Diva Cup Questions... Help Please!

[madasmama]

So I just got my Diva Cup, and I tried it a couple of times, but I'm not sure what I think about it yet - I want to get the hang of it before making up my mind.
I'm just curious about a couple of things, the first being that I've seen people on this forum talking about the little holes in it, and I don't want to sound unobservant but after looking at mine, I haven't seen any holes in it at all...? What's going on there? Where should I be looking? I'm also wondering about trimming the stem; the stem is already so short that if I were to cut it at all it would be almost non-existant, and it says in the little booklet that comes with it not to cut it off completely, so for those that have trimmed it, how much did you actually trim off, and did you notice a difference?
My final question may be a little TMI... back before I had a baby, when I actually had time for these things, if I ever had sex during menstration, AF would sort of dry up a little bit for about a day or two... and after I used the Diva Cup once (and having it et stuck and struggling to get it out) I noticed that it was drying up the same way it did if I were to have sex... is this normal? Or is it just because the thing got stuck and I had to wrestle with it to get it out?
Thanks so much for any help you can give me!

[KMK_Mama]

The little itty bitty holes are at the top around the rim. They get icky sometimes and I have used a needle to clean out the dried blood.

I trimmed my stem a bit, but not the whole thing. I don't use the stem to take it out though so I don't think it would matter if you trimmed the whole thing off. It did make a difference when I trimmed it because before trimming, it poked me when I sat down. :

I don't know about your last question....I have had the whole "drying up with sex" issue, but not that I can recall with the Diva cup.

[melissel]

I cut my whole stem off, it hasn't made a bit of difference. I don't grab the stem when I remove, I grab the base of the cup and dig my thumb into the side to break the seal and make it collapse in half a bit, and then pull down on the base. I imagine if the cup went up way high and got lost, you might wish you had a bit more stem to grab, but I've been using mine for around 8 months now, and haven't needed the stem at all.

The holes are just below the rounded rim. They're teeny weeny, but keeping them clean can make a huge difference in how the cup works.

I've never experienced that last thing, so I don't know

HTH!

[wildtigercubs]

Everyone else has explained the holes. As for trimming they won't swap it if you trim it. That being said I left mine on until I was sure I wanted to keep it and by then the thing had stopped poking me. I don't really use it but if it's not bothering me. I suppose one day I may trim it but I was too scared I'd cut my cup (and I had to have it shipped here from the US).

As for the drying up I have the opposite problem. When I have sex (usually when I'm almost finished anyway) I get heavier for a little while afterwards. It's possible though that it was just the wrestling thing or maybe you were going to have a little dry patch anyway.