IMPORTANT! Remember when reading online that unfortunately there are pro-life people out there who want to scare women out of making a medically approved & safe choice. Now that i've had an abortion i can understand that even if things went worse for me, i would never go out of my way to present my story in a way that deters people or frightens people, but rather to ensure them that things will be okay if they DO chose this option. most, if not all, of those horror stories online about abortion experiences are written in a very deterring way. the real statistics of risks and side effects (you can find these on nhs & nhs approved clinic websites) are low, and don't really line up with how many horror stories are out there so please just remember that some people on the internet, unfortunately, lie.
I was around 5 weeks and a few days pregnant when i had my abortion. At the time of my abortion, telemedicine (pills-by-post) was an option for women up to 10weeks pregnant. I hope this continues to be an option even when covid is not around anymore. Even if you're taking the pills in-clinic i hope my experience can still be helpful for you!
I explored options from BPAS, NUPAS and MSI. I ended up going for BPAS because the telephone appointment they could get for me after my form had been submitted and reviewed was next day, whereas the others were around a week away. From the day i found out i was pregnant and got in contact with the clinic, until the day of the abortion kit arriving, only 6 days had passed. Don't get me wrong, those were the longest 6 days of my life but i was pleased to be able to have the abortion within the week.
The mifepristone (1st tablet) i took on a Wednesday, i was pepared for nausea and mild bleeding. i also was very mentally distressed about the pregnancy generally so i took this day off work, chilled in bed with my partner and tried to relax. Had absolutely no side effects at all, and getting my head around the fact the process was beginning was very comforting for me.
Before i begin explaining about the abortion itself, i have some tips..
If you can, try to have someone you trust there with you or at least easily contactable who knows what's going on. Could be a partner, a parent, a friend, this was very helpful for me.
Try to take the misoprostol pills at a time when your home is the quietest and you have nothing to take care of or important things to do. (i live in a houseshare so this was a massive thing for me).
Stock up on:
Pads, painkillers - you can never have too many of them in your drawer, its comforting to know you're not gonna run out. ask your nurse for codeine too.. they will give you it. even if you don't think you'll use it, which i thought would be the case for myself.
sweets (chocolate) - for comfort, but also helped me with blood sugar levels, i was quite lightheaded and shaky at times so these really helped.
mints - good for nausea, but also they were very strong so the sensation took my mind off the pain a little too.
snacks & water & tea - replenish your energy & stay hydrated!!! very important.
tissues - blood, tears, mess. you'll need them.
another major tip is DO NOT google symptoms or problems you are having during the process, just refer to the aftercare booklet you're given or call the aftercare services, they are very clear & helpful, google is not. the vast majority of the internet are not medical health professionals and you don't want to SOLELY rely on decisions/information from random online peoples accounts of what they did or found helpful (this includes me and mine!).
my experience:
thursday at 11am.
first i took 30mg codeine & 1 ibuprofen, waited 5 minutes then took the 4 pills vaginally. weirdly it was hard to put them in too deep because the tablets were so drying and my cervix was kinda very there (i guess from the mifepristone tablet you take the day before). but id advise taking the time to ensure that you are confident that they are adequately inside enough not to come out, for ease of mind. you will lie down for 30 minutes to allow them to dissolve fully anyway.
after waiting 30 mins, i could feel light cramps like an ordinary period. it would come in waves where the peak would make me feel a little nauseous but really nothing too notable, and then i would go back to feeling a very light dull ache. my hot water bottle was very soothing but the weight of it on my belly was uncomfortable and painful in the beginning, i was very sore in that area, even a light flick of my belly would've hurt i think.
after a whole movie and a half, (3 hours, ish) cramping had gotten much worse. almost unbearable if im being honest. the pain kind of took a hold of me before i realised what was happening.. after a few waves of very intense pain, i took double the dose of codeine & ibuprofen. i felt nauseous, very faint and very weak. i didnt have the strength to get up to go to the bathroom (its up a flight of stairs in my house), so i wanted to wait for the painkillers to kick in.
30 minutes later they were kicking in and things were manageable again, my partner escorted me up the stairs because i was lightheaded, and he checked i was feeling ok to be left in the bathroom (maybe a little extra precautious but he is an angel). i was, so i sat on the loo and just let things bleed for a while. this was the first of the bleeding by the way; the worst of the pain was ending although i didnt know this at the time, and i felt marginally better. the nurses told me the worst of the pain usually happens when your body is expelling the pregnancy (this does not necessarily mean you're also passing it out of your vagina fyi). i felt comforted to think it was going successfully. one of the pills fell out of my vagina, half the size as when i put it in. i had read a few accounts online about peoples experiences and never heard this happening, so i was very worried about this. i called the aftercare line and they informed me that this was ok since my body would have absorbed what it needed in 30 minutes anyway, what i was finding in the loo was probably the 'casing' that my body could not absorb. but if this happens to you (or anything that you're unsure about) please just call the aftercare line to be sure. i put the next 2 pills in vaginally.
now im 5-6 hours in, i was so worried that the recent pills would cause the same level of pain as the first ones did but they never did. pain only continually gradually lessened from that 3 hour mark where i found it to be the worst. at this point it was just moderate cramping that i was able to control with painkillers. i took my temp and noticed i had a fever but this had probably been the case for a while, i had felt hot/cold throughout. i even drifted to sleep on and off at this stage. i had a lot of nausea whenever i moved position, especially when i stood up but never actually threw up.
between 7 hours - 12 hours in i was experiencing light cramping, occasional painkillers needed, in and out of sleep, able to eat some food and snacks as normal, bleeding actually increased for me, lots of very small dots of clots within the blood but no large ones, a lot more blood than id have on my period but nothing that was soaking through pads quickly or anything. needed to go to the bathroom to change pads every 6 hours or so (on a normal period for me it typically takes a whole day for a pad to fill - i know im lucky haha)
after 12 hours had passed, and following until the next day; i had very faint cramping occasionally but no painkillers needed. headache, body ache, fatigue. I slept for like 16 hours total, when i woke up on friday i felt able to walk around again as normal, have coffee and breakfast, although i could definitely feel that rest was much needed. i also felt residually high from the codeine the day before and my brain was very foggy for the first half of the day. i read that lots of people feel like they could have returned to work the next day. pain wise, i agree.. but i think mentally i needed all my attention on my body and wellness. i would not recommend going back to work the next day for this reason, if you are fortunate enough to have the option.
friday - sunday: bleeding remained pretty constant, heavier than any period id usually have but still not a nuisance at all. no pain at any point. leakage mostly happened when id be on the toilet. i passed the first (and only) large clot in the middle of peeing on sunday morning and did not feel it much but heard a plop in the toilet bowl. to me the idea of passing a clot kinda frightened me, but when it actually happens its just kinda funny, theres no pain. at this point im also feeling much less pregnant: belly feels normal again and less bloated, boobs less sensitive. my body feels wholly mine again. i'm more energetic, but definitely still wildly emotional at times (apparently high emotions are common post-abortion)
After a week, bleeding became more like spotting. After two weeks, bleeding stopped entirely and i started to notice egg-whitey discharge in larger quantities than id normally have.
After 3 weeks, (today) i took the HCG test to confirm successful termination, and i was all in the clear. Sigh of relief.
Hope this is helpful for you ladies, best of luck ♡
I will try my best to reply to messages over the next few days so feel free to ask questions.