In Utero

This post is in the spirit of John's post on Mind on Fire and his openness about becoming Sterile- which I think we both agree, as this time in our lives, is a good thing.

The picture above it the Mirena IUD, which women can have inserted into their uterus for five years as the most effective form of birth control out there. (99.9%) This one, in contrast to others in the market, is hormonal, which helps women who have heavy periods and bad cramps to regulate such things. While many people I know have compared IUDs to have perpetual abortions my doctor explained that this is not true. Many people think that what the IUD does is to keep an fertilized egg from implanting in the lining of the uterus, and therefore whenever you have a fertilized egg you are aborting it via the IUD. My doctor told me that this is not what the facts state. She explained that the IUD creates an environment in the uterus in which an egg is 99.9% unlikely to ever be fertilized by a sperm, which kind of negates the whole abortion argument.

My experience getting the IUD in was not the best at all. I used the restroom as soon as I got to the office and unfortunately this was a bad choice because it took me over 40 minutes to produce any more pee for a pregnancy test. When I was confirmed negative the doctor showed it to me and explained the the procedure involved measuring my uterus first so she would know how far to insert it. She said that depending on the position of my cervix and my uterus that she might need to clamp down my cervix to hold it in place, but fortunately she did not, because she said that this could be the most painful part of the process. I found the measuring and insertion to be extremely painful. I screamed ouch a few times and help on tight to a pillow, but the procedure was only 5 minutes long, so it's not too much to handle.

The hours following the insertion were pretty painful. It felt like extremely bad menstrual cramps that come from uterine contractions. Since I have never had a baby, I think it might be similar to having labor contractions, but I guess I won't know that for another 5 years (at least). I spent my evening in the bath, curled up with a heating bad, and cringing from the pain. I took Aleve, Ibubrofen, and eventually a muscle relaxer for my legs because I had been clenching them so much from the pain. I woke up this morning, and I feel way better, although mildly uncomfortable at different times of the day.

So, now I am sterile, which is pretty exciting considering I will no longer have to remember to take a pill every day, and I won't have to hormone shots that making a raging crying bitch, and I won't have to by any more pregnancy tests because I tend to have really irregular or non-existent periods.

So, I am pretty happy about the whole thing. I go back in a month for the doctor to check it out. I am pretty glad that this little device is the only think that will be In Utero until I decide it's time for a baby.