My bleeding after medical abortion lasted for a week and was heavy at first but like a typical period by the end
My period was a week late
I found out I was pregnant after my period was about a week late so me and my boyfriend decided I needed to do a test.
I am only in my early twenties and have only been with my boyfriend for a few months. It was an accident which we both regret so knew the time wasn’t right to have a child yet. Luckily we had spoken about it beforehand if it was to ever happen so we knew what the plan was.
I needed to be 6 weeks pregnant for medical abortion at Marie Stopes
Initially, I was distraught and didn’t think I would be strong enough to ever go through this. I track my periods so on my initial phone consultation they determined that I was about 5 and a half weeks. For the medical abortion at Marie Stopes I needed to be 6 weeks so was scheduled in for the abortion 1 week later.
[Read more general abortion stories or more particularly about Marie Stopes abortion experiences or 6-week abortion stories.]
I didn't expect these symptoms so early in pregnancy
It felt like the longest week ever, I had been suffering from sickness constantly (I think this is where I was so anxious having traumatised myself by reading bad experiences online) and my breasts were huge and in constant agony which I didn’t expect so early on in pregnancy.
Everyone’s lunch at work kept making me feel sick because the smells were so strong, I just wanted it to all be over. On the day, me and my partner turned up for a 9 am an appointment, I had booked in for a medical abortion so that it could all be done on one day.
At the clinic...
The staff were very welcoming and I had to sit in a waiting room with about 3 other girls and their partners. The radio was on and it felt a bit awkward but bearable as we all knew we were in the same situation.
I was called in for my scan. My first instruction was to empty my bladder so I did this, then the nurse told me what she was doing in terms of the scan because she needed to find out exactly how far gone I was.
I needed an internal scan
She couldn’t see anything when trying to scan my belly so she had to do an internal scan, it was a little uncomfortable but she reassured me the whole time. I did not see the scan which I was glad about. I was then instructed to go back to the waiting room to be called in for the actual abortion.
I became very tense waiting for this part and it all started to feel very real. The nurse called me in and went through my height, weight, blood pressure and iron levels. She then had to go through all of the professional things with me before handing me the papers to sign to say I wanted to go ahead with my decision.
Taking the tablets was a relief
As bad as it sounds I wanted to get it over and done with so taking the tablets felt like a relief.
I was given the tablet to stop the pregnancy and sickness tablets as well and was then advised to insert 4 tablets inside me which would dispose of the pregnancy and start the miscarriage. The nurse advised this could start as soon as 30 minutes and I live about 45 minutes from the clinic so made my partner rush home.
I was so nervous waiting for the bleeding to start so I ended up taking a nap for 2 hours, I woke up and the bleeding had begun.
I had flu-like cold sweats
I spent a while sat on the toilet thinking it would be heavier than it was. I had quite strong cramps initially but the worse part was the cold sweat. For about 15 minutes my body went into a flu-like cold sweat, where I went as white as a ghost and couldn’t tell if I needed to be sick.
I was absolutely boiling and my body was so sweaty my clothes drenched through. I couldn’t move, I just laid on the bathroom floor waiting for it to pass. As soon as this was over everything after was bearable.
I had very strong cramps after this and began passing tissue and clots. I took paracetamol every 4 hours and had a hot water bottle on me all day. 2 big clots came out which I believed to be the embryo passing. I couldn’t help but look because I wanted to check.
I managed to eat dinner that night. By the evening I was exhausted, very snappy and needed rest.
My bleeding lasted for a week
I woke up the next day and took antibiotics which I had been given to prevent infection. These made me feel very sick and weak but after taking paracetamol this passed. I could go about my normal activities at a slow pace keeping it easy.
My bleeding lasted for a week and was quite heavy, to begin with, but by the end, it was typically like a period and light with more brown old blood than red.
I've felt relief since my abortion
I don’t regret my decision, I have felt relief since my abortion. I know I want children in the future and am glad I have the choice for when I am ready.
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