Hello!
I just wanted to talk about my experience of a medical abortion at 6 weeks. It's been a generally positive experience but I am about 5 weeks post now and wanted to write the full experience although I have had some complications and still waiting for the process to be fully completed.
I found out I was pregnant at a very stressful time and it just wasn't the right time for myself and my partner to have a baby for various reasons. I didn't have long to make the decision because I was going to the US about 2 weeks after I found out (the one place you do not want to be considering an abortion at the moment). I was very scared and overwhelmed at the time and the decision was hard but I knew it was right.
I read so many stories on here so I was determined to write mine too as they are so reassuring. I called MSI, got an appointment the same day by going somewhere a few hours away, and spent the day travelling. The appointment was fine - I was emotional and they were very understanding. They explained everything and sent me off with the tablets. I took the first one on the way home around 4pm (again, this was difficult because there was no turning back) but ultimately had no side effects. Managed to go about my day the next day absolutely fine and mostly just made sure I was prepared with snacks and pads! 24 hours later I inserted the 4 tables and lay in bed for an hour or so. After about 2 hours I got some cramping and bleeding, this progressively got worse and I found it more comfortable to be on the toilet. I took some painkillers and used a hot water bottle for the stomach cramps. I passed a few large clots while on the toilet and just flushed straight away without looking. After a few hours the bleeding was less heavy and I could sit on the sofa and watch some TV. One of the things that was hardest was the shaking! I managed to get a pretty good nights sleep that night and didn't bleed too much overnight.
The next day I felt very tired and bleeding continued - I didn't do too much other than a walk in the evening. The bleeding continued over the next few days but got lighter and less clots and I could go about my days as normal mostly.
About 2.5 weeks post termination, I hadn't had much bleeding for about a week or so until I randomly had a few hours of really heavy bleeding which I wasn't expecting. I found this quite difficult because I was unprepared - I flooded a few pads and clots felt very heavy. Again, bleeding reduced after a few hours but I was very tired and a bit frustrated that I was still having to deal with it. After this, bleeding continued for about 10 days fairly heavy. I was continuously using night time pads. A few days after this, i took the pregnancy test they provide and it was still faintly positive. I called MSI and they sent me another one to do a week later. The only thing I would say here - they sent the package with no name on the front so my partner opened it. Not an issue for me, but i can imagine that could be an issue for someone else. I took the second test about 6 days later and it was still faintly positive so I called again - every time I have called all of the nurses have been great. They booked me an appointment at the clinic to have a scan and reassured me.
A few days after this, again, bleeding got heavy and I passed a few large clots. At this point I was about 4 and a bit weeks post termination and while they say you can bleed up to 8 weeks I think maybe you just assume it won't be that long and you just want to get on with your life. Again, I found that I could feel gushes of blood and would be flooding pads quite a lot over a couple of hours. Eventually it would stop and calm down.
I've recently been for the scan, they confirmed that the pregnancy had passed but I had some retained tissue of a few cms and booked me back in for a surgical procedure in a couple of days. I know it will be fine and hopefully then it will be all over - but it has felt like a long tiring process which has used a lot of energy. Regardless, it hasn't been traumatic and mostly it has been manageable. If you are like me and very scared - please don't be! I have had complications and while not nice, it has been fine.
I wish it was a bit less taboo and easier to talk about - I have only told a few close people in my life and maybe writing it here will be easier! Any words of wisdom for the surgical procedure please do let me know! Sorry this is so long - i was just desperate to read stories when I was going through the worst bits! I found so many stories stopped after the first couple of days so wanted to write about my experience of the last 5 weeks.