Ok - So this is the moment you've all be waiting for.
How did I get on with the sponge?
What sponges are they?
How was the sex with the sponge in place?
Well I will begin to talk about the sponge.
The sponges I bought were actually all around the same size - Quite small. I would say around the size of a plum middle. Let me say it now, if you are interested in buying one, they are called 'Dead Sea Sponge' and Lloyds Pharmacy sell's them for £1.85 a pop. Although I do not know what size they are and how course they are so please, make sure they are soft enough to use INSIDE your body before use.
The sponges I bought were actually all around the same size - Quite small. I would say around the size of a plum middle. Let me say it now, if you are interested in buying one, they are called 'Dead Sea Sponge' and Lloyds Pharmacy sell's them for £1.85 a pop. Although I do not know what size they are and how course they are so please, make sure they are soft enough to use INSIDE your body before use.
I actually have tried using a sponge before this. I didn't bother telling you because I didn't have a sexual partner at the time - wink wink.
The previous one I had, looked exactly like this:
It came as a huge (and I mean huuuuge) I cut it into sizes I thought that would be acceptable and got on reasonably well with it. Although I quickly realized that having this kind of sponge lead to only one thing; breakages. With all the tiny holes in it I found it was tearing inside before I had withdrawn it. Absorbancy was really good, I didn't leak once but wore a pad just in case I had any issues - after all we all know a sponge only holds so much. I think there I have the only advantage from most of my readers - I have a mirena inside my womb, it was put in September 2011 after heavy periods and a lot of pain. Basically, I lose very little now during my periods. Before the Mirena was put in I would lose around 80-100ml, if you lose anything over 80ml you must go to the doctors, anything over 80ml is considered excessive. I only know because I heard it on embarrassing bodies once ;)
Anyway, getting back to the matter in hand (I won't say in something else!)
- Make sure your sponge is around the size of your thumb (or slightly larger depending on the flow)
- Make sure your sponge is soft enough to go inside you (Yes, they come in all sorts of textures)
- Make sure you get the correct one - ''Dead Sea Sponge''
- Make sure you are aware of how frequent you have to take out, wash and re-insert
- Make sure if you are due to go out you have back up, example, a pad or a mooncup. If you are out later than expected and can't get to wash it out, take a sandwich bag to place it in to wash later and simply put your mooncup in (or use a pad instead)
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| Notice the texture, quite smooth - not easily breakable like the last sponge. |
Let's talk about sexual relations with the sponge now - I know, this is the bit you're all REALLY interested in!
Last time I told you
''The great thing about a sponge is that:
1) It's soft
2) You can have sex while it's in
3) Your partner may not even feel it (depending on his length of course, and even if he is big enough to crash into your cervix, it'll still feel as spongy as it was then ... )
4) If you are out in public and can't wash your Moon Cup out, you could have a spare sponge ready in your hand bag
The only downside that I have found is:
1) You are more prone to leak over night (for this very reason I'll be using my Moon Cup over night)
2) You may have difficulty retreiving it after sex
3) The Moon Cup creates a seal around you - the sponge doesn't so, again - we may have leaking problems''Let me address each of those points again.
1) ''It's soft'' - This IS true. When you get your sponge and want to use it, PLEASE DO NOT JUST INSERT IT DRY - You WILL hurt yourself and more to the point you can not squash it down enough and insertion is a lot harder, it will scratch going in, so please please please, make sure you wet it and wring it out prior to insertion, you will have some very sore sex if you do not wet it first.
2) ''You can have sex while it's in.'' Yes, you can have sex while it's in, Porn stars use sponges while they're on. However it is purely because of this reason I will not be using it again while I am on for sex. It might of been all in my head BUT I didn't get much enjoyment from the sex with it in. I guess I am just one of those girls who prefers her other half to crash into her cervix and likes to feel him deep inside. However the ''shock absorber'' in my opinion got in the way of my enjoyment and because of that reason I didn't climax as I usually do and as I say - won't be using it again. Not just that reason but also my other half got quite sore from bouncing off of it and moving it around the touchable areas of my cervix. After the first sexual encounter I went to the toilet to remove the sponge. However, retrieval is tricky - as I half expected it to be. I have a high lying cervix at the best of times but I could only just touch it with the tips of my fingers but I couldn't grasp it. I huffed and I puffed, and the darn thing wasn't coming out in a hurry.
