I had a medical abortion in my 4th month (16 weeks) of pregnancy

By anonymous on 12/02/2015
medical abortion abortion 16 weeks

Hi. I'm 24 years old and a mother of a 2-year-old girl. I had a medical abortion in my 4th month (16 weeks) of pregnancy.

[If you're particularly looking for experiences of medical abortion and abortion at 4 months you'll find links to stories organized by abortion method and duration of pregnancy here].

I missed periods but thought it normal for EBF

You see, I was breastfeeding my daughter since she was born and that resulted in my cycle/period being very very wacky. I only had one period since I gave birth to her, she was almost 2 when I had a period then nothing again.

I didn't think I was pregnant when I missed several periods as I thought that was normal for EBF moms...

I was almost 4 months pregnant

Until I felt those little flutters in my tummy. I knew that I was pregnant and got checked up immediately and there I was, almost 4 months pregnant. I was devastated.

We were careful & used withdrawal method & sometimes even condoms plus I was breastfeeding so I thought we were pretty safe, but still, I got pregnant.

So then we decided to abort as soon as possible. My husband lost his job 2 months ago and we're currently depending on my father as I don't have work either and having another baby is just not on my list right now.

Abortion is illegal where I live

I immediately bought abortion pills (misoprostol) and followed the instructions carefully. We did the procedure at home because where I live, abortion is Illegal.

I started to insert the pills at 5 PM. After 30 mins I felt minimal cramps just like having a heavy period and my tummy was getting harder. I also experienced having chills & high fever. I seriously thought I was going to die. I prayed really hard.

After a while & inserting another set of pills, it started getting worse and worse. The pain was getting intense by the minute. It was like actual labour. I put hot compress as it helped me handle the pain.

Water, baby, placenta

After 8 hours from the first dose, I felt like the baby's head was coming out so I rushed to the bathroom. I ran and closed the door and felt everything slide out. The gush of water, the baby, and then the placenta followed with blood. After that, the pain went away immediately.

I cleaned myself up, the baby, then the bathroom and called my husband for help. I was shaking real bad after that... I was so tired.

I felt bad having to terminate him

We buried our baby at the back of our house and lit up a candle for him. It was a baby boy. I felt bad having to terminate him but I didn't have a choice... We were broke and my husband's still looking for a job and everything's just going downhill for us.

I had the procedure 2 days ago. I'm still bleeding but not so much, just like a normal period.

Continued breastfeeding my daughter as my milk supply is back again.

I'm just waiting for my next period to come and I'm going ask for contraceptive options. Maybe the contraceptive injection or IUD... I don't know yet but I'm going to do it right this time.

If only I knew I was pregnant earlier

Abortion is really physically & emotionally draining... I don't want to have to deal with this ever again. If only I knew I was pregnant earlier... Ugh!

Editor's comment

It was hard for you to find out you were pregnant so far into the pregnancy, and when you could start to feel movements. There are a lot of false beliefs around contraception that sometimes means that women are taking unnecessary risks. You can still ovulate even when you are fully breastfeeding so it is not a certainty that you will not get pregnant. It is also never safe to use the withdrawal method as leakage can occur throughout sexual intercourse.

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