a piece of toilet paper before reinserting.
The first few times you try it, wear a pad in case you don't have it in right and you leak. When I first started using the cup, I missed my cervix as often as I got the cup in correctly. You might want to try at home and wear other protection to work or out of the house, just to get the learning curve. I've been using the cup 6 years now and I hardly thing twice about it. Every now and then the cup doesn't pop open inside and I have to wiggle and rotate it a bit, but I don't put the cup in crooked anymore, or have any problems inserting or removing. You'll get the hang of it!
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I'm just worried that I'm passing my cervix. This last time I tried to find it, it was sort of painful and I couldn't stick my finger in as far as before without sort of bumping into something that made it more painful? But I didn't feel a donut haha. If that makes any sense at all. I am on a heavy day of my period though.
It just seems like I feel a lot of bumpyness and tissue everywhere, not just vaginal walls, or something or maybe I'm imagining it. Everyone makes it seem so easy, "just stick your finger in and find your cervix" but anatomy just seems more complicated than that...and feels more complicated.
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