my medical abortion experience

I am 19 and recently found out that I was pregnant. I immediately contacted the local Planned Parenthood in downtown St. Louis, MO. Which I live about 30-45 min away from. I have already had my first appointment, which was on Tuesday (9/3/13) the appointment only consisted of hours of waiting in a fairly large room with other women who were going through the same thing as I was, abortion options. I luckily had my sister with me, as well as the mother of the father who partaked in created this whole thing -_- we have a terrible relationship and I just couldn't imagine having a child with him. Thankfully his mother was supportive and payed for all the expenses. So after all the multiple times having my name called and being asked my birthdate, seeing multiple nurses and counselers, then being sent back to that freezing waiting room, 5 hours later, I was finally done. I found out I was only 7 weeks and 1 day pregnant, so I chose the medical option. Oh any by the way, I had to have a vaginal ultrasound, which I was completely unaware that those even existed.. I was expecting some cool gell to be rubbed over my abnoman and the nurse to move around the little camera over it and it would all go over quickly... No, I had to undress and when the nurse came back in she took the vaginal camera, placed a condom over it, and then rubbed some jelly stuff on it. I asked how far it would go inside me and she comforted me and told me only about an inch. Phew! Lol, when she inserted it, it felt honestly like intercourse, except there was a little pinching pain when she got further in and it was just kind of uncomfortable. After she removed it she left the room and allowed me to clean up and put my clothing back on, my sister and I made a few jokes and I told her I felt like I just had awkward sex and we giggled about it. Anyway, I was so relieved that I wouldn't have to go through any surgical nonsense and have things shoved around in my vagina anymore o.O My next appointment is on Friday and that is when I get all my pills and will start the procedure. I'm a little nervous, but not as much as I was before I read these articles on here. These women's comments have lifted my confidence and I am sure that I will be able to handle this with ease. Thank you so much for all the positive feedback and all I can do now is hope for the best. ;)

Hi. I am currently undergoing my medical abortion at five weeks. Since I took the four pills for the second part of the procedure, I have had minor (normal for me) menstrual cramps and everything is proceeding as explained at the Marie Stopes that I went to. I have spent my day relaxed and watching movies on my laptop. All the horror stories I read about on forums such as this one, prepared me for the worst but luckily my experience has been painless and I have my family around for support. Despite the painless procedure, I threw up quite a few times 30 minutes after taking the pills but this passed within an hour.

I can't believe no one is speaking of the worse part. The extreme emotional toll it takes on you is horrendous. If you can somehow work it out. Even adoption, just do it. Its so much easier. Its not worth it to take your babys life . Think of the one person we look up to for comfort and safety. Many off us will say our mother don't be your Childs demise. Protect an innocent life and give the baby up for adoption.

Hi, I read your experience and feel a bit relieved now. I know you posted this a while back but I just thought I'd thank you for sharing your eexperience. It has really made me feel much more relaxed about what I may endure next Saturday. Thanks again.

its ma first time..using dis drug..was recomended by my boyfriend...I bought it and I took ma time to surf d net to knw everytin abt the drug..I saw the use..side effect and aw to use...so I took ma breakfast and opened four of it..put it under ma tongue..it desolved b4 20 minutes..I tried asking google if I can swallow it b4 20 minutes since it has desolved ..bt no answer..I waited few min..and swallowed it...nt up to 10 min...I had dis chest pain and I just needed to go to the toilet...there I already found few stains of blood on ma pants..so I stayed in the toilet and pooped a lot ..I looked and saw blood in the toilet..I got out..now am here on bed aving..chest pain and little movement..ok a bit dizzy..am still waiting..

Hello, i took cytotec vaginally and orally five days ago and i'm still bleeding. Has anyone here had d same experience? I was 2 weeks pregnant

