Taking the Next Step

I hate fighting.  I really, really, really hate fighting.  So it really bothers me when I fight with my own body.  Though I've been using the Diva Cup for many cycles and I know how to use it, I still sometimes have to force the Cup into place.  There isn't much worse than fighting with your own vagina.  This holds particularly true when you're already suffering with your period.

According to the manufacturer, most women flow about 3 to 4 ounces over their entire cycle.  The Cup holds one full ounce.  This leads them to indicate that that you can go up to 12-hours without fooling around with the Cup.  That's pretty cool when it's true. 

However, thanks to the Curse that is starting to feel a lot like an actual curse, I have to screw with my Cup a lot on one day of my cycle.  It gets filled to capacity every two hours or so on my heavy day.  Part of the joy of using the Cup is not having to mess around with your period all the time so this is getting really old.  Worse, my vagina acts like a total bitch about it and puts up a bigger fight than a virgin on prom night.  Worse than that, all these vaginal gymnastics leaves me with terrible cramps.  I've never suffered much with cramps in my life and, I have to say, they really suck.

What am I going to do about it?  Unfortunately, I can't slip my vadge a roofie and have my way with it.  But I am taking a hard look mama cloth and considering using that on my heavy day so I can give my hoo-haw a break.

So I've been exploring the world of mama cloth.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm looking at literally going "on the rag."  I never thought I'd go this route, but I guess I really am turning into quite the hippie because it doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me anymore.

I've been looking at mass-produced products and WAHM-produced products.  They are all pretty similar and, frankly, how different can one menstrual pad be from another?  Wings/no wings and the cost seems to be the big differences between offerings.  Well, those things plus the materials used.  With lovely prints and  gorgeous brocade, some of these pads are so beautiful that it almost seems wrong to use them for their intended purpose. 

But how hard it can be to make mama cloth?  Courtesy of cloth diapering, I know a lot about fleece, microsuede, velour, cotton, bamboo, hemp, and PUL.  I think that it would be easy to purchase a variety of materials and experiment with finding the best combo that works for me. 

One big thing stops me from embarking on this experiment:  I don't sew.  I can sort of sew by hand, but I don't want to hand-stitch a bunch of pads.  And I don't know how to use a sewing machine.  Yes, I own my Grandmother's sewing machine.  I just have no idea how to use it.  Add that to the list of things I wish I'd asked my Grandmother about before she passed away.

Even if I did know how to make these pads myself, do I really want to?  What is my time worth?  I'd have to determine what materials I'd like to use, purchase said materials, come up with a pattern, and assemble the pads.  I'd also have to determine if wings are important enough to me to purchase a snap press.  It seems like a lot of time, money, and work to make a few freaking pads.  Remember, I only need them for one day.

After thoroughly exploring etsy.com, I think I found a variety that will suit my needs just fine.  As a bonus, most etsy sellers price their offerings well-below the price of mass-produced mama cloth.  I hesitate to purchase though because I don't know that I'll like what I'm considering.  Should I get wings or no wings?  What material is most comfortable to have against my skin?  What material is best for the inner core?  Do I really need it to be waterproof? 

Do you use or have you used mama cloth?  If so, please share your thoughts.  Post anonymously if you'd like, but please post.  I look forward to reading your responses - if there are any!