Delilah Night

I know a lot of pregnant women are shocked when asked about their post-baby birth control plans.  Birth control hasn’t been a part of your life in a long time (depending on how hard-won your baby is, possibly in a VERY long time).

However, there is a term for people who don’t have a game plan about post-baby birth control–parents of another kid.

Yes, breastfeeding CAN suppress ovulation.  Until six months or the FIRST time you go six hours between start of feed and start of feed.  That suppression is not effective in 100% of women.  You can’t rely on breastfeeding to be your birth control.  Even if you’d like another child-there are many reasons to wait 18-24 months before getting pregnant–another pregnancy so soon will be very difficult on your body and raises your chances of problems during pregnancy and pre-term birth.

If you’re on the fence about what method you want to use or are interested in a new option, may I strongly encourage you to check out Planned Parenthood’s website on birth control?

Personally, I’m getting another Mirena

I have tried many forms of birth control over the years, and this is the easiest by far.  Yes, it hurts to have it inserted, and it’s a good idea to plan to be home in bed that day (and possibly one more day).  BUT, once it is in, you are clear for sex without any secondary measures (like condoms) and you are pregnancy-free for five years before you need to get it re-moved and new one inserted.

I don’t plan to have more children, but if you want another (as I did after the LM), you can just get it removed and fertility returns immediately.  I got pregnant 2 months after my last Mirena was removed.

I am not being paid to shill for Mirena–this is a product I’ve used and that I like.  I suck at the take a birth control pill every day, much less every day at the exact same time.  The shot can cause issues with bone density. I didn’t like the ring.  The patch irritated my skin and gave me a rash.  Condoms are too easily forgotten in the heat of the moment.  The copper IUD isn’t recommended for women who have bleeding disorders (as I do).  Hence, Mirena is really my best option.

If we were in the US, I would likely be getting the Essure female sterilization procedure done, but no one in my current home country is licensed to perform it, so back to Mirena I go.

Filed under: Birth Control, Menstruation, Pregnancy, Reproductive Freedom | Leave a Comment »

I hesitate to tell my story about my experiences with Mirena.  I hear so much vitriol hurled in their direction that I don’t want to serve as further ammunition.  I genuinely feel that while I had a negative experience, that my story is a rare one, and that Mirena is one of the better contraceptive options available today.

I chose to use Mirena after the birth of my daughter in 2008.  My obstetrician at the time advised a 10 week wait time before insertion to give the uterus time to return to normal as well as the cervix.  I found the insertion process to be painful, but within a day or two I was fine.  I had the occasional break-through bleed for 1-2 days at various points throughout the two years that I used it.

I did find it odd that I had a long (5-7) day bleed in November, but didn’t really think anything of it.

In early December, having arrived at the decision that my partner and I were ready to move forward and have a second child, I chose to have the Mirena removed.

Two days after removal, I had began to bleed.  The first day was a light to moderate bleed, and nothing that seemed out of the norm for me.  Day two was a heavier flow with some clots, but again…nothing out of the realm of “normal.”  It wasn’t until day three when things began to worsen, rather than improve or stay stable that I began to feel concern.  By day five, I was soaking through a pad about every two hours and each time I sat down, large clots (alarmingly large…easily the length and width of my index and middle finger held together) were passing.

I had called my gyn (not the same doctor that inserted it…I was living in the US during insertion and now live in Singapore) to report my bleeding and express concern.  I was metaphorically patted on the head and told that I was imagining/exaggerating the extent of my bleeding.  This just isn’t how Mirena works, or what women experience after removal, I was told.  I fired him.

I searched for, and found another gyn, and was able to get an emergency appointment.  She too, at first, thought I was exaggerating, but did a pelvic exam and seemed quite concerned about the clots she had to clear just to visualize my cervix.  I was sent for an ultrasound, which showed I had grown a very thick endometrial layer within my uterus and had several large potential polyps present (in the analysis done later, it was shown that they were merely large clots).  An emergency D&C (dilation and curettage) was scheduled for the morning.  This was reassuring, as I was officially hemorraghing by this point…I was soaking through a pad an hour, passing large clots, and was beginning to feel the strain from all the bleeding.

I’d had a D&C in 2007, related to a miscarriage, so I knew what to expect (which is good because no one felt the need to review the procedure with me, unlike in the US where they went over it at least 3 times).  I did not expect to have to beg and scream and cry for painkillers, which led to more than an hour wait before the pain was treated such that I didn’t want to pass out.  This is the opposite of the vicodin I had poured down my throat once I regained consciousness in the US.

Within two or three days I felt fine, and my uterus has returned to normal.

What I find disturbing is the lack of information that Mirena provides on this as a potential reaction.  I do not doubt that it’s rare..rare enough that the gyn here said she wouldn’t hesitate to put me back on it after a second child’s birth, which I was surprised by.  But I do think that even if it’s a 1 in 10,000 reaction, that there should be some admission by Mirena to that effect.  I’ve certainly found enough anectdotes online to indicate that it’s hardly as rare as 1 in 10,000 (a number I’m just making up.).

I have had some truly frightening experiences in my life, so I would not rate this as “the scariest,” but my partner and I were genuinely frightened by the hemorraghe.

In the service of educating others about contraception and their pluses and minuses, I feel it only right to share my story.

Filed under: Birth Control, Menstruation, Pregnancy, Reproductive Freedom | 1 Comment »