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but did anyone else have literally no pain accompany the bleeding? I had to terminate my 6 wk pregnancy because of medication complications that would have caused severe birth defects. I chose the medical abortion route because my city does not have a clinic that preformed vacuum aspiration. After reading so many girls experiences online I was scared but prepared. I thought it was going to be an excruciatingly painful and traumatizing experience. I stocked up on everything I would need: pain meds, anti-anxiety meds, anti-nausea meds, comfy clothes, soft blankets and pillows, a heating pad, maxi pads, baby wipes, bottled water, fruit and crackers, and 4 movies from redbox to pass time. On the first day, I went to the clinic where they orally administered the mifepristone to me. I went home with 4 misoprostol pills to take within 24-48 hours. They also gave me compazine for nausea and tramadol for pain and ibuprofen and an antibiotic. The next day, at the 23rd hour after taking the mifepristone, I took the tramadol, ibuprofen and compazine so the would be in my system and working by the time the misoprostol kicked in. I also ate a bland breakfast of toast and crackers. At the 24th hour I took the misoprostol pills via the bucco method, two pills on each side of my mouth between my cheeks and gums. I was supposed to wait 30 minutes then swallow what was left of the pills. During this time I got into my super comfy clothes, put down a waterproof mattress pad on my recliner, hooked up the heating pad and put everything else I might need within arms reach. I was getting anxious and nervous by now but decided not to take the anti-anxiety medicine. I noticed the pills seemed to dry up against my inner cheeks so I called the clinic to ask if I should lick them to help with the absorption. The nurse thought that would be a good idea. They started to absorb after I did. By 30 minutes they were barely there but I swallowed what was left with water. Then I waited. And waited... And waited... Nothing. No cramping. No bleeding. No nausea. Had I done something wrong? Were they duds? It was almost four hours after I had swallowed them and they had had no effect whatsoever. I called the clinic back and the nurse said that every woman's body is different and it may take up to 24 hours. So I waited... About 20 minutes after I hung up from the clinic I felt like maybe there was something wet in my maxi. I went to the bathroom and checked and sure enough, blood. Not a horrific amount, but definitely more than a period. Surprisingly I had no cramping or discomfort accompany the bleeding. I sat on the toilet for about 15 minutes and about 4 larger blood clots passed, nothing too big or scary. Still no pain. No cramps. No nausea. I put a fresh maxi in and went back to my recliner of comfort and watched a movie and did some online shopping. About an hour and a half later I went to the bathroom to check again and the bleeding remained consistent, heavy, but painless. No bloodclots this time. I put in a fresh maxi and decided I was fine. I called a client I was supposed to meet that night for a business discussion but had rescheduled the day before. I asked her if she could still meet tonight, she said yes. I lounged around for another 3 hours waiting to leave for the meeting. The bleeding remained the same. And still, no pain or cramping or nausea. At 5pm I got dressed in business attire, I was not sore or in pain so I was fine to do so. I went to to meet my client over dinner and had a quite successful meeting. No complications. This was only about 8 hours after taking the misoprostol and I felt perfectly fine, minus the bleeding. I only had to excuse myself once during the meeting to change my maxi pad. I noticed a blood clot on top of the maxi when I changed it. That was the last clot I saw. I went home and went to bed with a towel under me. I woke up fine and had not bled through the overnight maxi pad. I felt fine. It has been two days and I am still bleeding heavily, though no more clots. I still have not had any cramping, nausea or tenderness. Period cramps are much more severe for me. Overall, I feel great. No fatigue, no discomfort. I hope that this will help elevate some stress and fear for those girls that have to choose a medical abortion. Remember that everyone's body reacts differently. Good luck.

My experience wasn't as traumatic the posts before. I was given the first pill at the clinic and was told to take the antibiotics when I got home. I have a feeling it was the antibiotics she gave me because I felt so nauseous. I took these at 5:33pm so 24 hours from then I was suppose to take the rest of everything. I wasn't sure how my body would react. I usually have severe cramps that make me feel nauseous so I was preparing for the absolute WORST. Which I highly recommend you do too. I also did this all by myself and it was manageable and you'll see why below.
I was running late so at 5:30pm I took 2 anti nausea pills and one 800mg ibuprofen. 30 minutes later I put the 4 pills on each side of my mouth. Also no one mentioned that these pills were bigger than anticipated. So you're lip is going to be full. It also taste like paper. 30 mins I washed down the rest with water, and I immediately felt cramps. No bleeding but the first 30 mins was just like my normal cramps (remember I have severe cramps so these HURT) except I took ibuprofen and it wasn't working. They were contraction like though. I got the chills, my stomach was slightly upset. I was thinking how am I going to manage the next couple hours like this.
30 mins in I felt like my stomach dropped, and the cramps succeeded. I got extremely tired and was about to pass out when I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. I started bleeding but it wasn't anything crazy. More than usually of course. I passed only one clot, however I didn't feel much. was back and forth to the bathroom only because I was worried I was going to bleed through my pads. The bleeding never really increased. I fell asleep for an hour woke up because I had to go to the bathroom. Sorry if this is TMI, but we're all on here to know what each experience was like right? Anyways I had the worst diarrhea ever. I had to return within 30 mins to do it over again. However I would take that over vomiting any day.
I read a lot of girls weren't hungry during this. When my cramps died down I was STARVING. I was only 6 weeks when I did this and I didn't have much of an appetite, but this night I was craving food. Never felt like vomiting after my cramps went away. I was extremely tired, like on the toliet half awake during this. When I finally felt like I was good to go, I popped another ibuprofen drank some water had some goat and passed out. This was around 11.
Considering I was asleep during most of this, it was easier to do on my own. However you never know how your body is going to react so it's nice to have people on stand by. The next morning I woke up and felt spacey all day. Probably the anti- nausea pills.
The only thing that was traumatic was what I was actually doing. It's not easy making this choice but we all have our own reasons. It doesn't make it any easier weather you have support or not. It's nice to have support like my boyfriend did, however he was deployed and I had to do this all alone. I knew it was best for us because he would have missed out on everything during my pregnancy, but that doesn't make it one bit easier. You know what is right and you'll do what you have to do. Good luck.

