I just wanted to share with you my experience of the abortion pill

By anonymous on 17/02/2009
medical abortion abortion 5 weeks

I just wanted to share with you my experience of the Abortion Pill.

Last week I went in for a scan, and they said I was five weeks pregnant, but couldn't detect the heartbeat. They couldn't tell at this point if it was viable or non-viable. I opted to go for the abortion pill.

I felt at 43 years old and already having had 3 children, I felt a little too old to have another one. Fair play to those who wish to but it wasn't right for my husband and me.

I went to the hospital on Monday to have the first tablet taken orally. I had to spend an hour on the ward to make sure I wasn't sick, then was told I could go home.

I didn't have any side effects until the next morning, Tuesday, when I suddenly woke up with a very slight tummy ache and feeling sick. I went really dizzy and nearly fainted. I lay down for about five minutes and it passed.

About midday, over 24 hours after the first tablet, slight bleeding started. Other than that I felt nothing, apart from every now and again a little light-headed.

I have today (Wednesday) just come back from the hospital after having the second part of the treatment, which consisted of two tablets inserted and a suppository up the back passage.

These didn't hurt, but I was told that they could not predict what pain I would have or how long it would take. I had to lie on the bed for one hour, then I could walk around as long as I came back to the toilet where I had to leave the contents in a type of commode so they could observe when I had passed it all.

After the hour passed I had drunk so much I went to the toilet where some blood and clots were passed. On the third time I went to the toilet, I was told I had passed everything, and they needed one more pan full from me before they would let me go home.

After this they told me I could go home, so, all in all, it took about 3 hours before I was home again. I had no pain relief for any of this.

I have spent numerous nights over the past week worrying myself at all the horror stories posted on the internet. I am not saying it is always OK, but I was petrified of going in for any of it. I just think, ‘Go with an open mind; you could be one of the lucky ones like me’.

Good luck to whoever has to go through this. I honestly thought I would never do such a thing, but in the reality of the situation, you never know. My husband and I are the only ones who know about it as I know some people have such strong views on it, but I can honestly say you have to do what feels right. This is coming from someone who never ever thought she would be able to do such a thing.

Can't say I feel great about it, but just felt it had to be done.

Editor's comment

Thanks for sharing your experience with us…You had a relatively straightforward experience of termination and it’s good for people to see that the procedure can vary so much in its effects on people. Even though it was a good experience for you physically, and you had good reasons for not pursuing the pregnancy, given your circumstances, there is an element of doubt in your voice about how comfortable you are with the meaning of what has happened. It’s sometimes hard to find peace about it, even when circumstances tell you it was necessary. This is because our heart has something to say about it and it can disturb you a little. It may help you to pay some attention to it to hear what it’s saying to you. If at any time you feel negative emotions about your experience, you can get in touch for some post-abortion support.

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