Mirena insertion

[mangofandango.livejournal.com]

I had my Mirena IUD inserted this afternoon, and since several people expressed interest in hearing about it, I am here to report to you. :)

The office ordered it for me, and they called today to let me know it had arrived. I had gotten my period yesterday, so I went in at 3. My husband came with me (I should mention that I asked my doctor about this the second time I met with her, and she said it would be fine to have him come along and besides, she said, "he's kinda cool!" ;)). The nurse had me use the bathroom first, then had me undress from the waist down and sit there while we waited for the doctor. The doctor had asked me to take 800 mg of ibuprofen before coming in, so when she came in she checked to make sure I had done that. She had me sign a consent form while she set stuff up, and then she showed us everything she'd be using.

First, she inserted a speculum, and used iodine to help 'clean' my vagina and cervix. That felt kind of cold, and then it burned a little. Then she put in the uterine sound to measure my uterus. That was uncomfortable, it hurt a lot going through my cervix and gave me a very intense cramp. (At this point, I was squeezing both of Ryan's hands - that helped a lot. :)) My uterus is 7 cm, which is within the right range - I was really going to be upset if I went through all this only to find my uterus was too small! She gave me a minute at this point and waited for the cramps to subside.

Then came the insertion of the Mirena. That was the worst part. To be honest, it really hurt a lot, but not in a searing pain kind of way - as you would probably expect, it was a very, very intense cramp. I tried very hard to breathe slowly, and that seemed to help. Luckily, it didn't hurt like that very long, after a minute or so the cramps became more like the ones I used to have when I had very painful periods. I assume what I felt when the IUD was inserted might have been like a contraction, but I don't really know. :) She had me stay lying down for a minute, then sit for a while. She got me some water, and Ryan helped me get dressed.I was shaky and the cramps were pretty intense, but I was okay walking down to the car, and after the ride home (bumpy roads are NOT your friend right after an insertion!) I lay down for an hour and a half or so, and the cramps subsided a lot.

Now I'm still cramping some, but it's not nearly so painful - it's more like normal period cramps, just a little more constant. My cramps seem to be a little more to one side now, and that worries me a little, but it feels like it could be just gas or something - I'll keep an eye on it for a few days and see how it goes. I'm supposed to take 800mg of ibuprofen every 8 hours for the next few days, and she prescribed me some Vicodin in case I need it or have trouble sleeping because of the cramps (I might use it tonight, but I don't really see it being needed by tomorrow night, based on how much better I feel after a few hours). I also have to go back in 5 weeks so she can check it and see how I'm doing with it. She advised us to use backup protection for at least 2 weeks (she recommended a full cycle, ideally). Is this about what other people's doctors told them? I'm just curious.

I'd also like to mention that I am really glad I went with this doctor. She seemed much more gentle and understanding about pain and even mild discomfort than many other doctors I've seen, and she was really nice and informative. She respected my choice to do this and treated me like I knew what I was talking about, which was really nice, and she also did a great job of including my husband in the whole process. I'm really happy about that.

So, I'm off to lay around a little more. I hope this is helpful to people - please ask if you want to know anything, I tried to be thorough but I'm still a little pained, so bear with me. ;) Thanks for all your help with making this decision too. :)

Comments

[pillar.livejournal.com]

I love when doctors are honest about pain. It gives me more confidence in them, and helps me to prepare and know what to expect. If I'm expecting pain, for some reason it doesn't seem to hurt as bad as it would if I'm told it won't hurt very much. Thank you for sharing your experience :)

[mangofandango.livejournal.com]

I really appreciated being told about the pain beforehand, too. Sure, I was nervous about it, but I also made a special effort to try and stay relaxed, and I paid special attention to remembering to breathe and everything too. It does make me feel like the doctor is more trustworthy, and that she understands that it hurts, you know? It helped me a lot to be prepared, I think.

[serendipity133.livejournal.com]

It wasn't nearly as painful for me, but then again I'd just had a child two months before. I even forgot to take the ibprophen, and it wasn't that bad. Don't get me wrong, it was painful, but not horrible.

Did she warn you about the posibility of spotting for up to three months? I've had a lot of problems with that, with spotting as heavy as a period starting a little less than a week after I got it inserted. It's still off and on badly, usually needing only a pantiliner, but it hasn't stopped and it's been almost a month. She said this was fairly normal.

My doctor only said to wait to have sex for four days to decrease the risk of infection while anything that might have gotten torn healed. The packaging didn't say anything about waiting, but I hope there isn't a problem.

[mangofandango.livejournal.com]

I think it was more painful for me because I've never been pregnant. At least, I assume that's why - maybe I'm just a wimp. ;)

I read about spotting, but it's good to hear about your experience with that. I'm sorry it's still bothering you, hopefully it will let up soon. I hope I don't get months of spotting, but I think it will be worth it even if I do. I hope so anyway. :) Are you happy with yours, other than the spotting?

I thought perhaps my doctor was being a bit conservative about the backup protection, and you're not the only one who said their doctor gave them a shorter time period (I x-posted this :)). I'm not really sure what I'll do about it, but it's good to know. Thanks. :)

[serendipity133.livejournal.com]

I'm still happy with it, even with the spotting. My son is here because I couldn't remember to take a pill every day. :) I love him, but I REALLY want to wait a while before I give him any sibs. So something like an IUD was the best thingfor me. A friend of mine had Norplant for a while, but that creeps me out. So I think I made the right choice for me.

[dr-sneed.livejournal.com]

wow, thanks for posting this! i've been thinking about getting an IUD (of the non-hormonal sort..) after this pregnancy and when my fertility returns (which took 15 months with my daughter!) and i've been looking for something just like this to describe how it all goes exactly. so thanks. :)

[kyriedj.livejournal.com]

When I got my IUD back in 1996 it was 6 weeks after my son was born via cesarean. My ob/gyn and I had discussed the IUD prior to his birth and had decided that the IUD would be inserted at my 6 week checkup. It may be because I have a high pain tolerance, but I had no cramping at all except for a minor twinge which I thought was my cervix being dilated, but it was actually the IUD being inserted. I had no cramps afterwards and my periods are still their normal heavy selves with the same amount of pre-IUD cramping and lower back pain.

I don't think that the lack of pain was because my cervix was still dilated due to pregnancy because the cesarean took place before I went into labor.

[miyyu.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing this, I always enjoy reading about people's experiences. I'm glad to hear it went so well. =)

[katlynel.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And yay for you going ahead with your instinct to get Mirena! :)

[prettytheworld.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for posting that! I had been considering an IUD, and it was great to read about somebody else's experience. :)