I had an abortion done in June, and I did the surgical one and thought that was best than having to take a nasty pill and it was over in less than 10 min.. They inject your vaginal walls with a number and before you know it they go in and you might feel normal period cramps.. I bled for 2 weeks and then bled very lightly for another 2 and thus far it's been ok and got the depo shot right after

The decision for us was a difficult one, but we made the correct decision. I'm 26 and in along-term relationship with a wonderful man whom I'll marry, in due time. Several months ago both of my parents were killed and I'm still very much struggling with healing. I've been using the same birth control pills since I was 16, but somehow it failed us seven weeks ago. Although our hearts were over the moon with the thought of a family, both myself and my guy knew mentally at this time we could not parent in the way we wanted to. So together we did research and I decided on the medical abortion, the pill method.

My experience was far different from what I expected it to be. I chose to go alone to the doctor. Since it was the pill, to me it didn't make sense to have my boyfriend anxiously waiting in a waiting room. I knew we were making the correct decision, and I felt very at peace when I arrived.

It was all over just as soon as it began. I was taken to speak to a very kind councilor, just to be certain of my choice. From there I was taken for blood pressure and a small amount of blood work. After a very fast ten-minute wait in a waiting room I was taken back for an ultrasound. The technician  confirmed that I was seven weeks along and as we were talking the doctor came in. He was very polite and even helped me up from the stirrups. He gave me the pill and wished me well. The clinic I went to did things differently from what I had read about. I was able to take the second dose six hours after being given the first pill.

About 45 minutes after the insertion of the second dose I started to experience cramping, nothing worse than period cramps on a bad day. However, I did sneeze a few times and the pressure in my pelvis was very uncomfortable. The pain I kept waiting for never came. I never bothered with the pain killers I was given, I didn't even need ibuprofen. I went about my regular day, grocery shopping and making and having dinner with my boyfriend. The bleeding started as spotting, but never gushed the way I was going to assume it would. I did pass several clots and those felt very weird, but didn't hurt. I'm back to just spotting. Though I'll never go through an experience like this again, it was not traumatic and I don't regret anything.

Just wanted to write this quick post re abortion pill after my experience. I have recently taken the abortion pill and feel that I should write about my experience because there are a lot of scary stories about the pill. My experience was just the opposite. I was scared of what to expect but I really wasnt in any pain at all, I was especially scared of how I would feel after taking the 4 Misoprostol pills but no side effects at all really. I think the only advice and can give anyone is dont worry to much about about the bad experiences posted. Everyone is individual so theres really no way to know how you will feel but staying as relaxed as possible I believe makes a difference. The other advice Id give is to take the Misoprostol at night around bed time. I took the pill around 11pm and pretty much slept through the night. Making the decision to have an abortion wasnt easy but It was the right thing to do for me.

it was very normal for me to be a part of this phase . but it was a tough time tough 

here pros n cons may b find and some clinics for advice . 

I've read on several posts that the blood work required for this consists of a full blood test, but yours seems to only be prick on the finger. I am also going through planned parent hood. Do you know anything regarding this? I tend to have anxiety attacks over blood tests (no idea why, most other procedures don't bother me much). Also, this is my first pregnancy and I am about a month in. No one told me that "morning" sickness actually lasts all day! Imagine my surprise!

Just took my 2nd lot of pills about one and a half hours ago no bleeding jus mild cramping and shivers thought it would of started by now ??? Worried and really anxious

First of all, I am 25 years old and have been in a very strong relationship with my boyfriend for 2 years. We have no children and right now honestly this would not be a good time for us to bring any children into the world. We just couldn't provide the life for it that I know a child deserves, so when we found out I was pregnant, we decided to go with a medical abortion. I was so scared after all of the reviews I read. Fair warning, when you take the second set of pills, the misoprostol, the pain killers they prescribe AREN'T going to be enough. I was fortunate enough to have a 10mg generic flexeril, two 35mg carisprodol, some hash candy, a lot of indica canabis, a really hot heating pad, a couple of games, and movies.  My experience with a medical abortion honestly wasn't too bad, you just need to be preped in the appropriate way. The worst part was the day of waiting at planned parenthood, and the morning before I took the misoprostol. So here's my experience.

