Moon Cycles

So I guess I am going to do what every other blogger does and tell the men to skip this post now if they can't handle or don't want to talk about a woman's monthly cycle. There said!

WARNING LONG POST! XD


Before I begin I would just like to say this is all pretty new to me. As of this year actually. For a long time I always told myself no way I would do cloth pads, menstrual cups or anything of the sort. The words that came to mind were ewww, gross, I don't want to, too much work, etc. But I changed my mind. Quickly. It was like cloth diapers. Just all of a sudden I had to try it. NOW. And I tried to make it happen.



Like cloth diapers I had no idea where to start. I don't have people around me to show me the way.. I figure things out myself. All the worrying about will this really work? Will I end up with a mess? Will it be comfortable? Do I have the extra time and energy for it? Etc. etc.

Well it turns out it is easier then I thought it would be! If you have enough mama cloth (pads) then you only have to wash everything once at the end of your cycle. As you can see by the pics of my used cloth, I don't even have any stains at this point. I also don't have enough to last through one cycle either. So mine did get washed more frequently, maybe that led to no staining issues yet. Either way if they did get stained, no big deal they are not for the world to look at they are just for me. Except for this blog post I am sharing with the world... LOL

When I first started on this new journey I didn't even think about using any of the menstrual cup products. After my last baby I just wasn't feeling comfortable with trying one. All I wanted was to be COMFY.  No more sticking things in me or wearing big bulky pads that stick to you, eww. So I would try cloth pads. This was a big change for me having always been a tampon user and thong wearer.

There are 2 kinds of comfort in the feminine products world. First is the physical comfort . Second is the comfort of knowing that your products work and will prevent you from an embarrassing accident. I am still not sure I have found my perfect match of both but I like all of the different brands I have tried for different reasons.

On top of having to buy cloth pads, something else new to me was underwear that weren't thongs. Um ladies I STILL DO NOT have this down! If you have brands you LOVE please share! As I am having a hard time finding things that are inexpensive and fit comfortably and well.

My first purchase of mama cloth was from Luna Pads. I think I am right by saying they are the biggest or at least most known cloth pads. I read over their website many times and all those good reviews had me sold! I wasn't sure what size pads to get but since I have the heaviest periods I bought the ones for very heavy flow. I swear my period is so bad it might as well just physically attack me every month.  Oh wait it kind of does! :/

The Luna pads I find to be the most comfortable in terms of making sure I am protected. But I assume that is because I got the biggest size they had, if I had done that with the other brands I think I would feel the same for them as well. Unless you have good fitting underwear though they are a bit long and not the most comfy fit. I know I would like the Luna Pads better if I had a better fitting pair of underwear. It's funny though, it seems as though the pads don't get thicker they just get longer. Obviously if you are someone like me who has very heavy periods you probably need a little bit longer length. But you would think they would make them a little bit thicker too?

Luna Pads

They are clean but they get linty so that is the little spots you see. The design idea is good but not as functional as I would hope. They ARE super soft though and definitely do feel better then disposables any day!  The liner and main pad system seem to be pointless to me though because the liner is so thin that so much fluid gets through to the pad part, so much that you have to change the pad as well as the liner. So why not have one less step and just change a one piece pad? Plus I found the need to adjust the two pieces more then I would have liked, which may be because I don't have proper fitting underwear.  Not sure..

You can try a pantyliner free for shipping if you have never bought from them before! The free one I got is the one on the left. I actually like that design much better.

Everyone is different, I certainly see lots of reviews from people who say they love them I just think have not found my right fit yet. Unfortunately for the price I really can't afford to try any other sizes atm......

Diva Cup giveaways. I got REALLY lucky and won one! I was practically jumping up and down. Never in my life did I think I would be so happy about menstrual products!

While I was waiting for it to come in the mail I did a bunch of researching. How to use it and take care of it etc. I was a little scared because I read about sooo many people having issues with getting it in right or at least it taking a while to get it right.

I received the cup and to my surprise I really didn't have any issues with getting it in. Either that or I am doing it wrong and don't realize it! It does however leak for me once it fills to a certain point. I think sometimes I don't get it in as good as other times too because here and there I do leak when I shouldn't but usually I only leak if it is too full. And being that I have spent my life running to the bathroom because of leakage with tampons this is not new to me (like I said my period hates me).

In the first 2 days of my cycle I would have to change a super plus tampon AT LEAST every hour. The Diva Cup goes a couple hours longer for me usually (although I do find myself having to change it every hour for a certain period of time). Now the last couple days of my cycle it can stay in quite awhile. All day if needed, like some women say it can for their whole period (lucky them!).

Diva Cup

Now that I am using the Diva Cup I am pretty happy with it but still want some back up mama cloth just in case of leaks. These are the 3 other brands I have been able to try now and love them. First is MotherMoon Pads.



Mother Moon Pads

My washer actually "ate" the liner on the right so it has a funny crease in it now. :(

I honestly think these are my favorite as of now. But I need to try some other sizes and other sizes in the other brands too to be sure..

Look at how pretty these are though! I think I have a new addiction to add to my love of cloth diapers! Mama cloth! Both are so much prettier, softer and better for the environment. And if you take care of them they will save you money in the long run! Not to mention being self sufficient. If there is some crisis someday and women can't get their disposables at the store what are they going to do!? Not me, as long as they are washed I don't ever have to worry about not having the products to take care of myself.

Fuzzibunz

Ha! Me and the little one actually have matching diapers! LOL. Not because I HAD to have it this way, it was just a super deal one day so I went for it and got matching colors. :)

Party in My Pants. Also know as P.I.M.P.

Look at how cute they are! And they offer a free pantyliner to women who have not shopped with them before! You also get a choice of what kind of pantyliner you want! I chose a thong style (one on the right) for light days Diva Cup backup. And I spotted the super cute limited edition pantyliner on the left and HAD to have it too!

My favorite detergent to wash both my mama cloth AND the cloth diapers is Nellie's. It in my opinion is the best, at least out of what I have tried (I have changed my previous recommendation on cloth diaper detergent after A YEAR of diaper rashes on my poor baby!). It also comes in this super cute and reusable tin can. NO PLASTIC yay)! So you can reuse the tin for whatever you want or recycle it. They also have a huge bulk amount of laundry soda in a plastic bucket that you can buy and refill the tin with. Then when the bucket is empty you can reuse that too! AWESOME!

Seriously have you run to your online store and bought some mama cloth or a cup yet?! If not what are you waiting for!? What could it hurt? At the very least you know you'll have something as back up someday when you run out of the disposable stuff and haven't made it to the store yet!

Questions? Feel free to ask! I could have said even more but this post was long enough! ♥