The first day I put it in and took it out numerous times, trying to get it in where I couldn't feel it anymore--I ended up taking a break for the rest of Saturday because I was starting to get pretty sore and frustrated. But by later that night I tried again, and things went better.Thanks to help from several ladies in this wonderful community, I think I've settled on an insertion method that works. Punch down fold, insert till half of the cup is inside, then let it open, push it in the rest of the way, using the stem to "steer" it in the direction *I think* my cervix is. This gets it in to where it's comfortable, and most of the time I can't even feel that it's there.
Yesterday was a very heavy day, and I had issues with leakage. The cup was definitely catching the vast majority of my flow, but it didn't seem to be completely full to overflowing when I emptied it, even thought there had been some leaking (some might have spilled out as I tried to remove it). I ended up emptying it about 5 times yesterday, and four of those it was at least 3/4 full.
I'm still not sure about the location of my cervix--I think I've found it, but even so, I don't know if the cup is actually open around it. I always thought of my vagina as a round tube (o), but after feeling around in there to find my cervix, it seems to be shaped more like this: ) ( (this is a top-down cross section). It seems like there are lots of corners for the cup to get stuck in, that may or may not be around my cervix. Maybe this is why it's leaking a little. Or maybe it's not really open all the way--it's hard for me to tell sometimes.
I ended up having to get up in the middle of the night twice because I could tell it was leaking. I'm not sure what the issue was there--maybe lying down shifted the cup out of position or something. Anyway, usually with a super-plus tampon and two heavy pads I have to get up in the middle of the night anyway (I'm *really* heavy the first 36 hours or so).
In spite of the kind of steep learning curve, I'm loving my cup. Besides not having to buy or dispose of tampons any more (and the leaking I've had so far is no worse than what I had with even super plus tampons anyway), I have found the cup to be more comfortable. I used to get a heavy, swollen feeling with tampons on my heavy days, and I've had none of that so far. Also, big bonus, i haven't had any cramps! I usually get terrible cramps on my heavy days, but I haven't had any yet! I hope this isn't just a fluke. We'll have to see what happens in my next cycle.
Reading other posts from newbies was helpful, hearing that it might take two or three cycles before everything really works like clockwork. I'm feeling good about not having to buy any more tampons! (i still have a few on hand, and will keep them a while just in case). My next purchase will be some cloth pads for backup (I'm hoping the current disposables I have on hand will be the last ones I ever have to buy!)