Day 1: My boyfriend and I arrived at planned parenthood at 8:30 in the morning (which is the time they told us my appointment was) and went inside to check-in only to be told that our appointment was moved to 10:30 but we did not recieve a call telling us our appointment had been changed. When we arrived back at 10:30 the waiting room was packed with 16 other women as well as the people who were accompanying them. Which led to about 30 people sitting in a small waiting room with very poor ventilation. After waiting a bit, I was called back to get my vitals, and sent back out into the waiting room. After waiting some more they called me back to do my ultrasound to ensure that I was under 9 weeks pregnant and sent me back out into the waiting room again. After waiting around some more they called about 6 women back at a time to explain the procedure and then sent us into our own individual rooms for a counceling session (which literally lasted 30 seconds). By this point it's 12:30pm and this is everything they can do until the doctor arrived to give us the mifepristone. The doctor didn't arrive until 2:00! So everyone was finished and just waiting around for an hour and a half. Once the doctor arrived they called 4 women back at a time to have them sit in another waiting room while they went in to see the doctor one by one to get their mifepristone. This took about 3 minutes and then the doctor had to finish he paperwork for each woman which took about 10 minutes. So literally we're waiting 10-15 minutes for each person. By the time my name was called and I got back to see the doctor it was already 3:30. I went in took my mifepristone and then my boyfriend and I left and went about our day. I felt fine, maybe a little discomfort in my uterus. We went out to dinner and went shopping to prepare for the following day when I would take the four misoprostol pills.

Night 1: I fell asleep around 11pm and woke up around 2:30am very nauseous. I ended up throwing up around 4:30am and fell back asleep. I woke up again at 6:30am and threw up. So if you get nauseous like this I would recommend taking an anti-nausea pill right away. I waited to do so until 10:30am but as soon as I took one I felt much better.

Day 2: We went about our day, we had to still go pick up a heating pad. I wasn't very hungry all day and took a little nap. I woke up around 3pm and forced myself to try and eat a piece of toast since I hadn't eaten all day and I still wasn't hungry. My boyfriend came home and got me to smoke a little bowl with him, which helped improve my appetite and I was able to eat that piece of toast, some applesauce, and a banana. Around 4:45 I took one 35mg carisprodol, one of hydrocodone that they prescribed, and one promethezine that they prescribed. I waited 30 min and then took my misoprostol at 5:15, putting two tabs in each cheek. I turned my heating pad on low right away. I let those disolve for 30 min and then swallowed the rest with some sprite. It took about 30-45 minutes for my cramps to start. As the cramps got more intense the higher I turned up my heating pad. When my cramps started around 6:00 I took the 10mg of generic flexeril. I started bleeding around 6:30 and I never bled horribly, I only ever bled when I sat on the toilet to pass the pregnancy (which I believe happened around 7:45) and the pregnancy tissue multiple times. At 7:15 I took another 1/2 of the hydrocodone. I decided I was hungry and my boyfriend made some some ramen noodles around 8:00 and around 8:30 I took another carisprodol and promethezine. Those were the last meds that I took. My boyfriend and I played skip-bo and watched movies the entire time and the time seemed to pass by pretty quick. I ate hash candy and smoked regularly throughout the entire process as well had the heating pad on high for the entire time. I was dozing on and off around 9:00, my boyfriend made me some tater tots and I was asleep on the couch by 10:00. My cramps were never really horrible, they were only a little bit worse than period cramps, but I was able to keep a smile on my face for the entire process.

Night 2: I moved up to my bed around 12:00am, I woke up a couple of times throughout the night to use the restroom, where I passed more tissue. I also woke up with some cramping but I was easily able to fall back asleep shortly after awakening.

Day 3: I woke up around 9:30am and felt relieved that the process was over. I was groggy for most of the day, but I attribute that to the meds that I took the previous night. My appetite is back to normal and I am moving on from this experience.

It was very physically and emotionally draining, but I assume that is how it feels no matter what procedure you decide to go with. I definitely think that if you have the appropriate medicine and the right support systems, medical abortion is the way to go. You can be in the privacy in your own house with the support of your loved ones taking your mind off of what is going on.

It's definitely not going to be easy no matter what choice you make, but there are ways to make medical abortions not so scary and painful.