Have you tried looking for your cervix on the first day of your period? Since the cervix typically drops to its lowest descent during menstruation, it's likely that your cervix could be so low that your small Lunette is too long for you on that day, but it moves high enough the rest of the time. You can try using the cup inside out to see if that shortens it enough for comfort on that day. If that helps but doesn't totally solve the problem, you may need to get a shorter cup for that first day. According to the size charts, the LadyCup and MeLuna may be good fits for you: http://sizecharts.livejournal.com/. I also wanted to recommend cloth pads if you can't use your cup sometimes. You can learn more about them at http://clothpads.org/ or in the cloth-pads community here on LJ. Good luck!

Agreed. Also, if you do have a low cervix, when you try to hold the cup folded through the entire insertion, the folded front can come face to face with you cervix and won't go any further.

But if its possible to get it to open about halfway in, That sort of lets the cervix dip slightly into the cup's opening, rather than pushing against it in resistance. So the rim will be around your cervix like this (O) Then you can coax it up the rest of the way. Here is a video I posted, kind of showing what I mean:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qEaCn2w9Y4

Also, you said you were having trouble getting the cup to pop open. You'll see in the video how a very low cervix may get in the way of that. So in addition to pausing halfway in, here are some other things that (for me at least) help it pop open better:

-- Insert with the folded crease facing to the back. The back wall of the vagina seems to have more room for popping open, for some reason.

-- Make sure one of the suction release holes is inside the fold crease, that way it stays exposed to air longer, so the cup opens better.

Hope some of that helps :)

The issue is that it is almost in, and then it won't pop open. I think that letting it pop open early should help, but I have been having trouble getting it up after doing that. I really do that that it should help, so I'll try to work on it :)

I usually have a hole inside the crease, but I insert sideways for some reason, I'll try backwards.

have you tried letting it open before it's fully in? my cervix is so low that i need to let any cup open as soon as the rim is in (so i can only use certain folds like the C-fold, labia fold and 9-fold).

can you feel your cervix? is it really RIGHT THERE? mine is so low that even when the cup it's open properly it can't go so deep that it doesn't stick out. any cup will stick out, even inside out.

that said especially my new small meluna sticking out isn't uncomfortable (it's 38x45). meluna also used to make other short cups and they're still available. the old small was 40x40 and the old medium was 45x45. i have the medium and although i'm a virgin the width is no problem for me. however because of its shape even it sticks out.
i also have a large ladycup because some 15 months ago there were far less soft cups available and i got this one and it's ok inside out.

you could also try inserting the cup in advance, when you're about to start your period. i'm not sure this works but i used to imagine it kept my cervix higher.


omg sorry i'm sleepy and this is messy... i forgot to say one of the most important things, TURN YOUR CUP INSIDE OUT!!! i can wear my small lunette inside out though eventually it will shift during bathroom use so i prefer not to wear it while i'm out. and as i said experiment with insertion, you might be able to insert it deeper when it's fully open below your cervix. and do try the labia fold, with the small lunette it seems to work better both for me and for my mum when she tried it.

why exactly did you end up using disposables? did your cup leak, was it uncomfortable? i've never had leaks that weren't just overflow. if your cup is open and around your cervix, it shouldn't leak even if it sticks out.

make sure to make the bottom as smooth as possible if it's uncomfortable. i used to think my new small meluna didn't work for me right side out but when i simply cut off the cuuuuute ball stem and everything that could poke me (damaged the bottom a little but didn't make a hole), i discovered it's probably the best cup for me! the meluna-style rim gets a bit more noticeable inside out and presses on my bladder/bowels (though my both melunas are soft).

i posted about this after a couple of cycles: http://menstrual-cups.livejournal.com/2341364.html i think the hymen also alters how you feel as for whether the cup is fully in or not. now that i have nothing left i can tell that my cervix moves less than i thought. it was more due to the fact that it's at its lowest when you're sitting on the toilet.

as i've tried to explain but never put clearly enough, there are a lot of factors involved here... the length, sure, but also width, shape, the rim. i'm really not sure which cup could be the best choice for you. your gut feeling is often right. does the shape of the fleurcup/new melunas look comfortable to you? the melunas are the cheapest and might be the ones to try first. if you order an old small or medium chances are you'll get a new small or medium as a free sample.
or have a look at the small+large fleurcup offer.

and while you're not confident about your day 1, you can get/make some cloth pads :-)

random but when i got my other cups, i never planned to make them my main cups. but each one i got seemed more comfortable than the previous, except the new small meluna...which i can almost say eventually turned out to be my goldilocks cup, heh.

if this wasn't clear...the thing about wide cups is that they might be able to go deeper around your cervix. but most are so long that the difference will be minimal.

that's it i think... you're VERY welcome to ask more questions/describe the issues in more detail.
however, try to make up your mind next cycle, as the old melunas are no longer produced and as time passes they'll be harder and harder to get.

Edited at 2012-01-03 10:37 pm (UTC)

I can feel my cervix, and I don't think it's really RIGHT THERE, but it was lower than it is now. I had to wear disposable pads because I had used my two homemade cloth pads (I'm making more!) and the cup was really uncomfortable when it was sticking out. I think it may be because my hymen is still at least partially intact, but I'm not sure.

I think what I'll do is try the cup inside out a month from now (or maybe even tonight, for no real reason), and then if that doesn't work, I'll try to get a small meluna.

are those days light? you'll have very little capacity with a small meluna.
i don't think the hymen has much to do with this. mine was at least partially intact for over a year but it was never a problem. once you've inserted your cup past it, the stretching should be minimal. did you cut off the stem and did you file it down?

I find that my small Yuuki cup does not fit well on the first 1-2 days of my period (the bottom of the cup sticks out, like you described in your post). I've started wearing Instead cups for those days, with cloth pads at night in case of leaks.