NuvaRing the vaginal
contraceptive ring
The photo: Showing NuvaRing
packaging, its relative size, about 2 inches in diameter and its flexibility.
Lost and found in the sheets:
Housekeeping found a NuvaRing in the sheets of one of my New Years house party
women guests’ room. She had either expelled it or a lover had hooked it with
the corona of his glans and accidently pulled it out. Obviously she was unaware
that it was no longer inside and providing protection. When he withdrew she
should have immediately checked to see that the ring was still in place and
perhaps she did. If she rolled over for a post coital nap and passed gas if she
doesn’t have a pronounced post-pubic vault with the back of the pubic bone for
the ring to rest against her pelvic contractions could have easily squeezed the
ring and it slipped out. I knew who was assigned the room so I called her and
mentioned a ring of hers had been found. At first she thought I was talking
about a finger ring and assured me she had checked all her jewelry was packed
before she left the castle. Then I was a bit more specific that it was a
vaginal contraceptive ring.
She
gasped and there was a noise as she tried to catch her cell as it slipped from
her fingers. Moments later she picked it up and in a shaky voice said her ring
was missing. Case solved! NuvaRing has an outer diameter
of 54 mm and a cross-sectional diameter of 4 mm. and releases on average 0.12
mg/day of etonogestrel and 0.015 mg/day of ethinyl estradiol. It had been out for much longer than the three
hour removal limit during the first two weeks so she will have to use another
method (condoms or a diaphragm) for 7 days while the hormones from the new ring
reestablish her hormonal protection. She wasn’t sleeping with her husband. It
depends on what night she lost the ring as to how serious her situation is. She
should have been protected if she lost the ring on the last night. She is newly
married and wants children, but not with possible paternity questions.
Blackthorn Priory girls training an update:
Now that the holidays are over I was able to get back to taking care of my
other responsibilities around the Barony one of which is tending to the sexual
health of the girls school at Blackthorn Priory. I visited briefly at Christmas
to distribute small gifts to girl each as none the students has family or home
other than the sisters of the order and her schoolmates.
Returning readers
may recall what I wrote about Blackthorn Priory in my December 31, 2014 post
entitled ‘My Welsh Roots’: “There is nothing to suggest St. Candice (as I tend
to think of her) was in any way a disciplinarian. However, she is patron saint
of a religious community of women living in a surprisingly large medieval Priory
the early parts of which date from the 11th century. The Priory is on Blackthorn Barony land
within a few miles of the Baroness’s relatively small but superbly constructed
13th C. castle…”
“The Priory is part
of the Barony of Blackthorn and the office of Prioress of the Order is in the
gift of the Baroness Blackthorn. Maintenance of the priory and the Order are
paid for from a small percentage of the profit from the minerals mined on the
Baronial estates. The Order of St Canna stresses discipline, obedience and
service. Blackthorn Priory’s primary
function seems to be to raise female foundlings selectively chosen from the
slums of major cities in the UK. Their
schools taught by Sisters who have attended the best universities, prepare the
girls for university educations and socialize the young girls through exchange
programs with other elite public (read private) schools in the UK.”
Pelvic exams and diaphragms: It is the custom at Blackthorn Priory as with many girls’ schools to give
Priory girls reaching menarche their first gynecological exam and fit them with
an effective barrier contraceptive so they can become accustomed to wearing it
before they move to fifth and sixth forms at Barrow Priory in Middlesex where
they will need it during social encounters as guests at dances at a neighboring
boys school. Yesterday Chris, the male Gyn who works in my woman’s clinic, and
I fitted all the students 14 and older with new FS latex diaphragms.
The primary training
barrier (fitted at menarche) in use by Priory girls is the silicone Semina
diaphragm which the girls think looks like a pink soap bubble a fact that helps
the girls remember to insert their diaphragms for flow control on light days during
menses. However, the smallest Semina is 60mm so any student requiring a smaller
device had been fitted with a 22mm FemCap and a menstrual cup for flow control.
