My Implanon Experience: The first few days....

Hey there everyone! I am starting this blog to tell other women about my Implanon experience. Here is some back-story:

 I am 20 years old. I am a sophomore in college and getting a degree in Early Childhood Education. I am also getting married in about 3 months! My fiance and I are Christ-followers and are keeping ourselves pure before the Lord until our wedding night ;) That being said, I was pretty clueless about birth control!

I started researching birth control around September of 2010. I wanted to give my body time to adjust and make sure I found the right one for me. Implanon quickly became my only option for a few reasons. Number one, taking bc pills would result in a baby because I'm far too flighty. I can't even remember to take vitamins for more than a few days! lol

Obviously I needed something long term.

I also can't take estrogen. If I do, I get "optical migraines". Migraines alone are no fun, but migraines + temporary blindness = REALLY NOT FUN. So that knocked out many of my other options.

With all of this in mind, I decided that my best option was Mirena (the IUD). I haven't had children, but I have a close friend without children who was able to get one, so I assumed they would let me get one too. Naive, I know. So I go to my first OBGYN visit and the doctor told me that my uterus was too small for an IUD. I was pretty bummed. 

My doctor then prescribed the Ortho-Evra patch. While this method may work for some people, it was AWFUL for me. I was nauseous every single day, and I was getting optical migraines every other day. This was the point where I discovered the effect that estrogen has on me.  Needless to say, I went back to my doctor to discuss another method.

At that point, I asked her about Implanon. She said that it was a very effective method, but the procedure was invasive. She advised that I try the Depo-Provera shot, which has the same hormones as Implanon, so I could see how it effected me. For the first few days on the shot, I was a moody-hormonal monster, but after a week or two I was back to my normal self. 

While on the shot, my period was a little late. When I did arrive, it was normal, but I continued to spot for about a month. Nothing major, but enough to be slightly annoying.

By the time I was due for my next shot, I had made up my mind that Implanon was the way to go. 

Again, I talked to my doctor and we finally agreed that I could get the implant. So she ordered it for me and I made my appointment to have it inserted. 

Then it was game time!!

I was SO NERVOUS! I jumped every time the door opened! Luckily, I had my incredibly handsome wonderfully supportive fiance went with me. When they called my name, I went back, they took my weight and blood pressure, and I had to sign a consent form saying that I did indeed want the implant.

I was then escorted to a small room with a normal doctor table...thing. You know, the kind with the wax paper :)  I had to give a urine sample (for a pregnancy test). 

When the doctor came in, he asked if I had any questions and let me see a little model of the implant. It was a fake arm and I got to feel what the implant would feel like in my own arm. I'll be honest, it freaked me out a little! ha 

I then laid back on the table and put my arm next to my head in a right-angle position. The doctor cleaned the area and applied iodine. He explained EVERYTHING that he was doing, which I found very very comforting. He gave me a shot to numb my arm, which didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would. After reading so many reviews on Implanon, I was imagining severe pain...or something close! But it was nothing. And that was the worst part! Just a prick of the needle, and a little bit of stinging and the pain was over. After that, I couldn't feel anything except a little pressure when he inserted the implant.

I wasn't watching and I wouldn't recommend it. According to my fiance, watching the doctor actually insert the implant was pretty nasty looking. haha

When it was over, the nurse put a small band-aid thing over the wound and wrapped my arm in some gauze. She told me to keep the gauze on for 24 hours and avoid getting it wet. 

I was expecting my arm to be really sore and bruised. But it really hasn't hurt much at all! It is sore to the touch (obviously) but other than that, nothing. My fiance actually has to remind me to be careful with my arm!

Here is what it looks like on Day 3:

 You can see a little bit of the bruising. I am taking the bandage off tonight.

Because it has the same hormones as the Depo-Provera shot, I was expecting to be pretty moody, but that hasn't happened either. Of course, it has only been 2 days. :)

Pretty much all of my expectations that I had formed from reading the reviews online were shattered. I have had a great experience so far.

I wanted to start this blog so that other women can follow my experience with the birth control. I was inspired by Kim here. You can read her blog as well: www.implanonblog.blogspot.com

I'll keep updating and let you guys know if anything changes!