Friday I woke up feeling relatively normal. I could feel very minor cramping in my lower abdomen if I thought about it, but nothing even close to being disabling. I packed my prescription bottle of naproxen for work, just in case the cramps got any worse. I was spotting, but so light that I barely needed a panty liner. I will go on the record as saying that I HATE menstrual pads, liners, etc. Once I went tampon in high school I never went back. But my doctor said no tampons until Monday (four days post) at the soonest. So I had to suck it up and wear a tiny pantyliner for the three drops of fluid leaving my body. Boo. I had my first post-procedure bowel movement today with no issue!
Throughout the day I felt minor spurts of dull cramping, but overall it wasn't bad at all. I had physical therapy around noon and they made me do squats, light ab work, and a few other twisty exercises. I was worried that I might hurt trying to do these, but they actually made me feel better. I even went home and rode my bike 20 miles and didn't hurt AT ALL. In fact, I was pain-free for hours after exercising. So make a mental note that if you are cramping, try some exercise. This goes for period cramping, Mirena cramping, just about anything.
Saturday meant a long car ride up to visit family in the hospital, followed by lots of sitting in the hospital. I find that I'm a little more crampy if I sit still for too long. I'm not sure why it's like this, but I make a conscious effort to move around a bit if I'm going to be sitting for a while. Just a stretch here and there really helps, and this is honestly a good thing to do anytime you'll be sitting for long periods.
Sunday meant pool party time! I was a little apprehensive since I've been spotting, but my spotting all day Sunday amounted to less than six drops all day. So basically I could have cut my finger in the kitchen and bled a lot more. I decided to go for it and swim. I had zero issues! No pain, no discomfort, no bloodshow. I even drank a few beers and saw no additional bleeding, even though alcohol usually sets me off like a fountain.
Monday is the first day I haven't taken any pain pills. I only took one Naproxen on Sunday before my two hour drive home, so that wasn't too bad to begin with. So far today I've cooked, cleaned, and gone on a 24 mile bike ride with no issues. My spotting seems slightly heavier - like 12 drops instead of 3 - but I'm still doing well.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Insertion
It's the big day - my Mirena insertion. I have a 3:15pm appointment, which means I get to sit at work and make myself nervous all day. It's the second day of my period, which is thankfully light, so theoretically the insertion won't be quite as uncomfortable as it would be during any other part of my cycle. I wore a dress today because I figure that I'll want comfortable clothing after the procedure, and nothing is more comfortable to me than a simple dress.
I arrived at my doctor's office just about on time, so of course the doctor is running way behind. When I finally make it into the room - more than an hour and a half after my appointment time - he tells me that he had four surgeries come up. I feel horrible for the women having to endure that! Suddenly my impatience seems pretty petty.
When I walk into the exam room, the nurse tells me to strip from the waste down, have a seat on the reclining chair-table thingy, and put a white sheet over my lap. As I'm getting half-naked I notice a rather large box sitting on the counter. My Mirena! The box was at least a foot long, probably 4-6" wide, and an inch or so deep. I'm horrible at perceiving measurements without a ruler in front of me, so don't take my word for it. I peeked in the box but didn't want to mess anything up, so I really didn't get to check the contents out too well.
My doctor arrived pretty quickly after that. He had me assume the standard feet-in-stirrups position with my booty near the edge of the chair-table. He started walking me through the procedure: he would insert the speculum, apply a little antiseptic to my cervix, use "tweezers" to grab my cervix, use a sound to measure the depth of my uterus, then insert the Mirena. He warned me that the tweezers would feel like a little pinch, the sound would cause a quick cramp, and I would cramp briefly while he actually inserted the Mirena. At this point I start psyching myself out. For whatever reason I always get sick to my stomach at GYN visits. The little scraper thingy they use to collect cells during a Pap smear makes me especially sick. So my anxiety levels started going up immediately.
