Medical abortion

[PinkGiraffeinTrousers]

Hi, name changed for obvious reasons.

I have a medical abortion booked for next week. My husband and I have come to this decision jointly, as he feels this would be the best for our little family as a whole, and I can't find reason enough to disagree. I've always seen myself with more than one child and I can't honestly say that I'm not sad about it. In the same breath, I see the bigger the picture and now that the decision is made, I just want it over and done with so that we can move on.

Can anyone tell me about their experience? I'm just over 7 weeks pregnant, so will be over 8 when I go. What can I expect? Will I be able to work the next day?

Anyone?

Hi Pink. I had a medical abortion at 9 weeks last year. Like you, I found it a horrendous decision to make but ultimately, it was the right decision for us.
When you go for your appointment you’ll be scanned to check how many weeks you are. For a medical abortion they will give you the first tablet in the clinic which stops the pregnancy from progressing.
They give you the tablets to take home the following day which you insert into your vagina.
It took about 4-5 hours for the vaginal tablets to start working. I’d say I was back and forth the loo maybe 2-3 hours. I didn’t look but once everything had gone, my body settled and cramps stopped. It wasn’t horrendously painful. No more so than period pain. The bleeding was very heavy and was for maybe 2 weeks. The next 2 days I was an emotional wreck so I wasn’t mentally ready to face clients etc but I work from home so spent 2 days on the sofa answering emails and binge watching Power. Physically I was fine and if it was necessary I could have worked.

I really hope it as pain free as possible for you.

It is a bit different for everyone, pain tolerance, gestation etc as it's essentially labour so very different for each woman. I had one about 7 years ago, I was about 8-9 weeks. Went the first day to take the first lot of pills that made me a bit queasy and sickly but otherwise fine. Next day put the rest of the tablets on my gums, once dissolved they kicked in within about 30 mins and it started as average period cramping and quite heavy blood straight away, it did progress into more severe cramping on and off as my uterus contracted. Be well prepared with pain meds and hot water bottle. Not the most unbearable thing in my experience but it does hurt quite a bit. Had about 3/4 hours of this before the pregnancy passed and then the cramping stopped and bleeding turned into heavy but more manageable loss. You will lose a lot of blood, but it is normal, put a few layers of puppy pads down on the couch/bed and maternity pads essential. I remember the blood mainly scaring me as I was sure it wasn't normal but was reassured by nurse, it was. All in all I wouldn't be particularly scared if I needed to do it again (fingers crossed I won't like). I personally would book the next day or two off work. I have a friend who had a much easier time with it though, much quicker and less painful. Like I say, different for each. Good luck OP. You'll be ok.

Hi OP,
My experience was very similar to @eandz13. I was 10 weeks, had a scan and took the first tablet whilst I was there. The second tablet I took the following evening, and the cramping began after about 30 minutes. It got progressively worse over the next 3-4 hours, and for me it was relatively bad - quite a lot worse than period cramps. But it might not be so bad for you, as you won't be as far along, and I get quite sore periods anyway (no idea if the two are connected!). I hope it's okay for you though xxx

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I suppose I'm a little scared of the unexpected. Worried it could go wrong somehow. I don't want to dwell on it and just want it to pass as quickly and painlessly as possible. I'm choosing not to share this with anyone from work which means I will be telling a white lie as to why I'm not at work, and that worries me too. That somehow it will come back to bite me.

I don't feel attached and I'm in the right mindset to go ahead. I'm sure I won't be able to help being a little emotional though...

Did anyone take the the second lot of pills on the same day? I understood that was what my booking was for.

How did it it go @PinkGiraffeinTrousers? I’m booked in for my initial phone consultation next Thursday and really nervous