Sunday 19 June 2011

The best thought decisions

Sometimes the best thought decisions turn out to be not so good, but seeing as we can't predict the future, sometimes it turns out to be the decision you end up regretting.

The rest of this point has the potential to some to be TMI (too much information, for those that don't get all the abbreviations!) but a large part of it is being written as a public service announcement for those that, like me, may not have gotten all of the information they should have.

Five years ago this past March, my husband and I made the decision for our form of birth control to be an IUD. For those not familiar with it, an IUD is an inter-uterine device. It is a very small "t-shaped" piece of material that can be made of copper (which is non-hormonal) or other material (which can be hormonal) that is inserted into the uterus and essentially mimics pregnancy and doesn't (or shouldn't) allow you to get pregnant.  Statistics show that the chance of pregnancy with an IUD is less than that with the birth control pill.

The reason that we went this way rather than the pill was that, well, Hassaan is a pill baby.  I was on the pill (and nursing Hammad) when I got pregnant with Hassaan.  The fact they are only 12 months 3 weeks and 3 hours apart was by no means planned.  I wouldn't change it now for the world but at the time, those were the longest two years of my life.  Two babies and a husband that was working what seemed like 24 hours a day, 7 days a week was my own personal version of hell.  So when Hassaan was six months old, the decision was made to do something that wouldn't result in another pregnancy quite so soon.

The IUD that I got (the Mirena brand) was a five year IUD.  At the four and a half year point I originally tried to get it out.  The doctor couldn't even find it.  So I ended up having to go for an ultrasound to find it.  It was right where it was supposed to be.  So back to the doctor (and note that these three things had gaps due to when I could get in, so we've gone from August to November).  He does find it this time, but we learn (very painfully learn) that it has implanted itself in the side of my uterus.  At that point I'm referred to the ob/gyn.  I finally see her in January (which was supposed to be December but due to our weather I couldn't make it to where I needed to be).  And she schedules me for surgery.

So now, in two weeks, I'm having surgery to have what I was told was a form of  birth control that was safe, but that it might fall out.  I wasn't ever told that it could implant itself in the side of my uterus.  I wasn't ever told of bad things that have happened to others - uterine perforation, loss of fertility and others.

My concern is now not just in trying to get it out.  My concern is now more "will I be able to get pregnant?"  Yes, we were planning on having more kids.  We just didn't want them right then.  And it seemed like a good idea at the time.

So I'm saying this not to discourage others from potentially using this form of birth control, but so that they have more information than I did.  I have one friend who's IUD fell out.  Another who will also have to have surgery because it's moved so far up inside her uterus (something else it's not supposed to do) that they cannot reach it for an easy removal.  And mine has implanted itself in the side of my uterus.  An easy, simple form of birth control that has been advertised heavily in parenting and women's magazines isn't as easy and simple as they lead you to believe.  Read the fine print.  If your doctor doesn't give you the fine print, ask for it.  Because the last thing you want to hear is being told that, because of the birth control you thought was a good idea, you are no longer able to have children.

And that is the last thing I want to hear.

1 comment:

  1. I had a pregnancy with an IUD, and then lost that baby due to the IUD (it punctured the sac -- sad day) anyhow...we tried with it again 10 years later...and I got THE WORST INFECTION EVER. After 8 weeks on antibiotics, they finally figured out that the bacteria had "planted itself" on the actual IUD. had it removed and was better within days.

    Never, ever, EVER getting another IUD.

    PS -- how did I not know you wrote a blog?? New follower!

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