In With the New

A Mirena is now inside my uterus.
This happened yesterday. I was pretty worried 'cause of the massive amounts of pain I went through getting the Paraguard, especially the horrid cramping well into the night.
This one was a breeze, comparatively. It was no picnic, to be sure. There are certain kinds of pain that are worse than others, and having my cervix cracked open is one of my least favorites. But it was over quickly and the only drawback was that my pulse was low, so I was nauseated and they had to keep me horizontal for a while. My clinician said that it was probably easier because since she took my Paraguard out (which wasn't bad at all), my cervix was more relaxed than it would have been.
I had a little cramping last night and this morning, but very mild.
Apparently it's likely that I'll have spotting for 2-3 months, but they really can't give me an idea of how this will effect me. It's different for everyone.
I like the ladies at this Planned Parenthood. They're down to earth and supercool. My clinician is a roller derby girl.

Goddamn Catholic Hospital Sons of Bitches

I'm so angry right now I can barely see straight. My friend had a panic attack last night and made the unintentional mistake of going to a Catholic hospital, where they kept her for twelve hours, refused to give her medication, tried to convince her not to have an abortion and threatened to send her to a psychiatric hospital. She went in for a panic attack. It's not like she went in and said, hey priest, give me an abortion!
She said it was the worst night of her life.
There has to be something she can do. I know right now she just needs to take care of herself, but I am so furious and just want to DO SOMETHING. Like wring their fucking necks.
How can this be legal? How can they sleep at night?
And what can we do?

1 out of 3 is you

Hey girl,

Of course, of course I'm not angry!
I wish you didn't have to go through this. I know your body is even more sensitive than mine, so I know you'll feel the changes that happen so quickly even more acutely. Our hips wanna pop out some kids, I guess!
I find it interesting that I never even asked if you were keeping it and you never brought up that possibility. We have so much stuff we need to do-- that we are meant to do--before we consider care of little ones (besides my cat).
If you want me to come with you I will. Having you there during my procedure meant the world to me.
Call me whenever. Tell me it sucks as many times as you want.
Dude. You're gonna be okay. Look at me! I'm fine. And it brought me and my boyfriend even closer together and I bet it will do the same for you. And ya know, as much as it sucked, I wouldn't take back any of it--although I will do everything in my power to prevent its happening again. It's one more experience we have to draw from. That's what this crazy life thing is all about; that's what we do.
Also, another plus for the surgical option is that you can now have an IUD put in right away (they started doing that just a couple of months after my abortion).
Let's have a fantastic vegan brunch tomorrow.

Love,

Eve

The Switch

I think I'm gonna bite the bullet. My period is currently on day 10 and without ibuprofen I was curled up in agony on my parents' couch during Thanksgiving. I made an appointment for two weeks out to switch from the Paraguard to the Mirena. I really don't like the idea of random periods and hormones, but I like heavy flows, major cramps and pregnancy a lot less. I talked to someone at Planned Parenthood, and she said that if my periods haven't gotten any easier after 8 months, they'll most likely stay this way. So I'm stuck in this lesser-of-two-evils-rock-and-a-hard-place situation.
Here's my prayer: Dear whomever, please let the Mirena make my periods become spotting so I don't get stuck with embarrassing situations and discolored underwear.
Thanks.