I had to wait 2 weeks from my initial consultation before a date came up and that was the hardest bit
I don’t really want to go into the details of why it was the wrong time for us, even at 35 and 40, to have a baby but in my heart I knew that it was. This is a post to reassure anyone confused or worried about their choice as I found hardly any experiences online of women who had had a surgical abortion under local anaesthetic. So here is mine. I was 7 weeks and 6 days into my pregnancy, and it would have been my first baby.
I had to wait 2 weeks from my initial consultation before a date came up and that was the hardest bit – feeling all the symptoms of being pregnant and knowing I was not going to keep it was really tough. I hadn’t told anyone and I found not being to explain why I was miserable or feeling sick really tough.
I had read every horror story online and not slept at all last night as I was panicking and wondering if I would regret my decision to be awake. I was put into surgical gown etc, and met my doctor who would perform the op. I also had a nurse who held my hand throughout and explained everything they were doing. The doctor warned me of everything he was doing before he did it so at no point did I feel out of control or overwhelmed. He injected the local anaesthetic first which I hardly noticed him doing – he had me cough as they were going in and I barely felt it. He then inserted the vacuum tube and began the suction. I felt mild cramps, and he stopped after 30 seconds or so to give me a break. The cramping increased a little towards the end, but the suction only lasted a couple of minutes and the pain was never more than I was able to cope with. I had another few breaks so you never go too long being uncomfortable. It was far, far easier than I had expected. Obviously every woman is different but I found the whole experience less painful than I had been imagining – if you are in any doubt about whether or not you need to be sedated, I would say that it is not necessary at this early stage. I was put into pants and a pad and experienced mild bleeding and discomfort but nothing worse really than bad period pain.
If this happens to you, don’t panic – you will be fine.
