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Showing posts from June, 2017

My Mirena IUD Experience: The First Week(ish)

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Day of insertion. I took 800mg Ibuprofen before insertion and it wasn't too painful for me. More of an uncomfortable cramping feeling, but not a sharp pain like I was expecting. After getting the strings trimmed I can't feel it at all. Cramps continued but not severely- didn't take more ibuprofen at all the first day. (Insertion was around 4pm, went to bed around 11pm.) There was mild spotting- my doctor warned me about this ahead of time. It's normal for the first few weeks and even up to 6 months.                              Day 1- Woke up and felt fine- didn't take any ibuprofen at all because I was being optimistic. My spotting was pretty much nonexistent but I left my pad on just in case. (No tampons! Doctor warned about the strings not softening for the first week and that could be a very bad combination.) I was fine until around noon- then the bad cramps started. Lamaze breathing technique cramps. Thankfully I had put ibuprofen in my purse- took 800mg an

My Mirena IUD Experience: Insertion!

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Oh hey there, it's me again. Finally back from my IUD insertion appointment. This is probably the post most people want to know about, or maybe I just assume that because in my extensive research (okay, googling) before my IUD decision- I wanted to know all about the pain. My appointment started normally, more paperwork. This time it was a lot of consent forms and about 15 things I had to initial to show I read and understood the risks, aftercare, and everything in between. After that I was taken back to talk to the doctor more about the IUD and go over everything I just signed. Honestly? My doctor was so awesome and thorough I felt completely at ease in her hands. The main points are I may have irregular bleeding/spotting for 3-6 months after insertion, there is a small risk of perforation of the uterus (extremely rare), infection, or expulsion of the IUD. Expulsion is most common in the first few weeks and usually occurs to women who haven't had kids. (I'm one of thos

My Mirena IUD experience- The First Exam

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Yesterday was the day of the initial exam- it was the first of three times my feet will be in stirrups in the next 6 weeks. This doctor and I are going to be very well acquainted by the end of this- one of us should have probably bought the other dinner before all this. ANYWHO- What does the first exam consist of? Paperwork. Lots of paperwork. Well, normal amount of paperwork- family history, consent forms, general forms. Lots of signing and when your name is as long as mine- you're thankful for squiggly lines.   What it felt like.   The next step was peeing in a cup- just to make really, really sure I'm not pregnant. Now, that sounds simple enough but the clinic I go to doesn't have regular specimen cups- they use plastic little 3oz generic Dixie bath cups. So aiming into that without making a mess while squatted over a toilet was fun. My (male) fiance didn't get the challenge until I looked at him and pointed out we don't have the same set of aiming equipme