I have been lurking on this forum for about 6 weeks now, but I finally decided that I wanted to post my own experience with the RU486 pill and my medical abortion.

I found out 7 weeks ago that I was pregnant, and at first, I was really happy. My cousin already has a wonderful baby girl that we both love more than anything, and a few of my friends were/are also pregnant, so I was really looking forward to joining the 'mommy' crowd.

My boyfriend was very supportive, promising that 'we'd get through this' and 'I love you no matter what' and other things of that nature. I'm really lucky because I know that no everyone has such a supportive person in their lives, and that only made me feel better. But I wasn't really thinking things through at the time. so one night we went out to dinner with a couple of friends, and broke the news to them. They were both so happy, but when we got home, things started to fall apart in a spectacular way. We took one friend home first, and on the ride back to my apartment, our other friend got a call from his mom, who told him plain and simple he wasn't welcome back into the house. Which meant he was living with me (this wasn't the first time this had happened).

Even though he had just gotten kicked out of his house, he was still super happy, and when we got home, I realized why. He and the other friend and my boyfriend had spent most of the afternoon while I was at work picking out a wedding band that Ben gave to me before we got out of the truck. Up in my apartment, I sat on the couch getting more and more depressed as the boys tried to find a house that they could go in on together and still be able to make enough money so I could quit my job to raise our child. All of this was their decision with no input on my end, but that's what made me snap. I spent the next few hours sobbing on my fiance's shoulder in my bedroom, getting out all of my worries. No money, no future, I was terrified. My grandmother still supported me by paying for school and my car insurance. If she found out, there was no way she'd still help (she is very southern and proper. When my mom was pregnant with me, grandma'd close the curtains so nobody could see mom). We finally decided that we did want kids, but we both wanted to be able to give them the life that they deserved, we we were more financially stable and standing on our own two feet. So the next day at work I made an appointment to go to a clinic in Lincolnwood for that friday.

I searched the internet high and low for medical abortion experiences (which is how I stumbled across this site ^_^).

Friday, june 20th, I took off work, and Ben drove me down to the clinic, where I sat and waited and worried and panicked for only a few minutes in the waiting room. The women that worked there were wonderfully nice and helpful. The procedure itself was actually fairly quick and almost painless. They did a urine test first, and the lady came back to tell me I was very early along, only 2-4 weeks, and then had me go to another room for an ultrasound. It wasn't horrible, but it was definitely COLD =P

When the ultrasound printed out, they showed me what was supposedly a baby, but it was so tiny that the crosshair hid it. I asked if I could have the second copy regardless, as Ben had wanted so badly to see it, but, at least in Illinois they won't let anyone but the patients beyond the waiting room. (That ultrasound is still hanging from his rearview mirror, just in case anyone was wondering)

Then one lady did the consultation, where she explained how the pills worked, i.e. Take the first pill in front of the doctor to stop the growth, then take the four pills given to me at home 48 hours later, ect. She asked if I was sure I didn't want to do surgical instead, as it was quicker and less painful, but I told her I literally couldn't, due to my phobia of needles.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that I'd meet that needle anyway, as they had to take blood to make sure I wasn't anemic or anything along those lines.

Needless to say, I passed out. The poor woman who took my blood wasn't told about my issue, and couldn't understand why I was so tense and panicky, and kept telling me to just relax. She got the needle in ok, but when she pulled it out, I got hot and dizzy and passed out, which made her really upset. The poor lady was beside herself making sure I was ok and asking why nobody told her I was scared, she would have done it differently if she knew. They put me in another room with a cup of cold water, a cup of coke, crackers, a cupcake and some carrots, and a wet towel over my eyes. They went a little over board, but it just goes to show that the horror stories about 'herdy clinics' isn't always true.

After that, the doctor came in, did a quick pelvic exam and left the room without a word, just scowling, and the nurse who gave me the RU486 pill apologized, apparently the doctor didn't want to work here and they were trying to find someone else. After that, I was sent on my way with a couple of 'good lucks' and 'call us if you need anything'.

The first pill didn't affect me like I've read is a possibility, I didn't start bleeding, I didn't feel nauseous, or anything else out of the ordinary. We stopped to grab some lunch and drop off my pain prescription, Tylenol 3 with codine. Without insurance the prescription it only cost $12 just in case anyone wants to know for their own reference.

Sunday morning I woke up and took two Ibuprophen like I was told, and and hour later inserted all four tablets vaginally and turned on a dvd to wait. My only suggestion to anyone who gets a medical abortion, if you have to take more then the recommended dosage of aleeve or tylenol to get rid of a headache like I do, take the codine instead of Ibuprophen. The pain wasn't unbearable, but there was a definite bite to it for about an hour. However, I didn't start bleeding for almost 5 hours, just had a lot of cramping. I was able to curl up next to Ben when he got home, and sleep for a few hours, and when I woke up I had soak my pad almost all the way through. I didn't bleed very much after that, just a few clots and maybe a pad every 2-3 hours, but I think its because I was so early in my pregnancy. The pain was only so severe I saw white for maybe 5 minutes, and then it was bearable. I'd suggest walking or something similar. Not just after you take the pills of course, or you'll run the risk of them not working, but once you start bleeding, walking will take your mind off the pain and let gravity do its work as well. Soup and crackers helped calm my stomach and dvds or music playing helped keep my mind busy. I was able to go to the work next day and ride my motorcycle after work on a trip up into WI.

3 weeks later I went back for my check up, where they said I still had a little bit of fluid in my uterus. They gave me some more pills to take, and said if it didn't clear out the fluid (a 50 50 chance at best) I would have to have a d&c.

One week later I stopped bleeding and I was let go home with a clean bill of health! I was still testing positive with pregnancy tests due to hormones, but as of yesterday, July 30th, that's no longer true. I was so happy when I saw that little blue line that I texted my fiance saying 'it came out negative, its over!'

Im not happy that I got rid of my child, and I know I'll wonder the rest of my life what would have happened if I had kept it, but I know I made the right choice. It hurt, but we both knew we couldn't provide for this child like we wanted to, and I personally don't want my child to think that we'd be better off without him or her like I grew up thinking. Ben and I are still getting married, Saturday morning, and we're hoping in a few years to have a baby again. I know that a lot of people say 'get the surgical, in and out with no pain' and I don't doubt it, but if you're scared of surgical, or you'd rather have a medical for whatever reason, don't let the horror stories scare you. People are more likely to post if its bad then if it wasn't. No offense to anyone, but its usually a fact. It does hurt, and its really messy depending on how much you bleed, but its not the end of the world.

I'm sorry that this is so long and rambly, if the mods would like me to edit it or remove it, I can, but it feels good to be able to let all of this out, since I can't really talk to anyone else but Ben, and I think he's not ready to talk about it yet.

If anyone has any questions or anything, feel free to pm me or email me and I'll try to answer them as best I can, I know from my experience there's always going to be questions that you can't find the answers to. Which brings me to my question. When the doctor told me I might have to have a d&c she spoke about it like it was different then the aspiration technique. Was I just understanding her wrong or is there a difference. And if so, what is it? Thank you!
~ Hikaru