October 21, 2005

 natural woman

perhaps you recall that ray had a vasectomy a few months ago. since then he's passed his two sperm tests with flying colors, which means i'm in the clear to get my IUD out. and i did that this morning.

in terms of effectiveness i actually loved the IUD. no hormones screwing with my body (have i ever told you the story of the time i got a depo-provera shot and then had a three-month-long period?) and the IUD meant no fussing around with barrier methods. getting the IUD installed wasn't a whole lot of fun, but in the 4+ years since it has been wonderful not having to think about birth control.

well, let me rephrase that. i did actually think about it quite a bit, but not in the way you might assume. i thought about the IUD every 21 days, as it caused my cycle to be shortened and intensified. i won't hesitate to tell you that my periods were far more heavy and quite a bit more painful with the IUD than without.

(apologies to any gentleman readers who find themselves suddenly in very uncomfortable territory. this post probably should have come with a "TMI" warning.)

additionally, i've had chronic cervical dysplasia for years, and my warm and loving gynecologist has told me that ditching the IUD might help return my cells to normal.

so, between the extreme monthly messiness and the notion that the IUD might be hindering my recovery from dysplasia, it's good to have the sucker out.

and because ray has been snipped, being without an IUD means that i am completely birth-control-free for the first time in probably 20 years. i find that astounding. and a bit disorienting.

Posted by xta at October 21, 2005 01:06 PM | TrackBack
Comments

you're free! your body is no longer confused!

(well it might be confused about other things, but it doesn't think...whatever the IUD fooled it into thinking)

Posted by: pinky at October 21, 2005 02:42 PM

I seem to remember they keep the, um, "internal environment" from being hospitable for the egg wanting to implant.

Posted by: Joseph H. Vilas at October 23, 2005 01:44 PM
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