I found out I was pregnant about three weeks ago. After a few days of debating on what I was going to do I came to the conclusion that abortion was the right choice for me. I am 21 years old and a senior in college. I have been with my boyfriend for a few short months when I became pregnant. The initial reaction I had was pure shock and disbelief. I was taking birth control pills but I had recently taken antibiotics. I would like to share my story because once I became pregnant I searched and read through hundreds of experiences of those who have had an abortion. I read the positive and the negative about medical and surgical procedures. I hope that in some light my story can help others who have the same decisions to face as I did.
First finding out I was pregnant was a shock. I thought through each of my options carefully. I came to the conclusion of abortion because I was emotionally and financially unfit to raise a child. Some may say that my decision is selfish and wrong but in my eyes it was the best option for me. I was unable to care for a child and personally I would not be able to go through with adoption after caring a child for nine months. After reading through all of the experiences with both I chose to go with the surgical abortion. The medical seemed to have more cons than pros for my personal opinion.
The first phone call to the clinic was hard and I was scared to even make the appointment. As you have probably read else where the phone call was pretty standard they ask you general information about your medical history and when the first day of your last period was. I set up my appointment for the following week. As the appointment approached I did a more in depth research as to the effects of the surgical abortion. When the appointment day came around I woke up and went to the clinic at 8 am. The first step was to fill out paper work just as you would at the gynecologist. Once I completed the paper work they asked me to come back where they did my sonogram. I found out that I was 5 1/2 weeks and they also tested to see if I was rh negative which I was not. After the blood work I paid for the procedure and went to counseling. The counseling entailed a detailed description of the procedure and effective birth control methods. I was allowed to ask any questions I had. The clinic made me feel extremely comfortable and the staff was very supportive. There was no judgement passed and I was well informed of everything that would be taking place during the procedure.
I chose to have sedation along with my procedure. I had never been sedated or hard any prior surgery before this. So of course I was extremely scared to be under any kind of anesthesia. I was taken to a waiting room where my blood pressure was taken and I was told to change into a gown and prepare my underwear with a clean pad. This by far was the worst part of my appointment. I was in this waiting room with about twenty other women waiting for the doctor to arrive and start surgery. This was the longest two hours of my life. I was having feelings of being scared of the sedation and whether I would remember the procedure and how traumatic this would be for me.
When the doctor finally arrived and I was called back to the room where this would be happening it looked exactly like the office at the gynecologist. The support nurse who stayed with me the whole time gave me a sedative and the doctor came in and prepared for the surgery. I was conscious throughout the whole surgery. The sedation simply made things fuzzy for me and took away any severe pain i would have had otherwise. The nurse kept me talking through the whole procedure. This procedure took about three to five minutes. Within these minutes the level of pain was about a 2 on a scale of 10. More than anything it was just an uncomfortable pressure. The vacuum aspiration was not loud nor did it hurt. Once the doctor was done I was thinking that was it? The worst part of the procedure is having your cervix dilated this did hurt a bit but nothing more than menstrual cramps. Once he was done I was told to put on my underwear with a pad and I was walked to a waiting room where they gave me sprite and cookies. I was starving at this point so I asked for seconds. Everyone was very nice and as soon as it was over a had a sense of relief. I sat in he recovery room for about 45 minutes when they told me I was free to leave as soon as my ride arrived. With sedation you are not allowed to drive for 24 hours and they require you to have a driver when you sign in and they made him sign in as well.
After the abortion I had minimal bleeding for the first few hours and once the sedation wore off I did have cramps. It was nothing that Ibuprofen could not fix. These cramps were about as painful as severe period cramps would be. It has now been almost a week and I have no bleeding or cramps. The next few days I felt fine and had no problem returning to work and my daily activities. I was given Doxycycline 100 mg to take 2x a day for three days starting the day of my appointment to reduce the chance of infection. I have been fine since the procedure.
Feelings after the abortion: The first day I felt relieved at first and then as the night went on a had a slight feeling of emptiness and I felt as though I was a bad person. Because of the stigma with abortion that feeling was bound to come. I slept fine that night and when I woke up the next day my emotions were completely normal. I have no feelings of regret and I am happy to say that I made the right decision and I do not regret it.
The whole process seems scary and there are stories of those who had a much more negative experience than myself. But the best advice I can give is that you need to weigh out all of your options and it is not as bad as some make it out to be. Overall I would say it was not painful nor traumatic for me and I would recommend surgical to anyone who was making the decision to have an abortion. I hope my story is able to help those like me who are aimlessly googling experiences to gain a sense of knowledge on how it all works before and after. If this can help anyone not stress out as much than my time writing this has been well-served. You are not a bad person and there are many like myself who have walked a mile in your shoes and know what your going through. We are able to relate the the severity of stress when it comes to making this decision and you are certainly not alone. Just make sure this 100% your decision and that it is right for you otherwise you may have regrets. stay strong and keep your head up and the rest will fall into place.
Saving 