Today, I had a doctors appointment to have the Mirena IUD inserted. I've been searching for a birth control pill alternative for quite some time.
I am uncomfortable with taking the amounts of hormones in birth control pills every day - going on 7 years now. I've tried all forms of birth controll... several types of pills (including low hormone ones), depo-provera (was on it for 3 years with ZERO problems), Otho-Evra Patch, Nuva-Ring, and even a once a month shot that was taken off of the market.
I wanted something much more effective than the pill, as I am horrible about remembering to take it. I didn't want to go back to depo-provera for many reasons, the main ones being that it leads to the loss of bone density and the other being that I didn't want to have to take off work every three months to go to the doctors office for a shot.
My doctor suggested the Mirena IUD to me at my last anual check-up. Saying that it is perfect for married women like myself who don't want children.. even if I haven't had children. She talked it up so much that I was sold right then, but I wanted to see about how B felt about it first.
Over the past month, before and after making the appointment to have the IUD inserted, I've been researching the IUD like crazy!
Here is the low down:
IUD = Intrauterine Device
There are two types right now:
ParaGard - the copper IUD with no hormones and lasts 10 years
Mirena - a plastic one with a low dosage of hormones and lasts 5 years
** I chose Mirena because I like the thought of reducing my periods. I was nervous about the possibility of more cramps or heavier periods that may or may not be associated with the copper IUD. I also like that even though you are still receiving hormones... it isn't estrogen (which contributes to my fibroid adenomas) and it is a VERY low dosage.. just enough to help with the cramps that are sometimes associated with the copper IUD.
Mirena looks like this:
And it goes into your uterus like this:
I was EXTREMELY nervous about the pain. I had read and read about women who had not had children getting the IUD and each story was a story of pain but no regret. One lady even commented that the few seconds her cervix was dilated she felt the "single most excruciating pain of her life".
The no regret part assured me to bite the bullet and have the Mirena IUD inserted into my uterus....previously uncharted territory.
I had B drive me to doctor's office so he would be there for me and could drive me home. The stories I had read of other women's experience prepared me for the worst possible pain imaginable. I was damned sure not doing this alone!
As we sat in the waiting room, I grew increasingly nervous, tapping my feet, gritting my teeth and anxiously looking at my husband. There was a woman behind me, describing her false labor pains to a friend on her cell phone. All around me, there were several different parenting magazines with pictures of chubby faced babies. There were parents waiting with their impatient & cranky children, a few of those children were screaming the most blood curdling screams. All of these things were reminders of what might come if I DID NOT get this IUD!
I sucked it up and waitied for my name to be called.
Before I knew it, I was on the table getting my blood pressure taken by the sweetest nurse imaginable - an older woman named Alice.
Alice was doing her best to calm my nerves, but it wasn't working. She left to get the doctor and sat there, staring at my current nemesis, the Mirena Box. I swear to you, that box looked like a carton of Virgina Slim Menthols. It was huge! I thought the IUD was the size of a half-dollar coin? What was it doing in a box THAT size?
There is the box, in all its glory.... right next to the tube of lube!
This is me. Crazy nervous in the office.. waiting to sit in the stirrups.
My doctor came in and she was amazing! She talked me through the entire process. She was going to insert the speculum, clean of my cervix with iodine, she had to measure my uterus two times, then it was in with the IUD.
Basically there were three times that she was in my uterus. Three chances for pain.
After the iodine, I requested a hand holder. The doctor scooted away from my hoo-ha, opened the door, called for the nurse (Alice, who was on the phone and ended the call to come hold my hand). Alice came in .. to my rescue... and held both my hands as I awaited the conquering of my uterus.
The doctor said she had a trick and Alice knew of it. She wanted me to take a deep breath and cough (Immediately I sensed what she was going to do .. but I gave in and did it anyway). As soon as I coughed, the doctor said, "Whoot.. there we are!" She had entered my uterus for the first time. My response to all of this, "That is it?" They laughed and said I did a good job.
I have to admit, I was nervous about the next voyages... but it was too late to chicken out and honestly, I didn't feel anything with that first one.
The next two didn't "hurt" per say... I just had cramping that came with them. The cramping stopped in just seconds, and taking deep breaths did help.
As soon as the doctor was finished, I sat up and felt a poke. I wiggled around a bit, and thought the string had re-adjusted itself. (I ended up getting the doctor to cut about 1" off of it because she hadn't shortened it enough... but this was all in the same visit.)
(Oh yes, there is a micro-fiber string that dangles down the end of the IUD so that it can be removed that way later on. The string is not felt by anyone and your mucous coats it and softens it. It ends up laying down around your cervix... out of the way)
I left the doctor's suite with a huge grin on my face, totally shocking my husband. He was expecting the horrible pain that I had read about... and was prepared to carry me out of the office, down three flights of stairs, past 2 blocks to the parking garage, up to the 3rd level and rush me home in the Subaru so I could rest for the rest of the day.
Instead, we walked down the three flights of stairs and ended up going to lunch.
Now it is almost midnight and my 800mg of Ibuprofen have worn off, I am feeling some light cramping ... but not too bad. The one thing I am dealing with is the thought of something inside of me. It is sort of weirding me out, but I know I am only thinking of it because of my cramps. I'm paranoid about sneezing or coughing .. even having a bowel movement! I'm nervous that I'm going to expell this thing or that it will embed itself in the lining of my uterus... something crazy like that.
I'm sure that as soon as my cramps go away that I'll slowly forget the IUD is there, and I'll once again be able to cough.
It is so exciting to know that I wont have to take The Pill again for the next five years! I can't believe I'm free of it.
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