Hi,
I'm writing this in the hopes it will help at least one person who is going through the same thing I did. Feel free to ask any and all questions, I want to help as many people as I can with my experience.
On the 21st of November 2022, I found out I was pregnant. I've always been extremely careful with the likes of contraception and to be honest, I was completely shocked when I saw two lines. I had broken up with my boyfriend 2 weeks prior to the positive result, I had just turned 19 and I am currently at university 200 miles away from my family. It was insanely scary.
I knew what I needed to do straight away and requested an appointment with BPAS that same morning. I had my consultation with the sweetest nurse over the phone on the 23rd of November (two days after I had requested it). She talked me through all of the options before making sure I was completely certain of my decision to terminate the pregnancy. I said yes and opted for the pill via post.
The package was delayed by a week because of Roya Mail strikes but BPAS assured me that it would be with me as soon as possible; they send them out with 24-hour shipping so should technically be with you the next day for anyone worried about that.
Waiting for it was the worst part in my opinion. I had the worst nausea and was basically bed-bound for that whole week. During this time, I had nothing else to do but look up other women's experiences. DO NOT DO THIS. Most of the stories scared me half to death and by the time the pill eventually came, I was absolutely petrified of taking it. But, I decided to get it over and done with and it was honestly the right decision.
I took the first tablet (mifepristone) at 2:30 pm on the 2nd of December. I made sure I had been eating tiny bits of bread all throughout the morning, which I managed to keep down, as I know people had said it can irritate your stomach. I had absolutely no side effects from mifepristone; it didn't make the nausea go away but equally didn't make it any worse. I got myself into bed and basically just slept until the next day. After 26 hours, at 4:30 pm the next day, I took the next 4 tablets (misoprostol) internally. I was contemplating which was the best way to take them, but I had heard that a lot of women experience higher rates of sickness if they take them orally and wait for them to dissolve. I got into bed after this and it was just a waiting game before they worked.
I think it was around 2 hours after I took the misoprostol before the cramps started. They weren't bad cramps, literally just felt like period pain. I took some paracetamol within 5 minutes of me feeling the cramps start. Although the cramps did get progressively more intense, it definitely wasn't unbearable or as bad as I thought they would be. I started bleeding about half an hour after the cramps started. 3 hours after I took the first lot of misoprostol, I took the 2nd two pills and let them dissolve in my mouth. I found it helped to sit on the toilet and as stupid as it sounds, almost drain the blood.
I had intense cramps (almost like contractions, around a 7/10) for about 45 minutes but nothing crazy. The second dose did not make them worse. After they had slightly calmed down, I went back into bed, took 4 codeine tablets and tried to go to sleep. I woke up the next morning around 3 am and panicked a bit that I had slept so much. I went straight to the toilet, fearing I had bled too much as the horror stories say.
I absolutely hadn't. Don't get me wrong, I bled a lot but not dangerous amounts by any means and no more than a heavy period. They were some pretty big clots but don't let them scare you, it's completely normal and actually a reassuring sign that the pill is working. I still had cramps but very occasionally and about a 3/10 on the pain scale. I had absolutely no signs of nausea which was the biggest relief ever after 3 weeks of waking up feeling super sick.
For the following days, I took it really really slow and didn't move out of bed much. The bleeding wasn't excessive; just like a medium flow period. The cramps were period-like as well.
I still get occasional cramping and I am still bleeding now (8th of December, 6 days after the medical abortion) but it is definitely slowing down a lot. Apart from some tender boobs still, I feel absolutely normal. I won't get into the emotional side of it too much, but I wanted to add that it's absolutely so normal to have a lot of different feelings. I felt them all. There were parts where I felt so guilty and there were parts where I felt so relieved that it was over.
I hope my story and experience helps anyone reading this- my best advice is to not read too much, but I know that's easier said than done.
I am so proud of each and every one of us that has had to go through this (and similar) experiences. We are all extremely strong. Please be kind to yourselves and I am sending all of you enormous hugs. You got this! <3