I had never been pregnant and at 22 and still in school, I knew I wasn’t ready.
I decided to write this story because when I was making the decision to have a medical abortion done, there were no stories or experiences I could research upon besides the extremely scary ones that basically let you know you’d be in the worst pain of your life.
Long story short, I found out I was pregnant 5 weeks into it. I always have had regular period cycles so when my period was almost 11 days late, I knew something wasn’t right. I took an at home pregnancy test and almost immediately the positive sign showed up. It was so shocking, I had never been pregnant and at 22 and still in school, I knew I wasn’t ready.
One thing people forget to mention as you’re deciding to go through with an abortion is the guilt you might feel. And it’s different for everyone. Although I knew this was the right decision, I still found myself continuously feeling sad that I would be ending the life of something growing inside me. And I went through the whole process alone, none of my family knew, and the one night stand I had with the guy whose condom popped could’ve gave two shits less that I was pregnant.
So the week of my abortion, I had to go to the clinic twice. The first time is when you go in and they do the ultrasound to determine how far along you are. I was 8 weeks at this point- so early enough to still do the pills because the surgical option gave me such anxiety. The second day I went back to the clinic and this is the day that they give you the first pill which will stop the hormone needed to help your baby grow. I felt no side effects from taking this pill, I was actually fine.
After you take that pill, you wait 24-48 hours to take the second set of pills at home. I was instructed to hold the pills between my gums and lip for 30 mins and then swallow the residue. I remember being so nervous because all the stories said how badly it would hurt. The cramps rolled in slowly after while and picked up after about 30 minutes. This is when I started to feel bad, the cramps were indeed bad but not life threatening, if anything it truly did feel like a VERY BAD PERIOD. I was constantly going to the bathroom because I felt like I had to poop, I also threw up while on the toilet. The food I had that morning all came back up and I was afraid I threw the pills up.
The nurse on duty explained to me that it was okay I threw up and the pills would still do their job. I was sitting in my bathroom with my heating pad completely naked from the heat flashes I was having when I felt a very warm liquid just come out of me. I thought it was blood but when I checked my pad, it wasn’t, it was just a clear fluid that fell out. Immediately after this, my cramps completely stopped.
I went to take a nap and when I woke up I still wasn’t cramping. I went to use the bathroom and that’s when my first clot plopped straight out of me into the toilet. I was sure this was the fetus because it was a big bolt of white mushy tissue with blood attached to it.
And that was the worst part- having to flush the fetus as though it was nothing but a fish was pretty sad. But that was the worst part. My cramping literally only lasted about 30 minutes to an hour before I had passed my pregnancy. Now I am just bleeding as if I was on a heavy period but no pain.
I am due to go back in a week to confirm the pregnancy is terminated but that’s it so far.
I just wanted to share my story to anyone who may be scared. It truly was not that bad, after enduring the pain for such a short amount of time, it was all over.
