Just my thoughts on this..
Hard dilators are, well, hard. Even the silicon ones. They hurt unless you are already at that size. I have gone back to an approximation of what I first knew - what Stanford first gave me, though they had a custom made tube:
Get some large condoms. I use skyn. (Target)
Get some open cell foam.
Squeeze foam and unroll condom over it.
Wash condom lube off (unless you like that stuff!)(ick!)(I use a tiny bit of dial liquid) - I keep the end pinched to keep water out.
Squeeze condom and twist end to keep it squeezed.
Put your lube of choice on it, pop it in, and release the twisted end to let air in.
The foam will do its thing and expand slowly with very little discomfort.
Leave it in as long as you wish. Meditate, listen to rife frequencies, binaural beats, etc (youtube converted to mp3).
Every few days you might wish to try a hard dilator briefly to see size change. I don't use a hard one unless it is easy to slide in.
Enjoy!
When done, roll the condom off the foam, toss it, and set the foam aside in a drawer - protected but doesn't need to be sterile.
As you gain size, just add more open cell foam before you squeeze and unroll condom over it.