My Copper IUD

WARNING: If you don't like reading about birth control or issues women deal with "down there", do not read any further!

I had a copper IUD put in on Tuesday. It's awesome because it will hopefully last twelve years!! If everything goes according to plan, I'll never have to worry about birth control again (for twelve years). I had a friend who did it and it actually came out on its own! This is crazy because they attach it to your uterus. The doctor also told me that they don't recommend the copper IUD for women who've never had children because often our body rejects the IUD and tries to push it out. You can end up with a torn uterus, which is a little scary. But I'm hoping that doesn't happen here. Most times the body will accept it, and there shouldn't be a problem. It sounds like it's the most effective form of birth control there is, outside of abstinence. It's more than 99% effective. I was going to just stick with my old birth control, which is also very effective, but the difference between 1 out of 100 people getting pregnant on it and 8 out of 100 people getting pregnant on it becomes pretty huge if you are one of those eight people.

This is probably too much information, but I'll dish anyway... the procedure was a little painful. Imagine your worst menstrual cramps and double that. They put it in while you're on your period (on my 2nd day). It makes it easier if your cervix is already open I guess. I should have been fine, but I wasn't. Totally in pain... horrible cramping... I spent the rest of the day home with cramps, clutching a hot water bottle thingy. I read online that it makes your period heavier and crampier, and they were right. This may be a monthly occurrence- I may cramp once a month for a few days (when Aunt Flo visits), but that's what Ibuprofen is for, I suppose.

So here I am. After the initial cramping on the first day, I feel great. I'm very happy with my decision, and love that if I don't have any problems, I'll save a lot of time and money by not having to worry about it. Also, I've realized that I don't do well with hormones. The copper IUD doesn't have any hormones in it, and I feel like I'm starting to return to myself. Maybe I'm just making excuses for my past behavior or imagining things, but I never quite felt like myself when I was on birth control hormones. I felt so crazy. I feel super mellow now and just very peaceful. It's just nice to feel like you're in your own skin again. And that's the best part for me. I'm also hoping that I lose the weight that I gained when I was on hormonal birth control (NuvaRing, which is also pretty good and has low doses of hormones, but still more than I'm used to).

I spent the day yesterday with my boyfriend and his son. I worked on my paperwork while they played video games. Apparently his mom has been working with him on his behavior at school and the teacher has stopped calling (for now). I can't believe I was so hard on that kid before. Sure he's a little spoiled, but he's only six, so I should just take it with a grain of salt. At least when he says obnoxious things he's kind of clever about it. Plus, he's actually very sweet to me (as long as I don't seem to soak up too much of his dad's dough), so I should enjoy it while I can, before he becomes a teenager and decides he hates me.

Mellow yellow...