I laid back and tried to take some deep breaths. He warned me "little pinch" and that's exactly what the tweezers felt like. No biggie! I feel compelled to take this moment to say that I had no idea what a cervix looked like so I was imaging he was tweezing a little flap of flesh that somewhat resembled the tail flap on a raw turkey. If you do a quick internet search you'll learn that the cervix actually looks like a fleshy, gooey donut gem. Fun. So he tweezed the cervix and then warned me "hard cramp" when he went in with the sound. OUCH. Hard cramp was no joke. I don't usually get too many menstrual cramps, so I feel really awful for anyone who has to deal with that on a regular basis. Luckily it was over pretty quickly. He fiddled around for a minute on his work surface, trimming the strings or measuring the Mirena I imagine, then turned back to me. He said, "Okay, now the Mirena. You're going to feel a hard cramp when I stick it in and it will cramp until I pull the inserter out." I KNOW this part took all of a few seconds, but when your poor uterus is being invaded and you are having these hard cramps, it feels like forever. I'll admit it, I yelped a few times. It wasn't a stabby pain but it was definitely uncomfortable. Fortunately, he was out pretty quickly. I believe he reached back in to trim the strings a little further, then he removed the speculum and said he was done.
I took this opportunity to hit my doctor with a final litany of stupid questions. Can I wear tampons soon? I am on my period after all. "No tampons until at least Monday (four days post procedure). No sex either." Bummer. Should I worry about any straining, like the squats they make me do at PT? "No, exercising shouldn't be an issue." What about bowel movements? Would that cause it to come out or dislodge? (I seriously asked this. Pooping is a big deal to me.) "No, bowel movements won't be an issue." Will I be in severe pain? "No, just mild cramping." Well what if I am in severe pain? Should I go to the hospital?! "Just give me a call, but that shouldn't be an issue." My doctor is clearly the patron saint of patient doctors willing to answer stupid questions from nervous women.
After the procedure the doctor asked if I'd taken anything. I said, "No, but I have Ultracet in my car." He had his nurse get me what he called a "fast-acting Aleve" and instructed me to stay on the table for a few minutes. His nurse was so kind to me and said that I should relax as long as needed since my uterus would be angry at me for a little while. I'm stubborn, so of course I was up quickly after that and headed to the cashier. "That was easy," I thought as I strutted out. Well, it didn't take very long - the two minutes it took to get to the cashier, actually - for me to start to feel bad. I think my anxiety got the best of me and I started having cold sweats and feeling a bit light-headed. I sat down, paid my bill, then asked if I could go lay down somewhere. The nurse came back and got me, and let me lay down in an empty exam room. I stayed there for probably half an hour. Honestly, the anxiety was gone almost immediately and I felt better, but I was starting to feel crampy. The nurse and my doctor checked on my repeatedly until they were confident that I looked well enough to leave.
At this point I would have LOVED to go home and sit with a heating pad on my lower abdomen, but unfortunately I had to go to a work function. Sitting around eating free dinner for two hours wasn't so bad!
I arrived at my doctor's office just about on time, so of course the doctor is running way behind. When I finally make it into the room - more than an hour and a half after my appointment time - he tells me that he had four surgeries come up. I feel horrible for the women having to endure that! Suddenly my impatience seems pretty petty.
When I walk into the exam room, the nurse tells me to strip from the waste down, have a seat on the reclining chair-table thingy, and put a white sheet over my lap. As I'm getting half-naked I notice a rather large box sitting on the counter. My Mirena! The box was at least a foot long, probably 4-6" wide, and an inch or so deep. I'm horrible at perceiving measurements without a ruler in front of me, so don't take my word for it. I peeked in the box but didn't want to mess anything up, so I really didn't get to check the contents out too well.
My doctor arrived pretty quickly after that. He had me assume the standard feet-in-stirrups position with my booty near the edge of the chair-table. He started walking me through the procedure: he would insert the speculum, apply a little antiseptic to my cervix, use "tweezers" to grab my cervix, use a sound to measure the depth of my uterus, then insert the Mirena. He warned me that the tweezers would feel like a little pinch, the sound would cause a quick cramp, and I would cramp briefly while he actually inserted the Mirena. At this point I start psyching myself out. For whatever reason I always get sick to my stomach at GYN visits. The little scraper thingy they use to collect cells during a Pap smear makes me especially sick. So my anxiety levels started going up immediately.
