The good news is that everything looks great and I am officially cleared. I am finally allowed to get waxed, participate in bedroom activities, exercise, and walk all 95 pounds of Buster! We did talk about a few other things as well....
*I am finally able to take my beloved charcoal pills again for any GERD/heartburn issues. Throughout pregnancy I had to work with only Tums so it's nice to finally be able to rely on the charcoal pills if I need them.
*The day before and the day of my doctor appointment I could have sworn that I had cervical mucus. I asked about it and my doctor said that while it is early and even though I am exclusively breastfeeding, it is possible that I could be starting my period again. (Dammit) On Sunday I did have some spotting, but no period yet. UGH. After consulting with Dr Google there does seem to be something called the six week bleed. Maybe I have that?
*My doctor asked what we would like to use for pregnancy prevention. I'm not keen on condoms or a diaphragm. In fact I am pretty sure that birth control is just silly for us, but I guess we should be safe just in case....
I asked about IUDs and got the following information:
I asked about IUDs and got the following information:
- the first kind uses hormones and can result in lighter periods.
- the second kind is the copper kind. It doesn't use any hormones, but it has been known to cause more cramps and/or heavier periods.
- I asked if IUDs affect future fertility and she said that in the past when people were not in a monogamous relationship and contracted certain STDs or if it wasn't inserted in a sterile environment, there was a problem. But nowadays, there is no issue.
- I mentioned that I had crazy heavy periods prior to my fibroid surgery and that we weren't sure whether that was from the fibroid or from the endometriosis. I'm not crazy about going back to that life so I asked if the copper IUD would create that issue. Endo is not present during pregnancy or during breastfeeding because you don't have the up and down from your hormone cycle (however, if I am getting my period again soon this may not be true) so maybe it wouldn't be too bad?
*Finally, we discussed when it is "safe" for me to get pregnant again if I am able to. While I don't think that we will be trying super duper soon, CP is 37 and as of last month, I am 35. It may take a while to get pregnant again so we don't want to wait too long.... Basically, the recommended amount of time is 18 months. So 18 months from the birth of Isabel to the birth of the next child.
Any thoughts from you guys on IUDs? Do you have one? Do you like it/would you recommend it? I am leaning towards it but waiting for my doctor's office to call my insurance company to see if it is covered. I have also put in a call to my RE's office to see what she recommends. It may be that I need to go on birth control to try to keep the endo from coming back. I think that I would rather the drugs from birth control than to have to go through another surgery to remove endo before trying to get pregnant again.... And then there is still that damn fibroid still in my body...how to control that? Ugh. It's all so complicated.
Any thoughts from you guys on IUDs? Do you have one? Do you like it/would you recommend it? I am leaning towards it but waiting for my doctor's office to call my insurance company to see if it is covered. I have also put in a call to my RE's office to see what she recommends. It may be that I need to go on birth control to try to keep the endo from coming back. I think that I would rather the drugs from birth control than to have to go through another surgery to remove endo before trying to get pregnant again.... And then there is still that damn fibroid still in my body...how to control that? Ugh. It's all so complicated.
11 comments:
Given your history of past heavy periods I would be wary of the copper IUD. That being said, it what I'm going to choose post baby but that's only because I tried the Mirena first and my body's reaction to that was to have basically no period. I am choosing copper for the zero hormones and because I actually prefer to have a period than no period at all.
I'm thinking the Mirena might be a nice option for you - low dose of hormones to help manage the endo, won't potentially cause heavy bleeding/days of breakthrough bleeding like the copper IUD, and less fuss & muss. I only had my Mirena for a year or less (can't remember now) and it was NBD to have inserted or removed.
Good luck with what you decide!
(Re-reading comment...was kind of gross of me to use phrase "fuss and muss" in regards to periods. haaaaaaa)
I've just been browsin blogs the last few weeks and Rama croos yours...I had an IUD. It displaced thru my uterine wall and into my abdominal cavity. I had to have surgery to remove it. I wouldn't go there, but that's just my opinion.
*ran across yours...sorry on my iPad! Lol
It is still so hard for me to wrap my head around taking bcp when we have suffered through infertility for so long. So ironic.
I have Mirena. Insertion was easy and almost painless. I spotted for a month afterwards, which is normal (but annoying). I've had it over a year now, and no periods at all. I really like it. I know many women that have gotten pregnant very quickly after having it removed. Mine is a stop-gap until we finally FOR SURE decide we're done and my husband gets the snip.
I can't remember if I spotted at 6 weeks or not. I actually think I bled/spotted up until 6 weeks and then had some spotting at 12 weeks. Then nothing until the boy was 8-ish months when he started eating more solids and less BFing at night.
I chose no BC as it took us years to get pregnant and much help to even get pregnant. It would be a happy miracle if I got pregnant.
I had a copper IUD years ago. My periods weren't too bad, but my husband was able to feel the strings sometimes during sex. The strings might have been too short...or he is just sensitive. I also ended up pulling it out one period because it got snagged on a tampon. :( A friend just got a copper IUD and she had to have 3 separate ones inserted, because it just wasn't going in the correct place (and she didn't want to get pregnant again!). So far she is liking it, I haven't heard much news about it since though.
Have you tried Nuva Ring? That is what I was using before stopping all BC and liked it as far as BC went. It was very very easy to use, lose dose hormones (centered in the vagina area) and flexible with moving your periods around. I can give you more info if you're interested.
I find it hard to believe we as infertiles would need birth control after pregnancy. But my MIL swears that pregnancy "resets" your body and seems to think it's easier to get pregnant after giving birth. Science!
I had that same spotting around 6 or 8 weeks. I thought for sure my period was imminent and... Nothing. So I just keep waiting.
I never had an IUD so I'm no help. The birth control thing is so complicated. I have opted against it for now. It just seems silly in my situation. If by some miracle, I had an accidental pregnancy, it wouldn't be a terrible thing. I think I would only go back on BC if I felt I needed it to regulate my cycle.
Well, I don't have any advice. Just wanted to say I have a hard time imagining using birth control after this pregnancy too! They talked about it in our prenatal classes, and I completely zoned out, thinking... Hell no! I'm not using birth control!
But now that the time is getting closer, I'm thinking I may have to consider it for a little while. I would definitely be over the moon to get pregnant again, but I want to know WHEN, so I can follow all the same "rules" I did this time (crinone, baby aspirin, etc.).
After being on the pill for years though, I'm afraid to ever go back to that. I'll be interested to see what you decide.
I know I most definitely won't be going on any sort of birth control. But that's just us, considering we had to use donor eggs and my husband has poor sperm quality, it seems highly unlikely we would ever get pregnant on our own after 16 years! I have heard that pregnancy does change things for some women though, so you never know!
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