I chose the medicinal termination option

By anonymous on 30/05/2014
Well, it sounds like I was an extremely lucky one. I chose the medicinal termination option (medical abortion), because I live several hours away from any clinic that does them surgically, and I wanted to get it done as quickly and easily as possible. I am a 35 year old woman, I already have two children, and my husband and I were quite sure we did not want anymore. So sure in fact, that the morning after the night we had this condom mishap, I promptly went down to the local drug store and bought a "morning after" pill. I took the pill, but low and behold, I still ended up pregnant. Now, if I believed in god or any of that nonsense, I might have thought this pregnancy was meant to be, but I don't, so I didn't. It was simply a statistical abnormality.
I met with a local doctor who did the medical abortions when I was a little over 6 weeks pregnant. She gave me the first pill while I was in her office. Then, she gave me the other 4 pills and told me to insert them into my vagina anytime between 24 and 72 hours later. She explained all the risks, side effects, and what to expect. She had been a part of thousands of these types of abortions and had only had 5 women ever end up in the hospital, none of which suffered anything too serious. She let me go and told me to manage pain with ibuprofen. She did not send me home with any antibiotics or prescription pain killers.
Unfortunately, that evening, I made the mistake of reading online accounts, and although I did find many positive ones, I also founds hordes of negative and scary ones. I also kept reading about how I should have been given antibiotics, pain killers, and that I should be inserting them under my tongue or between my gums and cheeks, rather than inserting them down below. Regardless, different doctors do it differently, and each way is pretty much as safe, and effective as any other.
The first pill did cause me some lethargy and nausea, but nothing overwhelming. The following night, at 9:45PM, I took 4 ibuprofen and .5 mg. of Xanax (doctor said I could). Then, at 10:45, I washed my vagina with antibacterial soap, then I washed my hands well with the soap, laid on the bed, and inserted the 4 tablets.
I then laid in bed, put a heating pad on my stomach, and promptly fell asleep. I awoke about 2 hours later with some minimal cramping. I went into the bathroom and did expel a moderate amount of blood, and several clumps. Over the next few hours, I experienced minor cramping and moderate blood. I never really felt like my cramps were above about a 4 on the pain scale, and the bleeding was never that bad either. Really, I slept off and on through the night. I had no nausea, no fever, no dizziness, no diarrhea, no vomiting, none of that.
I woke up the next morning feeling fine. Over the next few days I had minor to occasional moderate bleeding and no more pain.
As I said, I guess I was a lucky one; I think the biggest mistake I made, and the worst thing about the entire experience was internet stories. Every woman's experience will be different, but if you plan properly, do things as advised, and are confident with your decision, you'll come out on the other side just fine. I'm not saying it won't hurt, or that you'll have it as easy as I did, but that is possible, and either way, you'll make it.

Editor's Comment

Thanks for sharing your experience and it sounds as though you have coped well. For some women it is a very negative experience while others find it difficult but feel positive at the end of it. As you say everyone is different and the important thing is to think it through carefully, get all the information you need, and talk to someone impartial to support you through the decision making process.

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