Mifepristone..."The Abortion Pill": The Facts

I am 19 years old and like many 19 year olds did NOT plan to get pregnant it was just a mistake that happened.when I realized my period was about 5 days late I began to panic and rushed to the drug store and bought about 15 preganacy tests all of which came back positive I was in complete shock. when I told my boyfriend I was pregnant we both didn't know what to do. we thought about all of our options and aborting seemed like the only way out since we were both in school (yes I know that is so not even close to a good excuse for doing what we did) so we decided to abort medically. we went to a nearby clinic where we both waited for an excruciating 4 hours. I found out I was 3 weeks pregant and was given the first pill of the two step process and then given the 4 pills to take the next day at home. I cried the entire time I was in the clinic I knew what I was doing was so wrong I just felt like there was no other way. the next day I dissolved the pills in my mouth around 6pm and by 6:30 I had intense cramping. I have a fairly high pain tolerance. I was given a prescription for vicoden however I didn't get it filled. I went through the next 12 hours of the medical abortion with out any pain medication. the cramping was much more intense than any regular period. however they tell you at the clinic that its just like a bad period..liars. anyway by 7:30 that night I had passed a large clot which I assumed was the pregnancy because it was the only clot of reasonable size I had the entire night. the next day when I woke up I had some cramping but nothing compared to the night before. the following week I had continued cramping and bleeding but nothing that couldn't be handled. I went for my follow up exam 2 weeks after the abortion to see if it was successful,it was. today it has been 3 weeks and 3 days since my abortion and I have minimum bleeding just spotting and absolutely no cramping. and a lifetime of regret. my boyfriend and I told ourselves that we would not reget and try to forget our decision but unfortunately it still and always will be there on our conscience. taking the pill was scary and painful but it was an effective ''way out'' for me and my boyfriend.

Hi everyone.

I came across this website while searching for information regarding what periods are like after a medical abortions. I have gone into a lot of detail below, but it is my story and I like that I can share it. Maybe it will help someone and liberate me.

I have always had a fascination for the human body and am also very organised and decisive person. So, when my period didn't come on its due date, I already suspected I was pregnant. My breasts had been massively sore (more so than normal PMS) and I had been feeling hot and tired.
6 home pregnancy tests later confirmed I was likely pregnant. (Some were negative, some positive.)
I had been doing some research prior to this when my period had been late another time and (won't go into this too much as it quite controversial) but there are other ways of termination that are more natural. They are not medically discussed and there is not a lot of information about them, but there are some things that can be tried. One of the techniques used is taking massive doses of a particular vitamin. Please ladies, don't go down this track - continue reading. Be aware that I spent many hours ensuring that taking the high dosage of this vitamin would not impact my own health negatively.

Now, the research I had read advised that if you decided to go down this track that there was no turning back. Even if you did not miscarry, you still needed to follow up with an abortion due to the damage the vitamin can do on the foetus.
So, I took massive doses of this vitamin, waking myself every couple of hours over a 4 day period. It didn't work. I was still pregnant afterwards. I was a smoker at the time, and thinking my awesome 'natural' idea would work, had continued to drink and smoke throughout those few days.
My boyfriend advised he would stick by me whatever I chose, but ultimately, it was my choice. I researched all about adoption, medical and surgical abortions. I felt firstly, that due to my stupidity with the natural miscarriage methods - that bringing a child into the world, even for adoption would not be fair. I believe in God (doesn't make me perfect, I am still a sinner), and believe that an innocent baby will go to heaven. So, I figured that heaven has got to be better than being deformed. The other risk for adoption for me was the possibility of me changing my mind and keeping the child, and thus hurting the parents I might have picked, along with not being able to provide a child with the right life. The other issue was that last year I was raped by someone I loved. So mentally, I did not feel I was in the right place to also care for a child. Right. So, with the overdosing of vitamins, knowing my own weakness with wanting children, the smoking, the drinking, heaven, and mental health I made the decision to abort.

