Planned Parenthood was so supportive and wonderful in the process and I’m so thankful I have this option

I’m a mother of three and very recently I found out I was pregnant. I had the Paraguard IUD which provides 99.4% pregnancy protection but somehow I managed to get pregnant again. My period was six days late so I took a pregnancy test and to my surprise, there was the +. Dread and panic overwhelmed me because this was not something we wanted and I didn’t like any of my options.

I knew I couldn’t provide for another baby, mentally, physically or financially. My youngest is two years and I was just barely beginning to sleep again. I called my doctor right away and was able to confirm the pregnancy with an internal ultrasound. The good thing was that it wasn’t ectopic, meaning the gestational sac didn’t implant in the fallopian tube, which is more likely when an IUD is in place.

My doctor took out my IUD and I immediately called Planned Parenthood. Thank goodness for Planned Parenthood. I made an appointment for the following morning and I was such with worry. I was sad about the choice I had to make, scared about the process and the outcome [read more medical abortion experiences]. I had three other little kids to worry about in the process and it was terrifying.

The next morning I went to the clinic, and they prepped me and told me everything that would happen. I took the first pill right there in the office that would end the pregnancy, and I was instructed to take four additional pills 24 to 48 hours later which would cause my body to expel the pregnancy.

It was one of the scariest things I ever did but turns out the process wasn’t as bad as I was thinking. I took a high dose of ibuprofen as instructed by the doctor and I think that really helped with the cramping.

After taking the four pills the second day, I started cramping an hour later and bled pretty heavily for the next five hours.

The next day I was extremely tired and had more bleeding. At this point, I was much more relieved that the hardest part was over but I didn’t feel very good for a couple of days. I bled for about seven days, it was like a period.

Overall the process was so much easier than I had imagined and Planned Parenthood was so supportive and wonderful in the process and I’m so thankful that I have this option because I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if I didn't.

Click for more abortion stories

You may find interest in these abortion books.