I booked in with the Sandyford for a consultation and arranged a medical abortion at the Southern General

In late August I found out I was 3 Weeks pregnant.

After speaking to my boyfriend we both agreed that an abortion would be the best thing for us. We have been in a relationship for five years but as I was only 20 and neither of us was financially stable and able to give our baby the life it deserved.

We both come from religious backgrounds so it also wouldn't have gone down too well with our parents. We are both young and still have things to achieve in our own lives and felt it really was not the right time for us to start a family. I booked in with the Sandyford for a consultation a few days later.

A nurse spoke to me and asked lots of questions about myself my health and the circumstances about my decision to have an abortion. She was very kind and understanding. I then had a scan to determine how many weeks I was at. She then took my blood to see what blood group I was.

She booked me in for 2 weeks time I opted for the medical procedure because I was so early on. When I arrived for my next appointment two weeks later at Sandyford I had another scan and was given a pill to take to stop the pregnancy from developing any further.

My next appointment was 2 days later at the Southern General.

I was shown to my room where the nurse gave me four tablets to insert vaginally and two suppositories to insert in my rear end. This was honestly a lot easier than I expected, I did worry I wouldn't be able to do this but I managed fine.

She also gave me my contraceptive pill which is what I decided to start on with the nurse at my very first appointment at Sandyford. She also gave me four antibiotics and explained I had to take these in the evening after the procedure before I go to bed.

After everything was explained to me she then told me to walk about and to use bedpans when using the toilet so that the nurses could check if I had passed the pregnancy.

Three hours passed and I felt nothing - no pain and hadn't passed anything.

Once it hit four hours I had mild cramps and lower back pain I felt myself bleed quite a lot as I went back and forth to the toilet the pain did increase and I was sick quite a few times.

It was all overwhelming about 6 hours after taking the pills when I successfully passed the pregnancy and was discharged.

I did feel really drained after the procedure but it wasn't as bad as I imagined and my boyfriend was supportive all the way through.

I do feel I made the right decision despite all the mixed emotions I had up to the procedure.

The nurse also explained how I would bleed for around 12 days after the procedure.

It's been exactly a week and I have recovered. I'm still bleeding but the emotions have settled and I'm glad it's over and I can get on with my life.