Before I had my son, IUDs were just an unknown form of birth control in one of my sorority's songs from college. Yes, we had a song about birth control, drinking, and boys. Would you expect any less? But after my son's birth in 2009, I went through a dark period. I was medicated for postpartum depression and was treated by both a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist. When it was time for me to go back on birth control, I decided to talk to my doctor about all of my options. I had tried a few different brands of the pill and even the patch before but I was looking for something that wouldn't make my already hormonally imbalanced body even worse. My doctor recommended ParaGuard. Like all responsible physicians, my doctor gave me all the positive and negative sides of using ParaGuard. And then like most patients, I made a decision, had the IUD inserted, and then obsessed about checking the strings, making sure it didn't pierce through my uterine wall or fall out, and that it wasn't poking my husband when we had sex. I know, it's in my uterus and can't poke him but I was paranoid.
Anyway, now that I've had my IUD for over a year, I am starting to wonder why I didn't get one sooner. I don't have to remember whether or not I took my pill, changed my patch on the right day, or pray to God that I don't get pregnant when I did forget. I've also started to lose the weight I gained during my depressed period. I gained weight when I went on the pill 13 years ago and I'm hoping that some of that will come off as well.
I'm starting to wonder if maybe IUDs could be the answer to our teen pregnancy epidemic. Yes, they are expensive to have inserted but I'm sure there is some anti teen pregnancy group or government agency who is willing to raise funding for helping to pay for it. It would definitely be an answer to the "too lazy or too irresponsible to remember my pill" excuse that some teens give.
For a recent article by NPR on IUDs click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment