I had an accident
By anonymous on 10/12/2013
I had an accident - one night while out drinking with the guy I was seeing, things got hot and heavy and we didn't use protection. Since Planned Parenthood was closed on Sunday, I waited until Monday evening to get the Emergency Contraception. Turns out that didn't exactly work. When I was a week late on my period, something told me I was pregnant. I kept praying and praying that I was just being paranoid, since I had read plenty of articles online of people being late due to the EC pill. I gave it another week, but when I finally took the first test, I was right. Pregnant. Took a second one, also positive. Here's the thing - by this time, things were way over with the guy to the point that he was no longer answering my calls. So, having just moved to a new city on the other side of the country, having started a new job, etc, this was an easy choice. My best friend is the only person that I told, and he was 100% supportive.I found out I was just over 6 weeks pregnant two days before I was flying home so spend a week and a half with my family. I talked with the Planned Parenthood nurse about my options and decided on the medication abortion. Because I had up until 9 weeks to take the medication abortion, I went home, and just dealt with comments from my family about my gaining weight, and when was I going to settle down and start a family (awesome). The Friday I went in for the official appointment, I had an ultrasound and was told I was 8 weeks and 3 days pregnant, and they asked me again if I was 100% sure I wanted to go through with this. There's never been a moment of doubt this entire time, and frankly, I just wanted to be done with it. I was given the information about how the process would happen, and they explained what I would experience (the heavy bleeding, blood clots, and heavy cramping) and what I should be on the lookout for as side effects. At 10:15 am I received the first pill to end the growth of the pregnancy, along with the antibiotics, and was sent home.
I had specifically cleared my calendar that weekend as I knew I'd be experience pretty bad cramps. That Saturday morning, I took the first set of Ibuprofen given to me by the clinic, and 30 minutes later, I took the 4 remaining abortion pills. It took about 30 minutes for the cramping to begin, but about an hour into it, I was in the WORST pain of my entire life. Caught between non-stop vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding, I just sat on the toilet with my head in the trashcan, crying in between screams and cursing myself for ever agreeing to do this. No joke, I had never been in that much pain in my life. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. About an hour and a half later, the pain eased up enough to be able to move back into my bed with a warm, wet towel, and I was able to sleep for about an hour. The rest of the day had heavy cramping and blood clots, but all were manageable.
By Sunday, the cramping and bleeding were like a bad period. Terrible, but not unmanageable. I even managed to shower and leave my apartment for an hour to enjoy the snow falling! I thought the worst was over. But, at 1:30 am on Sunday night/Monday morning, I woke up to even WORSE pain than I had the day I took the pills. I was passing blood clots the size of small lemons, and it was taking everything in my power not to rip off my own skin. I was finally able to go back to sleep around 3 am, but again at 4 am I was woken up with the same pain. Eventually, I ended up falling asleep while sitting on the toilet, just letting blood clots pass. I'm pretty sure at some point, I passed the fetus, but I was too scared to look closely.
Today, I went to work with cramping but pretty mild bleeding. I thought for sure I was through with this, but about an hour ago when I crawled into bed, the HORRIFIC cramping started again and I'm still passing large clots. I've looked up other's stories, and while it helps to see that this is fairly normal and I'm not the only one going through this, I am completely disappointed that I was not explained just HOW bad and HOW painful this would be. Had I known, I would have thought more carefully about whether the medication abortion was the right way to go. I do not regret terminating the pregnancy, however guilty I feel, but I NEVER in my life want to go through this experience again. I've never been pregnant before but I can't help but think that the pain I've had is comparable to labor contractions or much worse. The pain is crippling, like a bowling ball is slowly moving around in my uterus, stretching and breaking everything as it makes its way through.
How long will I keep experiencing these random but terrible cramps?
Editor's Comment
The pain of a medical abortion does vary from person to person, and also according to the stage of pregnancy. The womb does contract in the same way as it does in labour so it can be likened to labour pains.Usually the process takes about 4 to 6 hours after which the pain and bleeding subsides. If you are still getting such strong cramping pains after 2 days you should get some medical help as the abortion may not be complete, or sometimes there are some retained products. I would advise you to see a doctor to be sure. You can call the national helpline, log on to Online advisor, or follow the link to find a centre for post abortion support in your area.