IUD: or (The Unexpected Virtue of LARCS)

It’s Sunday evening, and I’m working through my usual Sunday night routine in preparation for the week ahead. As I prepare to jump into bed, I reach for my pack of birth control pills since my “routine” is to take them before bed. And there staring up at me from the dark vestiges of my nightstand…

Two little green pills – Friday and Saturday!

I pretty regularly missed my Friday and Saturday pills as I threw off the tentacles of my work week with abandon to the freedom of uninterrupted sleep and Netflix on the weekends! Any nighttime routine went out the door!

After going through this experience multiple times, I realized it was time to kick the oral contraceptive habit opting for an IUD – a Long Acting Reversible Contraceptive or LARC. Growing up, I had only ever heard about IUDs on the fringes and always with warnings about the dangers they posed to women – particularly those who had yet to bear a child. All the women in my life used oral contraceptives, so I just towed the family line…until three weeks ago.

My husband and I have had to face the fact that starting a family is still a few years away for us given where we are in our lives with our educational and professional goals. It just made sense to go with a more reliable form of contraception given what we are striving to achieve in the years to come.

No unplanned pregnancies here – thank you very much!!!

I’m one of the fortunate women in the world that has health insurance (GO OBAMACARE!!!) that completely covers the cost of my contraceptive choice – including my IUD (I opted for Mirena). So I called my doctor’s office and set up the visit. They recommended I schedule it during my period. I had to take a pregnancy test the night before, and the doctor also prescribed me Cytotec – which she thought would help soften my cervix and uterus for insertion of the IUD. It’s unclear whether this actually helped, but she seemed to think it would and I go with what my doctor says!

If you want to learn more about the use of Cytotec for IUD insertion, this blog here has done a lengthier review and was one that I reviewed beforehand.

The procedure itself was interesting. Aside from failing to take the recommended 600mg of Ibuprofen 30 to 60 minutes prior to the procedure, it went as well as one could have expected. The doctor said it would take about a minute once she was inside my uterus to insert the IUD (they measure your uterus, etc.) This wasn’t exactly the case – it was about five minutes. But still, in the world of medical procedures, five minutes ain’t bad. I think the delay came from the physiological response my body was having due to my psychosomatic freak-out session about the procedure (I could NEVER be a healthcare professional!). As a result I was clenching my lower body creating tension which probably caused the extended length of the procedure.

Now, I would describe myself as someone with a high pain threshold, but I am terrible with general discomfort. It’s weird and vague and I don’t like it. If this procedure had been painful, I could have dealt with that. But for me (and let me be very explicit that I whole heartedly believe everyone has different experiences), it came with more of a general discomfort than actual pain. I experienced strong cramping, but this wasn’t as much painful as it was feeling like had severely overworked my muscles. It was much more an ache than a pain. Once the procedure was over, the doctor gave me the Ibuprofen I should have previously taken and sent me home.

I stayed home that day with a warm heating pad and blanket on the couch with my cats and Netflix. The cramps came in waves but were never worse than what I experienced during the procedure. I also felt aches in my lower back and into my hips – I’m assuming both from the procedure and my tensing up during.

But the next day – I was right as rain!

Also, I think I am one of the SUPER WEIRDO people who have not had a single spot of bleeding at all in the three weeks since insertion! The doctor said I could experience irregular bleeding for up to six months after the procedure. I don’t know why but I didn’t even have spotting right after the procedure. Again, everyone is different so don’t judge me as the norm.

All-in-all this has been the best reproductive health decision I’ve made! I freely jump into bed with my husband whenever I want never fearing those green little pills the next day or the unplanned pregnancy that could follow. If you are interested in learning more about the IUD or LARCs in general, be sure to check out all the great resources Planned Parenthood offers and be sure to talk to your healthcare professional!