Both my natural birthed babies have been delivered in 1 or 2 pushes so I used my strong pelvic floor muscles to try and push it further downwards, ladies - our muscles in case you didn't know seem to be in the middle .... it did absolutely nothing up nearer my cervix apart from nearly break my fingers in the middle - and I am not joking! ;-) While I was trying to retrieve it, I did however find something really really gross. It was hard and it felt like metal. I presume this was my Mirena, but I don't understand because I was told the 'strings' were made of cotton like material and were SOFT. What I felt was far from soft and fortunately for me, although my partner can crash the hell out of my cervix he wasn't aware of the strings (phew).
3) ''Your partner may not even feel it (depending on his length of course,
and even if he is big enough to crash into your cervix, it'll still
feel as spongy as it was then ... )''
Please see above for answer, lol.
4) ''If you are out in public and can't wash your Moon Cup out, you could have a spare sponge ready in your hand bag'' I read this and think to myself did I really put this in the positives of having a sponge? Hmm I guess I did. I guess if you are caught short it is one of those things that 'would do in the mean time' if you see what I mean. Quick, easy to insert and if it accidentally fell out of your bag you don't have the embarrassment of a tampon wrapper, or pad wrapper so people can identify you're on your period - instead it's just a sponge. It's quite an innocent thing to be seen with ;)
And the bad points: ~
The only downside that I have found is:
1) You are more prone to leak over night (for this very reason I'll be using my Moon Cup over night)
2) You may have difficulty retrieving it after sex
3) The Moon Cup creates a seal around you - the sponge doesn't so, again - we may have leaking problems''
1) You are more prone to leak over night (for this very reason I'll be using my Moon Cup over night)
2) You may have difficulty retrieving it after sex
3) The Moon Cup creates a seal around you - the sponge doesn't so, again - we may have leaking problems''
1) ''You are more prone to leak over night'' I haven't used one over night and but this still stays the same, it is a negative and in all honesty, you couldn't trust a sponge to keep you dry all night.
2) ''You make have difficulty retrieving it after sex'' Well well well, if I didn't know better before I'd say I had a premonition, lol. If you have a low lying cervix then this probably won't be an issue for you, but for us ladies who have high lying cervix's - we have great difficulty in retrieving it again after sex. Of course you could go for a bigger sponge and I have found that actually, a few hours after sex let's it fill of blood therefore the sponge expands, therefore makes it bigger = you can reach it a lot easier. I say ''easier'' if you class, squatting with one leg up on the bath ''easier'' go ahead. I did try to remove on the toilet (as you do a moon cup) and quickly realized I needed more of an angle to get my fingers fully in. It was still just as high and again (it comes second nature to me) I squeezed down on my muscles to try and 'birth my sponge' if you will. Once I caught grip I managed to pull it with no rips or tears. Do not write it off just because of this though. Some women do attach strings so they can grab it a lot easier... However - I am crap at sewing and will not even try this, it's a sponge and I can just see it tearing in half if I even try to do that.
3) ''The Moon Cup creates a seal around you - the sponge doesn't so, again - we may have leaking problems'' I can report having the sponge in 8 hours (Yes, ok - perhaps a little long but I totally forgot it was there..) and I had no leaking problems UNTIL I removed it. As it came out there was a few spots on the bathroom floor, - but please remember I am hardly loosing any loss purely because of the Mirena, you're experiencing will be completely different to mine.
The Result:
In no particular order - Ha ha. I am sorry I have just always wanted to say that, lol!
Ok, serious face's on please. You've read my experiences and the result I have chosen is; It's failed. Purely because of the sex with it in. If I get horny mid-cycle again I will insert one in, just so it's not messy because even with one in, you can still have quite good sexual activities. I shall spare you the details but we did manage to carry on with having fun, regardless of the first time with it, he'll just have to stick only half of it in ;)
I think personally for us it didn't suit us. It made my partner sore and took away the best bits for sex for me. It was personally dreadful. Porn stars are good at faking their orgasms and yes, I could of faked one if I wanted but there was no point and in all fairness I don't want to be anything but truthful with my partner. In the past I hold my hands up and admit I have had to fake orgasms in the past BUT with my current other half this is something I no longer have to fake.. He hit's the damn spot - quite literally, LOL! Sorry, Had to crack that one in there.. it was kinda relevant yes?
Shock absorbers are a big no-no for us - But please, don't let my experience put you off trying. They are a cheap alternative to tampax and pads none the less - and more environmentally friendly too.
For me personally though I am sticking with my ''Lady Cup'' - Don't even ask what happened to my Moon Cup... It's a very long story..
Anyway - I am glad you are following my blogs, I hope that if you try using a shock absorber, sorry, sponge you have better luck than us.
