It Will Revolutionize Your Life

Those are the words that came out of my friend's mouth (I joked with her that I would link to her blog, but I will spare her on this topic...this time :) ). She was talking about something called a Diva Cup...and she was right.

Now, if you are a man who is just downright opposed to hearing about girly issues, then stop right here. Click away to your Bass Pro Shop or ESPN site. BUT, if you are a man who has a wife (or plan to in the future) or a mother or a sister, or you just generally thrive on knowledge of all types, you should read this. It is super interesting and I want you to read this...if you will. Read it and share your knowledge. I do share personal stories though. You know by now that I don't mind you hearing them (obviously, otherwise I wouldn't put them on the world wide web...and they aren't that personal). But, if you prefer to skip down to the bottom of this post, you can just read the jist of this post there, in the last paragraph...and follow the links to learn more.

For those of you still with me, remember, I am a nurse...think of this as a friendly, in-home nurse-patient inservice/teaching seminar, shall we?

We will be discussing menstruation today class.

And specifically a product used in the days of the month when unfertilized eggs are dispelled.

Let's begin.

Back in January 2008 or so when I was researching cloth diapers, I saw this product and/or others like it. Of course, when I saw things like Mama Cloth and LunaPads, I didn't linger. Those are super (and I've had friends who even made their own) if you like pads. I despise them though and generally avoid them like the plague.

Again, I saw products like the Diva Cup that my friend was talking about, but I just wasn't there at the time. I had had one visit from Aunt Flo in 2004 after I had Grady, then one in 2005 after I had Hadley, and then nothing between Eissa and Cass. I was pregnant with Cass at the time of my cloth diaper research, so I was sitting happily in my non-period, pregnant self bliss. Just wasn't on my radar at the time.

Well, Aunt Flo came back for a visit when Cass was only 3 months old, to my horror. What in the world? Not time for her yet! And, also to my horror, the tampon options here in Brazil are incredibly (and unbelievably) basically null and void.
Culturally, in general Brazilians feel very strongly that girls don't even consider wearing tampons (or any internal feminine products) until after they are married. Interesting to me on many different levels and for several different reasons, but I won't get into that now. After they are finally permitted to wear tampons, it seems as if most are so accustomed to pads (and tampons have just been so taboo) that they prefer the pads. They have ob's here...like 3 boxes obscurely on a shelf anytime you go to the supermarket, amongst the whole section of pads. Occasionally (rarely) you might find a box or 2 of Tampax. But, that's it. And no plastic applicators to be found anywhere.

Thank God for girl visitors from the states (with their plastic applicators in tow) when Aunt Flo showed back up after Cass. And then they were very generous when they left to go home to the land of plastic applicators...they left theirs here for me. ;) Smooches for that, girls!

And then there was the trip to the airport in the states to depart for Brazil back in February. We stopped by Wal-Mart for one more last shopping spree...some special things we wanted to get that we can't get here. My items? 6 big boxes of precious Playtex plastic applicator tampons. :) It was quite the sight I'm sure when we were in the ticket line at the airport and I was opening all 6 said boxes and dispersing and shoving the individual tampons into our 11 large suitcases. Ha.

So...

I was set for a while. But then my friend here in Brazil (a fellow American missionary), over pizza at the food court in the mall, said, "It will revolutionize your life." She started explaining it, her husband suddenly decided he'd go find my husband in the arcade with the kids, and I was all ears.

She sold me on it. And then since, I sold another lady here on it and we are both Diva Cup owners now. :) Ahh, I love networking.

I won't describe it to you, but just imagine never having to spend money on feminine products again. Husbands, imagine never having to spend your money OR stand in line with a box of tampons or pads stuck under your arm. Imagine no leaks, no toxic shock syndrome concern, no need to pack 'essentials' in your purse. I'm telling you, your life will be changed. Here is a link that explains all you'd ever want to know about the glorious Diva Cup so you can see more yourself (they even have videos...wha?!?). But, buy from this site when you decide you want to take the plunge...this company is near and dear to my heart. And, when you buy, you won't regret it. Because truly...it will revolutionize your life.