IUD

A couple of weeks ago I got my Mirena placed. I thought it would be a painful procedure, but it wasn't bad at all. I asked my gyn onc for a referral to someone who has done a million of them, and she referred me to a gynecologist who has put over 1000 in. She prepared me the night before by prescribing me a drug to dilate my cervix so that the sound (the stick that measures the depth of the uterus) would go in smoothly. Then she injected lidocaine during the procedure to numb the pain. All in all it was pretty easy- much different from the experiences of the many women that I have seen undergo the procedure. After that I had some cramping and then I was fine.

Until... When the device is placed in the uterus, the string is cut so that it sticks out a little from the cervix. This is useful to check for correct placement. Well a week after getting the IUD placed, I could no longer feel my string, and so made another appointment to see my doctor. When I went in again, the doc tried to visualize the string with a colposcope (magnifying glass to view the cervix) but couldn't locate it. So I had to go get an ultrasound to verify the placement. The technician eventually found the string and ensured that everything was in place. It was also a good learning opportunity, as he explained what he was looking for on the ultrasound-- basically the IUD looks like a bunch of lines that I never would have been able to identify on my own (the picture above is not MY uterus and IUD- but this shows how hard it is to actually see the device via US). What was most beneficial, is that we both got to look at the image of my uterus and pelvic cavity, which showed no signs of change (or tumors) other than a few uterine fibroids. Soooooo after this whole ordeal, I got an inadvert checkup on how things look on the inside.

Otherwise life is booooooooooring- no job still- just working a little on my thesis and studying a bit. I am still sleeping as late as possible- mainly because there is nothing else to do. I did start working out though!

Mirena Facts