Hello, ladies! Last week I ventured
into a new territory with birth control so I thought why not take you along
with me?
(Men, not sure you'll care to read
this one.)
First, I must make a confession.
Because I am the world's best procrastinator, I had been putting off visiting
the lady doctor for quite some time. I know, I'm married, therefore obviously
sexually active, and should have taken care of lady business a while ago, and
I've learned my lesson.
Now, the main reason for my visit
was a pap smear, with the intention of talking about birth control. Not only do
I need something to make sure that Tanner and I do not bring an unplanned
little one into the world (not that there's anything wrong with that, we are
just not ready), but something to regulate my cycle. Since the 7th
grade I have never been regular and it's time I get a handle on this.
After the whole pap smear, which
was cringe worthy but not as bad as I expected, my doctor came in and talked
with me about birth control options. There are 4 basic options; the pill, IUD,
Depo shot, and Nexplanon. I knew right away that I did not want an IUD (too
many horror stories) or the depo shots (a shot every 12 weeks, no thank you) so
basically I had a choice between the pill and Nexplanon. My hang-up with the
pill was that I knew I would probably forget to take it every day and I knew
there was a possibility of weight gain. The doctor gave me a pamphlet about
Nexplanon and said she thought that would be a good option for me. We talked a
little more and I was on my way out. When I checked out, they gave me an
appointment exactly 2 weeks away for my Nexplanon implant.
Nexplanon is a small bar that goes
into your arm, between your shoulder and elbow, that releases hormones which
cause your ovaries not to release eggs. You can leave it in up to 3 years, or
if you decide you want children before then, you can schedule an appointment at
any time to have it removed. I did a lot of research about Nexplanon and it
seemed that the reviews were about 75% positive and 25% negative, so I decided
to go for it. I arrived to the doctor’s office at 8:20am on July 2nd.
After check-in I peed in a cup, had my vitals checked then was put in a room.
My doctor came in and asked me to lay back on the table with my left arm up. I
had two small bug bites in the area where they normally put the implant so she
put it about an inch lower than normal.
I wasn’t super nervous about the
implant but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt a little. The worst part was
the Lidocaine shot they gave me to numb the area. After that, I could feel the
gun in my arm, but there was no sense of pain or anything like that. The whole
process took maybe 2 minutes. The medical assistant in the room put a steri
strip and band-aid on my arm then wrapped gauze around it. The doctor said that
I would probably bruise and be sore for a day or so.
Boy, was she right. By the time I’d
gotten home, I had a huge purple welt wear the implant was. It was little
freaky to look at and if I touched it very gently I could feel the implant in
my arm. By the end of the day my arm was pretty sore but it wasn’t until Friday
that I started cramping. While shopping with my mom and cousin, I started
having small cramps. I’m still having them today, but not as bad or often.
Several reviews I read said they experienced heavy spotting and bleeding for
the first month or so, but I haven’t experienced that, yet. So far, I don’t have anything very
bad to say about the Nexplanon implant. Aside from the cramps and bruising, I
forget it’s there. I’ll keep you all updated!