Now that the Barony’s women’s clinic has flat spring rim diaphragms down to
50mm I have changed the regimen for girls 14 y/o and older to use latex flat
spring diaphragms if they are not allergic to latex and any younger girls who
at menarche need a diaphragm smaller than 60mm. A flat spring rim seals as well
and is nearly impossible to under-thrust and the heat transfer properties of
latex are far superior to the silicone of a Semina and silicone lube can be
used with a latex D something that has become more important recently. And for
divers a FS latex diaphragm can be safely worn at any depth. So wearing a latex
diaphragm has become another rite-of-passage on the way to becoming a woman
with all the responsibilities that entails. However, there is the fact that
oily lubes of any sort, petroleum or vegetable, shouldn’t be used with a latex
device as oil will destroy the latex, but that is a lesson best learned when
young, impressionable and under supervision so it won’t be easily be forgotten
or ignored.
Of course because of
the age of consent the diaphragms provided to students younger than 16 are so
they can become used to correctly wearing a cervical barrier using it
exclusively as a menstrual cup for sanitary purposes.
Some readers may
wonder why students reaching menarche are not immediately placed on hormonal
contraceptives since these days so many girls routinely go on contraceptive
hormones with all the negative side effects accompanying them. Some few
Blackthorn girls are put on hormones if they have very painful periods or their
cycles won’t stabilize. However, the Order feels that it is important for young
women to experience the ebb and flow of their hormones while cycling naturally.
Diaphragms let them become accustomed to handling their genitals w/o fear or
shame (as so many young women these days have not been taught to do) and can
experience the marvelous surge in creativity when fertile. Additionally, the
discipline of inserting the diaphragm every evening before bed and removing and
cleaning it each morning gets each into a routine that will be beneficial when
they become sexually active.
New Years dildo
presentations: In my annual
New Years presentation as Baroness I presented each newly blossomed young woman
with two dildos: her first borosilicate (Pyrex) glass dildo, a 1 ¾ inches in
diameter and 8.0 inches long glass shaft in the shape of a phallus with a
handle to use while on her back – a nice feature about Pyrex is that it can be
warmed or cooled for use in hot or chilly weather. And since all the Priory
school girls take ballet/pointe a high quality silicone one of the same size
with a suction cup base with which to solo train for male penetration in the
ballet studio. This second item is especially useful in training for deep
penetration of the posterior fornix while en pointe during ballet-sex –
suctioned on to the mirrored wall in a studio where the user can hold on to the
barre rise en pointe and back on to the dildo. All the girls were eagerly
anticipating trying them out.
Fitting the local swim team with latex
diaphragms: Today Chris and I fit the local swim team with latex FS
diaphragms. The custom made 55, 60 and
65 mm latex flat spring rim diaphragms, to be used as ‘gas-guards’ since there
have been two recent injuries involving women in the UK getting air or water in
their uteri while playing or having sex in a pool which have gotten a lot of
publicity in the medical press in the last few months. So since most adults in
the surrounding villages work for the Barony either directly or indirectly my
clinic is fitting the swim team with diaphragms at no cost to the swimmer or
her family.
As my readers know latex diaphragms are particular effective
for pool-sex since silicone lubricant can be used w/o harm to a latex
diaphragm. Returning readers may also recall that a ‘gas-guard’ is a cervical
barrier to prevent air being forced through the cervix into the uterus by a
lover blowing into his partners vagina or when playing around with SCUBA gear
where a mischievous friend holds the mouthpiece of his or her reg against a
partner’s vulva and depresses the purge button sending a jet of compressed air
into the vagina. All the swim team have mini (4 bead) frameless copper GyneFix
IUDs implanted, (also free from the Blackthorn Clinic) with their strings
trimmed off so they can wear cervical barriers w/o the possibility of pulling
out the IUD while removing the cervical barrier when no longer needed.
FemCap wasn’t a choice since the depth limit of a FemCap is
about 25 to 30 feet before squeeze on the dome makes it too uncomfortable to
wear. And some of the girls are too small to effectively wear the smallest
FemCap which is 22mm. Caya was not
considered because of the small sizes needed, rotation and the need for
silicone lube.
