Getting The IUD: A Liveblog
The backstory: Had Christine not told me about her experience, I probably wouldn’t have ever considered an IUD. After bringing it up with a few acquaintances, I was surprised to learn that a number of women I knew had opted for the IUD … and only one of them had previously given birth. (The Mirena has only recently become an accepted contraceptive method for college-aged women.) Thus, I decided to take advantage of my subsidized health insurance and made an appointment to get the Mirena.
Facts on the IUD: The IUD is most widely used form of birth control worldwide, but barely 2 percent of American women have one, probably because of myths dating back to the Dalkon Shield scandal and because of Americans’ religious views. There are two kinds available in the U.S.: the Paraguard, a copper IUD, and the Mirena, a hormonal one (which is extremely low-dosage compared to other forms of hormonal birth control). Women have varying experiences with the insertion process and aftermath. Readers wrote in to tell me about how the IUD was a blessing for some and a disaster for others.
T- 1 hour to the IUD! Stay tuned …
UPDATE: Uh … psych! They took a cervical culture and did a Pap. Results are in next week, but I’ll be leaving for Germany on Sunday, so looks like the IUD is postponed to late August. This is probably good news for the two white bikinis I just purchased.
