Just checking back in on this. My bleeding was not heavy before I got the IUD. When I was nursing my first child, I could go with pantyliners for all but the first day of my period. However, I bled pretty heavily for about 5 weeks postpartum after my second child, and the IUD was inserted 9 weeks postpartum. I have yet to get a menstrual period, as my exclusively breastfed baby is only 15 weeks old. Supposedly, exclusive breastfeeding is supposed to minimize bleeding in general, but that has not been the case with my second baby.

But as an update, it has calmed down considerably. It was inserted on Dec 30. I am almost ready to go out and buy new panties. I have lost nearly all the baby weight, so I’m due for a clothes-shopping spree anyhow.

I did not choose Mirena because, although they claim it doesn’t interfere with breastfeeding, I don’t entirely believe them. I have a couple of challenges with hormonal birth control, as well. The first time I tried it, I got on the lowest dose available at the time and ended up at the psychiatrist with depression. (Magically, it disappeared two weeks after stopping the pill). Also, I weigh around 100lb, so with medications in general, I tend to need a kiddie dose. Thirdly, I work full-time and pump. So I don’t need any more challenges to my milk supply. My OB/GYN agreed wholeheartedly with me.

HeatherW

By the way, ParaGard is advertised on Baby Center. The ad is something like, “Sick of your birth control”? Because that is the best that they can come up with. Might I suggest, “Because I never want to change diapers again!” or “I’d rather die than have to drive a mini van.” Or, “Yes, we’ve been married ten years and we still have sex every once in a while.”

Indeed, I am aware of how frustrating it is to have to consider medication when breastfeeding. I asked my OB/Gyn to recommend a breastfeeding-friendly primary care practitioner, because I had such difficulty with that after I had my first child. He laughed and said, “Move to California!” Fortunately, my local Walgreen’s pharmacist ALWAYS remembered, and was extremely helpful. He would tell me before I actually filled the scrip that I couldn’t take it.

That scary bent metal thing is the uterine sound, which is what you use to measure the depth of the uterus so you know how far in to place the IUD. And it’s a bit intimidating, too. Our professors told us that you’re more likely to perforate the uterus with the sound than with the IUD itself, which is why they recommended just holding the sound up to the cervical opening and gently gliding it in, without using *any* force or pressure at all, and helping the woman use deep breathing and visualization techniques to relax her cervix and help guide the sound in. It sounds like slow and gentle is the key to the entire thing.

Anyway, I’m glad the IUD is working so well for you! Tell all your friends, so that some more good IUD press can get out there and begin to combat all the heresay. And yeah, it definitely needs a new image…and a new name. Maybe we should just start saying Mirena and copper-T all the time, because at least those names sound a little bit less freaky than IUD, which sounds like a some weird, futuristic alien probe.

(Yes, I did see the tenaculum before it was used because I rifled through all the equipment when they left me to take my pants off. I should stop that. I was a bit more turned off by the long bent stick.)

What the IUD needs is a new image. Perhaps it should be called Petunia-Gard and have some commercial with hippie chicks in it. I got one anyway, but when I think “IUD”, I think “cramping and heavy bleeding”, and the image that comes to mind is Tim Roth in Reservoir Dogs.

One thing to keep in mind for when you are a primary care provider - the manufacturer insists that they be inserted during a menstrual period. Consider that many of your clients will breastfeed, and therefore, won’t get their period for about six months. But as it is nonhormonal, the copper IUD is a great method for the breastfeeding mom. My OB/Gyn happily put mine in 9 weeks postpartum, but he also knew I was breastfeeding. He knew how *well* I breastfed, because I still had milk from my first child when I came in pregnant with my second. What would your criteria be?