Love it
I decided to switch from my birth control pill to an IUD because I was constantly anxious that I would mess something up with my pill. My boyfriend and I don't use condoms because we are in a committed relationship, and although I was good at taking my pill I was always worried. I chose Paragard over Mirena because I wanted something without hormones. I'm 21 and have never had kids. I went into my appt not even expecting to get the thing inserted that day. I was just planning to talk about it. After decided it was right for me, she said we could put it in right away. I took no measures beforehand to make the experience more comfortable for myself. Ibuprofen could help. However, it was not nearly as bad as I expected, but I did experience some pain. The process involved a urine test to rule out pregnancy, and she also did a STD test by swabbing my cervix. She also did a pelvic exam. Next she brought in an assistant. She used a speculum to open the vagina and cleaned my cervix with iodine (this didn't bother me at all). The parts afterwards were where the cramping began. She used a clamp of some kind to hold my cervix steady. I got mild cramping from this and it felt pretty uncomfortable, but nothing I couldn't handle. Next she used a sound to measure the depth of my cervix. I think this was the most painful or bothersome part. I had moderate cramping and felt very strange. Next she inserted the IUD, which took all of ten seconds and involved maybe 2 seconds of pretty bad pain. Afterwards she told me it was all over and took the clamp out. She trimmed the strings and I was done! It took all of 2-4 minutes. I am still having pretty bad cramping a few hours after getting it put in, but ultimately I'm thrilled with my choice. I haven't had much bleeding, either. I'm so relieved it's over and wasn't as bad as I thought. I feel it'd be worth the few minutes of discomfort to not have to worry about pregnancy until I'm ready to have children.
ColleenS16
Milwaukee, WI