I Was Excited To Get An IUD After The Birth Of My Son — And Then It Got Lost
After the birth of her first child, Heather knew that she didn’t want anymore more children for awhile. So at eight weeks postpartum, the mommy of one made an appointment to have an IUD inserted. Popular with mothers and the childless for relatively low upkeep, the IUD seemed perfect for Heather, as she could keep the device in place for up to 10 years.
But then, her IUD got lost.
The mother tells Mommyish that she had not responded well to most hormonal birth control, particularly with regard to severe mood swings. With her options already narrow, Heather eventually selected a hormone-free copper IUD. She describes the insertion as “slightly painful,” but her pain threshold had recently been tested.
“I had just gone through natural childbirth a few months prior so it was nothing in comparison to birth,” she recalls.
Heather says that she very much enjoyed her IUD from there on out. With the exception of heavier periods, she was happily hormone-free for the next three and a half years. But after that, the mother started to experience very heavy, irregular bleeding every few weeks — a rarity as her periods were quite regular. Heather scheduled an appointment with her OBGYN to determine the cause, never considering that her symptoms were due to her IUD.
But at the appointment, Heather heard what no lady wants to hear from her doctor while in those stirrups: she couldn’t find her IUD. The device was “missing” and the doctor was unable to locate even the string.
Heather then had to make an additional appointment for an ultrasound to hunt down the blasted thing, which turned up in her cervix on its way to her uterus. She made another appointment to have the IUD extracted, an experience that she was willing to categorize as “very painful.”
“I chose to not use an IUD any longer,” she says. “I was told afterward that this is a common occurrence and that I was lucky that it had not migrated into my uterus. In addition, many times when this occurs it punctures the uterus which results in infertility. I was grateful this wasn’t my situation.”
Since her illusive IUD migration, Heather has chosen not to take any additional chances on her health. She and her partner have resigned to use condoms for now, much like 11% of Mommyish readers. She calls her switch to condoms not “ideal,” but is unsure of what avenues remain for her.
“My options are very limited,” says the mother.
(photo: bjmp.org)
