Reading beforehand about abortion online made me feel a lot more nervous

I had a medical abortion yesterday at 7 weeks pregnant and wanted to share my experience.

I spent days beforehand reading these pages online which made me feel a lot more nervous.

I took the first tablet on Thursday which blocks the pregnancy hormone before returning to the hospital on Saturday morning at 8am to be given the tablets to pass the pregnancy.

On Thursday night and all day Friday I felt nauseous and had lost my appetite but did not experience any stomach pain.

About an hour before going to the hospital on the Saturday morning I began bleeding and passing blood clots (this can happen but is rare).

When I arrived at the hospital 4 tablets were inserted into my vagina which soften the cervix, and a painkiller and an antibiotic inserted in my anus.

I had my own room and toilet in the hospital and the nurses were very friendly.

A few hours passed and I did not experience pain any worse than period cramps and my nausea from the previous day was actually a lot better.

By 12 o'clock I still hadn't passed the pregnancy (you have to use a bed pan every time you go to the toilet and the nurses examine what you've passed) so I was given a further 2 tablets to take orally.

About 15 minutes later I had a strong feeling that I needed to poo, went to the toilet and before I had managed to sit down I had passed the pregnancy and the feeling was gone.

I was really concerned beforehand what it would look like so was relieved that there was no visible signs of a baby and could only just tell that it was the sack as was mucus-like.

The bleeding I experienced throughout the whole day was no heavier than a period only difference was blood clots but from reading other people's experiences the day before I was admitted to hospital I was expecting a lot worse and it terrified me and to be honest, it made me really regret taking the first tablet so I hope to be able to put a lot of minds at rest.

Once the pregnancy had passed I was to continue using the bedpans for the nurses to monitor the bleeding and after about an hour I was free to go home.

My whole experience lasted about 6 hours and was nowhere near as physically painful as I expected.

When I got home I did experience severe diarrhoea which is a side effect of the antibiotics but was gone within an hour.

Physically I feel better than I did for the few weeks I was pregnant, my appetite is back to normal and no longer feel sick, my only pain is slight period cramps but paracetamol seem to help.

I decided to have the abortion as I am 19 years old, I am not financially stable enough for a child as I don't have my own home and although I have a supportive partner we decided we were not ready for children.

The decision was a really hard one to make as I had always said I was against abortion and the first time I went to take the tablets I couldn't do it, however I know I've made the right decision as there's so many things I want to do before having a baby.

I do feel sad and I know that emotionally I could never do this again so when I do fall pregnant in the future I will make sure the time is right.

I hope this can help anyone who is nervous to go through the procedure, as the stories I read online before mine really made me think I had done the wrong thing.