I laid back and tried to take some deep breaths. He warned me "little pinch" and that's exactly what the tweezers felt like. No biggie! I feel compelled to take this moment to say that I had no idea what a cervix looked like so I was imaging he was tweezing a little flap of flesh that somewhat resembled the tail flap on a raw turkey. If you do a quick internet search you'll learn that the cervix actually looks like a fleshy, gooey donut gem. Fun. So he tweezed the cervix and then warned me "hard cramp" when he went in with the sound. OUCH. Hard cramp was no joke. I don't usually get too many menstrual cramps, so I feel really awful for anyone who has to deal with that on a regular basis. Luckily it was over pretty quickly. He fiddled around for a minute on his work surface, trimming the strings or measuring the Mirena I imagine, then turned back to me. He said, "Okay, now the Mirena. You're going to feel a hard cramp when I stick it in and it will cramp until I pull the inserter out." I KNOW this part took all of a few seconds, but when your poor uterus is being invaded and you are having these hard cramps, it feels like forever. I'll admit it, I yelped a few times. It wasn't a stabby pain but it was definitely uncomfortable. Fortunately, he was out pretty quickly. I believe he reached back in to trim the strings a little further, then he removed the speculum and said he was done.
I took this opportunity to hit my doctor with a final litany of stupid questions. Can I wear tampons soon? I am on my period after all. "No tampons until at least Monday (four days post procedure). No sex either." Bummer. Should I worry about any straining, like the squats they make me do at PT? "No, exercising shouldn't be an issue." What about bowel movements? Would that cause it to come out or dislodge? (I seriously asked this. Pooping is a big deal to me.) "No, bowel movements won't be an issue." Will I be in severe pain? "No, just mild cramping." Well what if I am in severe pain? Should I go to the hospital?! "Just give me a call, but that shouldn't be an issue." My doctor is clearly the patron saint of patient doctors willing to answer stupid questions from nervous women.
After the procedure the doctor asked if I'd taken anything. I said, "No, but I have Ultracet in my car." He had his nurse get me what he called a "fast-acting Aleve" and instructed me to stay on the table for a few minutes. His nurse was so kind to me and said that I should relax as long as needed since my uterus would be angry at me for a little while. I'm stubborn, so of course I was up quickly after that and headed to the cashier. "That was easy," I thought as I strutted out. Well, it didn't take very long - the two minutes it took to get to the cashier, actually - for me to start to feel bad. I think my anxiety got the best of me and I started having cold sweats and feeling a bit light-headed. I sat down, paid my bill, then asked if I could go lay down somewhere. The nurse came back and got me, and let me lay down in an empty exam room. I stayed there for probably half an hour. Honestly, the anxiety was gone almost immediately and I felt better, but I was starting to feel crampy. The nurse and my doctor checked on my repeatedly until they were confident that I looked well enough to leave.
At this point I would have LOVED to go home and sit with a heating pad on my lower abdomen, but unfortunately I had to go to a work function. Sitting around eating free dinner for two hours wasn't so bad!
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Preparation
I've spent my adult life on hormonal birth control pills: Ortho Cyclen, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, and Yasmin. Overall I didn't have any issues with the pills aside from the Ortho products promoting painful ovarian cysts and helping me gain a ton of weight. I suppose I could have stayed on them forever, or at least until I was out of my reproductive years.
Over the last few years my husband and I have decided that babies just aren't for us. We haven't completely discounted the idea of children, but adopting or fostering older children is much more appealing than actually having our own child. So we started talking semi-permanent to permanent birth control options. My first instinct, likely brought on by a hormonal cycle, was to ask my husband to look into a vasectomy. I've been on hormones for nearly twelve years, my body is the one having to endure pretty much any form of birth control, yet he would be the easiest to "fix". So why not? He contemplated it with that natural man-instinct backlash they get when it comes to anything involving their part, but he said he'd look into it when he was done with the teaching year. And then I started thinking IUD.
