Although on taking it out, the cup does ride up a ways even from where I insert it, so I have to push like I'm pooping to even be able to find the stem to pull it out (I don't know how people have problems with it sticking out LOL), and I actually wish it had a longer stem so I could get at it more easily. But that's not really that big an issue, I guess I can dig around inside myself till I find it...
I was sort of worried because it seems like my blood is really really congealed and stringy/sticky. When I pull the cup out on the toilet the blood that's in it is all down one side of the inside of the cup, rather than being at the bottom where the measuring lines and stuff are like fluid in a regular cup. The blood in the cup doesn't really "dump out" even when I hold it upside down over the toilet, it doesn't really flow and I have to hold it under the sink for 30 seconds or rub it with my fingers under the water for the blood to come off the inside of the cup.
Meanwhile I'm sitting on the toilet and I have a huge string of blood just hanging out the bottom of me that doesn't seem to drip or break. Sometimes when I wipe the big string, it just sinks to the bottom of the toilet. When I used to only wear pads, or when I had a tampon leaking, and I went to the bathroom, the blood coming out would dissolve in the water so the whole toilet bowl was reddish water. Instead now I have these big globs on the bottom of the toilet and they don't always go away with one flush, which makes me feel like I am wasting water which is not much better environmentally than just putting tampons in the septic tank.
So I was wondering, what affects the consistency of the blood? Is it normal to be really stringy and not actually have a flowy blood consistency? Does it change over the course of your period or from one period to the next? Does using the cup make the blood more gloopy and heavy than just using pads? Do I have too much iron in my blood or something like that?
Thanks for your insight!
P.S. Once my period finishes and I have cause to store my cup in a pouch, I might have a knitting pattern for you guys! I just haven't tried the pouch I made yet, because when I got the cup my period had already started, so I don't know how well it fits. :)