Some medical terminations may take 3 hours, others may take 6 hours (like mine), every lady is different
Hi. I wanted to share my story with you following my medical termination at 6 weeks 5 days.
Step 1 - The first tablet.
After arriving at the hospital on the Thursday I was taken to a side room and the procedure was explained to me. After being asked if I was certain, I was given Mifepristone as a single tablet to swallow.
I went home and within an hour I started to feel sick and light headed. That night I started to get abdominal pain similar to period pains. I found it difficult to sleep that night due to being uncomfortable and thinking ahead to the Saturday.
The next day I felt awful, I felt generally unwell, hot and clammy with sickness and a bad tummy. This lasted all day for me and was horrible. I had no bleeding at all, I was told this is normal so didn't worry. I was sick on and off for the rest of the Friday.
Saturday - Medical termination day
After a good sleep, we arrived at 7.30 am for the next stage of the termination. Within minutes I was taken to a private bay and asked to lie down.
I was given an anti-sickness tablet and 4 tablets were inserted into my cervix by the nurse which was totally pain-free. I was asked to lie down for an hour before getting up.
Within 20 minutes I had stomach pain and it was giving me an increased sensation of needing to push down.
After 50 minutes I really needed the toilet! The bleeding had begun but nothing too heavy at that stage but the sickness had returned full force. I was encouraged to walk around which I did and every trip to the toilet was uncomfortable and achy.
At 8.50 I was given paracetamols and another stronger anti-sickness tablet which worked a treat. The pain was getting stronger and more uncomfortable but manageable. It really was like bad period pains.
For me the whole process was slow. A lot of ladies were going home within 3 hours but nothing was happening for me other than a lot of bleeding.
3 hours after arriving I was given 2 more tablets to take orally to help speed things up. Within 5 minutes the pain returned. It was a pulling crampy pain and it wasn't nice. The nurses said pain is good and that it is a sign that my womb is contracting to pass the pregnancy.
I kept myself moving but 5 hours in I was exhausted, hungry and getting anxious. After another walk around I had a jiggle about and decided to sit on the toilet for a while.
Again, nothing other than blood - by this point I burst into tears on the nurses shoulder, she was very sweet and told me to go back in the toilet and do some star jumps and jump up and down for a few minutes, I did I was told and when the pain was back I sat down and pushed.
Then it happened, a large ball similar size to a golf ball came out. It startled me as I wasn't expecting it. I quickly got the nurse and the pain settled down. My pregnancy had passed. I was asked to remain for another half an hour to check my bleeding was okay.
An hour later I was allowed home. It was now 2.45pm!!!
My advice to any ladies who are about to have his procedure is to stay calm, keep moving and do some star jumps in the toilet, it certainly worked for me. Take lots of pads, spare underwear and a few pairs of PJ bottoms. I leaked through 4 pairs of underwear and 2 pairs of PJ bottoms.
I'm now at home resting in bed with a cup of tea. I still have a stomach ache and period type pain but it is bearable. It wasn't nice but not as awful as I thought it may be, every lady is different. Some may take 3 hours and others may take 6 hours like me. We are all different and unique.
I hope this has helped :)
Sarah
