I'm going to try my best to tell my story, and it's difficult because I had passed out after the procedure.
I went in with my boyfriend, and I got to the clinic about 30 minutes early. I had a bit of paperwork to fill out, so I'm glad we got there early. I will advise to anyone, though, to please try and have someone who can take you to the clinic and home. I would not have been able to leave if I hadn't.
I was first given a pregnancy test to make sure that I was not pregnant since my periods had been weird with the last pill I was put on. I had my period for about a day and a half over the course of 3 months while on this new pill. I had taken a home pregnancy test before, just to make sure, as I had always had my period at the same time, give or take a day, for the past 12 years of being on hormonal birth control.
After my pregnancy test was shown as being negative, I was taken back for a blood test to make sure that my blood would clot and to ensure that I didn't have a blood disease or that I was anemic. I should have, at this time, told them that I have previously passed out at the loss of blood since I already have low-normal blood pressure.
After my blood test was okayed, I was taken back in the room where I met the nurse who would be performing the procedure. I was also introduced to another woman, a surgical doctor, who was in the process of learning how to insert IUDs. I had no problem with this, and I think there should be more healthcare professionals able to perform an IUD insertion. Both women were very nice, and both of them had run through the required information about the IUD, when I'd have to have it removed/replaced (if I so choose), etc. I had been waiting a few years to do this as I was turned down by two nurses within the PP network because I had not yet had children, so I pretty much knew the ins and outs of the information that they were giving me.
I was asked to undress and cover up, and the two women would return. Once they returned, they basically performed half of your typical PAP where they checked to make sure my uterus was in tact and that I wouldn't have any problems with the procedure. They then numbed my cervix, and I had to wait a few minutes for the novocaine to begin working.
The nurses had told me prior to the insertion what they would be doing, but the more they talked about it, the more scared and kind of grossed out I started getting. I'm not usually like that at all, but this was a big step for me.
The nurse put in the speculum, and then she used an instrument to affix my uterus in place. THIS is where I started feeling pressure and began feeling uncomfortable. At this point, I would rate the pain on a 1-10 scale of 10 being a highest at about a 5 or 6. It wasn't bad, but it was pretty uncomfortable. I didn't hear anything out of the norm, no popping or anything of that sort.
I was then told that they were inserting my IUD and I may feel a little more pressure. I felt a little more pressure, and then they cut the strings on my IUD. All of the equipment that was used was removed, and it was all done. The procedure took about 10 minutes total, if that. I was then handed the remainder of my strings so that I knew what they would feel like if I was checking for them. I was advised by my nurse that I didn't need to check them but once a month after my period, as she has had a few girls pull on their strings and actually pull out the IUD themselves. I'm getting a little queazy typing that.
So, I had the strings in my hand, and I sat up. I started to experience dizziness, and they told me I most likely would. I was talking to the surgical doctor about how dizzy I was feeling, and she pretty much had shoved me back on the table and put my legs up at the end of the table. She was talking to me, and I was starting to pass out. I was apparently 20 shades whiter than I already am, and my lips were turning a weird color. I was still talking to the nurse, and I was beginning to lose my hearing and on came the pouring of sweat that I had only experienced twice in my life - the last being when I gave blood for medical research at a hospital at my university.
Yep, I was passing out. I asked them to grab my boyfriend so I could see him, while they also grabbed me a bottle of OJ and a huge fan. Once I felt okay enough to walk, my back started cramping tremendously, and I'm going to be blunt here, I felt like I had to take the hugest dump of my entire life.
My boyfriend walked me to the bathroom, and I sat down doing my thing. I, again, began to start passing out in the bathroom. I was trying to tell my boyfriend to throw wet paper towels on me while I was pulling off my shirt to cool down. So there I was in my most vulnerable state, sitting on the john drinking OJ about to pass out, while my very awesome boyfriend is throwing paper towels at me. I start feeling better, and he pulls me back into the room where i laid down with my shirt off in front of the fan. I was brought more OJ, and the nurses took me to an office where I was given cookies and more OJ while my boyfriend got the car ready with the A/C for the ride home.
So, I get in the car, and lean the seat back having all of the vents on the car faced at me with the A/C going. At this point, I'm very worn out from passing out twice and the whole procedure. I keep thinking that I should probably eat something else (I had lunch about 40 minutes prior to going to the clinic), but everything sounded so disgusting.
So, I arrive back at home, and my boyfriend gets the bed set up. He finds my heating pad and puts episodes of 90210 in the DVD player. I stayed in that spot for a majority of the rest of the day and night. I eventually took a nap and got my appetite back. I decided to hang out in bed most of the day yesterday as I was still mildly cramping.
I woke up this morning and discovered that I have my period, and while I would probably be ecstatic had this been a week or two later, I'm still cramping, a little, from the insertion, but now I have my first full blown period less than 2 days after having my IUD put in. I contemplated for about 10 minutes whether to wear pads or put my cup in, as I'm still a little tender from the insertion, but I decided to put my cup in. I'm feeling crampy, but nowhere near how I was feeling the day I came home.
So, there you have it. The story of the insertion of my IUD, which sounds more like a soap opera than anything what with the passing out and what not, and my first period with my IUD. :D