Honestly I had no knowledge of IUD prior to this point because it simply never crossed my mind as a viable form of birth control. I suppose I had preconceived notions that it was ineffective, expensive, painful, and who knows what else. I started doing light research, solicited my Facebook friends for anecdata, and sought out what I could to educate myself. Mirena's US website is a really great resource for the basic of insertion, how it works, etc. Everything sounded fairly appealing, so when I went for my annual "well woman" exam with my gynecologist on May 9, I grabbed a few brochures and asked about my options.
My GYN is an older gentleman, a little on the traditional side but not bad at all. He has his habit of reminding me annually that "When you're ready to go off birth control, you should have no trouble having a child." I guess I never really made it clear that I didn't intend to have children, but he didn't bat a lash when I asked him about Mirena. I explained that I'd done some research online, that I didn't want to have children ever, and that I'd like to know what his experiences with Mirena have been. At this point I almost expected him to be negative about the whole thing since I haven't had any children, and everything I've read says IUD is recommended for women with at least one child, but he was overwhelmingly positive. He said that I'm healthy, I'm in a monogamous relationship, and I don't want to have children, so I'm a perfect candidate. He answered a few of my ridiculous questions (e.g. Can I wear tampons with an IUD?) and immediately set me up with his insurance counselor to see what Aetna would cover. I left his office feeling positive and excited.
A few days later I received a call from his insurance counselor. She told me that my insurance, an Aetna PPO, would cover 20% after I paid my deductible. So I would have to pony up $408 ($300 deductible, $30 copay [you have to be kidding me...], $78 for the 20%) for the procedure. Thankfully I'm in a financial position where this wasn't a major issue. She advised that I could schedule the procedure for as soon as I liked, and that she recommended I have it done while on my period to make it slightly more comfortable. That quick, huh? Wow! So I called the front desk and scheduled my appointment for May 26.
Over the last few years my husband and I have decided that babies just aren't for us. We haven't completely discounted the idea of children, but adopting or fostering older children is much more appealing than actually having our own child. So we started talking semi-permanent to permanent birth control options. My first instinct, likely brought on by a hormonal cycle, was to ask my husband to look into a vasectomy. I've been on hormones for nearly twelve years, my body is the one having to endure pretty much any form of birth control, yet he would be the easiest to "fix". So why not? He contemplated it with that natural man-instinct backlash they get when it comes to anything involving their part, but he said he'd look into it when he was done with the teaching year. And then I started thinking IUD.
Honestly I had no knowledge of IUD prior to this point because it simply never crossed my mind as a viable form of birth control. I suppose I had preconceived notions that it was ineffective, expensive, painful, and who knows what else. I started doing light research, solicited my Facebook friends for anecdata, and sought out what I could to educate myself. Mirena's US website is a really great resource for the basic of insertion, how it works, etc. Everything sounded fairly appealing, so when I went for my annual "well woman" exam with my gynecologist on May 9, I grabbed a few brochures and asked about my options.
My GYN is an older gentleman, a little on the traditional side but not bad at all. He has his habit of reminding me annually that "When you're ready to go off birth control, you should have no trouble having a child." I guess I never really made it clear that I didn't intend to have children, but he didn't bat a lash when I asked him about Mirena. I explained that I'd done some research online, that I didn't want to have children ever, and that I'd like to know what his experiences with Mirena have been. At this point I almost expected him to be negative about the whole thing since I haven't had any children, and everything I've read says IUD is recommended for women with at least one child, but he was overwhelmingly positive. He said that I'm healthy, I'm in a monogamous relationship, and I don't want to have children, so I'm a perfect candidate. He answered a few of my ridiculous questions (e.g. Can I wear tampons with an IUD?) and immediately set me up with his insurance counselor to see what Aetna would cover. I left his office feeling positive and excited.
A few days later I received a call from his insurance counselor. She told me that my insurance, an Aetna PPO, would cover 20% after I paid my deductible. So I would have to pony up $408 ($300 deductible, $30 copay [you have to be kidding me...], $78 for the 20%) for the procedure. Thankfully I'm in a financial position where this wasn't a major issue. She advised that I could schedule the procedure for as soon as I liked, and that she recommended I have it done while on my period to make it slightly more comfortable. That quick, huh? Wow! So I called the front desk and scheduled my appointment for May 26.
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