Week 1

The cramps are still there, but again, more manageable each day. Sometimes I'm surprised at how painful they can be, but this doesn't usually last long. Still, annoying.

This is a serious TMI moment, but it's related to the IUD, so I'm just going to roll with it.

Since getting the IUD, I have had a major change in discharge. Usually, it's just the white or clear stuff, depending in if I'm ovulating, and if I am ovulating, I get the stringy, egg white mucous stuff. Only happens on the day I'm ovulating, and just once. 

Well, now I have that egg white mucous stuff almost everyday. It's kinda gross, and sometimes it has a tinge of blood. And this is also a common side effect I did not come across upon my initial research. Most women say they just get used to it, one woman said it very, very gradually eased off. Whatever happens, I guess I just have to deal with it.

Day #3

Still very crampy as of today. After reading some reviews online, I realize this is normal.

Cramps are to be expected for about the first month, off and on. I keep seeing the first week is the worst though!

Other than that, I don't have spotting, although I did when I first got it in. My doctor says this was because the cervical clamp (Satan's giggles) caused minor bleeding. It wasn't anything major, I used a panty liner but today, there is no spotting.

I have also read that investing in black underwear is advisable because spotting will occur and for an extended period. So, I'm probably going to do that sometime soon. And get more panty liners, which are cheap and you get a lot of them. 

Right now, I'm not sexually active, but I was for about 6 months and it totally freaked me out to be having sex without two methods. Even though me and my partner broke up, I still wanted birth control. But, at this point, I can't imagine wanting to have sex. This feels just as gross as being on my period, all crampy and bloated like! Blah.

Alright, I will probably wait a week for another update, unless something major happens, but hoping all I'm in for is cramps and spotting!

Day #2 of IUD

The cramps are lesser as of today, but they are still nagging at me a bit.

Of course, it would be lovely to be wrapped up in bed, cozy with my heating pad, cat, and some netflix but class comes first. I guess. I have noticed that putting the heating pad on my lower back helps more than on my lower stomach and that pressure helps too. Luckily, my cat loves heat, so she settled on top of the heating pad, which is how I realized that pressure helps too.

But, today is a new day and I have class and homework and a long day ahead. So, I took some aileve, which is quite possibly the best cramp cure ever, and am sucking it up because there is too much other shit going on to let some annoying, and at times quite painful, cramps get in the way. They really are no worse than bad period cramps, anyway. Which we all can manage.

I don't know where this upbeat attitude is coming from. Maybe from all the support I've gotten from friends who also have an IUD and know that its all worth it in the end?

Later that day update...

Okay, this is getting painful. Waves of mild to very painful cramps and just general discomfort in that whole area. 

I'm laying on a heating pad, took some Ibuprofen, and smoked a little pot ( it's legal in Washington, otherwise I wouldn't condone illegal drug use!). I remember when I had a bad case of food poisoning and couldn't keep anything down, pot really helped with the nausea and back pain from dry heaving so much. Bascially, I'm a little defensive about smoking because I don't want readers to think I'm a pot head! I'm not, and I only do it to help me sleep, or minor pain relief, and this is only on occasion. 

Okay, now that I've made my peace with smoking, and just gave a general update of the pain status, that is all I have to say!

IUD status

Well, after much personal debate, research, talking with my OBGYN, talking to other people, and thinking long and hard, I finally decided to get the IUD.

As I type this, I have had one for about an hour.

I ended up going with Skyla, because its smaller, (and for those who haven't had kids, its a god send) it has way less hormones than Implanon,or even Merina, and Europe has had it for years with success (although it called Merina mini there).

So, my lady doctor's office preferred to have the IUD put in while I was on my period. I actually talked to Planned Parenthood when I didn't have insurance about this, and they said it made no difference. But, this office said that is what they wanted. Okay, cool.

WELL, for the past 2 months, I've been running on a 21 day cycle as opposed to my favorable 25. Which meant i got my period a good week before the appointment. So I had to reschedule, and even then, I was on the last day of it anyway.

That aside, I was instructed to take a pregnancy test that morning, eat something, and take 4 Ibuprofen. All went without any troubles. Not pregnant, had breakfast, downed the pain meds.

Now, I was scared outta my noggin about the pain for getting this inserted. One of my friends said she cried! Then there is all that talk about it being as bad as child birth. I have no idea what my pain tolerance is, but when it comes to cramps, I'm a wimp.

So, I got through all the blood pressure stuff, told to strip from the waist down, and happily skimmed my phone while I waited.

My OBGYN came in, made sure I wanted Skyla, and even had Merina out just in case I changed my mind. But my mind was made up! Skyla all the way! 

It took no time at all before we got down to business.

First, there was our good speculum friend. While never welcomed, always familiar. Then comes that less welcomed thing, the cervix grabber (I don't know the technical term, but lets call it Satan's cervical clamp). So that hurt, but it was like a bad period cramps. I breathed steadily and awaited the awful, no good, very bad uterus measurement. This device measures your uterus so the doctor doesn't puncture anything, it's also the tube that they use to insert the IUD. 

Okay. That shit hurt.

Now, you know those cramps that hurt so bad, the top of your legs hurt? There are like shooting pains and stuff? It's those cramps. Maybe, maybe just slightly worse. But I've felt cramps like that before. So, while is does hurt a lot, all I can say is that it's manageable and it goes away rather fast. Plus, the doctor is talking you through the whole thing, telling you what's going on, and so you have an idea when the pain will end.

It the end, it was a success! I laid there for a few minutes, waited for the faint cramps to subside, then went on my way. In fact, I felt so good I just walked home instead of waiting for the bus.

I'm going to go ahead and say that this was much less painful than Implanon.

But, I've also heard that the next 24 hours can get more intense. So, we will see.

For now, there is a bit of blood, and a slight bit of pain. But all in all, I'm handling it!