Then I had to decide whether I wanted a medical or surgical abortion. I researched this the most as there were horror stories out there for both procedures. I ended up deciding on the medical abortion for the following reasons. It meant I wasn't going to have a vacuum cleaner shoved up my whatsee and my poor determined baby sucked out down a tube. It meant that I would be at home when I passed the baby, and able to grieve without nurses and doctors around. I also wanted to get it done before 7 weeks, which is when the baby's heart has formed and brain is forming.

Just a side note to let you know something. While the nurses and doctors at the clinics will tell you that your baby can't feel anything at 10, 11, 12 13 etc weeks - what else do you think they are going to say? “Yes, your baby will feel this and it will hurt it a lot”? No. Of course they are not going to say that. So, I would recommend you are not in denial about what your baby can feel. There are plenty of websites that have factual evidence about what is formed at what week. They call it an embryo, but it is life. A life that, at 6 weeks has a heartbeat. At 7, has a brain forming. At 8 weeks your baby has eyelids, ears, and webbed fingers and toes. Yep its still tiny, but that doesn't mean it isn't forming. 9 weeks you can hear the heart on ultra sound, and the baby is starting to move. It has a couple of organs and has started to develop its genitals. 10 weeks. Fingers and toes are there and skeleton and spinal cord are developing. Baby is now called a "foetus". 11 weeks. Finger and toenail beds have started to grow, and there is increased movement. 12 weeks. Face is starting to look like a face, ears and eyes all in the right place - just tiny. Baby is now able to swallow and toe and fingernails are forming. Size of a little finger. I'll skip to 15 weeks as otherwise I’ll be here forever. Baby is able to sense light. As in squeezes eyes when light is shined through belly. Eyebrows and eyelashes are formed. Baby may be felt kicking (only just), makes sucking movements and sometimes hiccups when it swallows too much fluid.
So, my point of the above is not to rub it in, but to educate those who think it’s just a piece of tissue till 20 weeks+.

So, getting back to my story. I decided that regardless of the pain (yep was well aware that it was likely to hurt) I decided on the medical abortion. In New Zealand it is free and the following are details about the procedure.
After the confirmation at doctors, I was scheduled for an ultrasound which confirmed that a sac was present in my womb so yep, was definitely pregnant. I was then scheduled an appointment with a psychologist at the City's main hospital. The woman who I saw was an absolute idiot and knew far less about the procedure than I did. I asked her about the size of the foetus at 6 weeks and she ummed and ahhed and finally found a book. (I already knew how big it was but wanted to see what she would say..) She went through the usual questions to ensure that I had thought through the decision (pfft) and that I had not been pushed into it by anyone. So after she ummed and ahhed to my unwavering answers I was finally sent home and advised to come back in the following Monday for the procedure.
I wrote some poetry on the weekend and prayed a lot for the little thing inside me. I prayed for forgiveness for what I was about to do.
On the Monday I had an appointment with two doctors who were able to answer the questions I had relating to infection and post care. After they both signed off that it was in my "mental interests" to have an abortion I was escorted to a room with a lovely woman who gave me 1 pill to take in her presence. I was crying hard and she was very sweet. This pill was the Misoprostol which stops the baby 'forming' anymore. In un-PC terms - it kills it. Had minimal cramping with this but nothing that warranted pain killers. The following day I went in for the Mifepristone.
I waited in the room with approx 5 other women, each with equally anxious eyes.
I went into a room with a nurse who gave me 2 pandol to take along with 4 medium sized pills to be placed in my mouth - above my top lip. This is the new way (rather than vaginally) due to the drug being absorbed faster into the blood system (supposedly) and easier to ensure the whole lot is dissolved.
I squeezed the pills into my mouth and waited with my boyfriend for things to start. It must have been about 12pm. Within an hour (the pills had dissolved after about half an hour) I started cramping. But, it was bearable and I thought to myself, this isn't too painful.
Within the next half an hour I had thrown up 4 or 5 times and was lying on the floor in the bathroom in a foetal position screaming in agony. Literally screaming. I was crying so hard all the while throwing up nasty green bile (I hadn't eaten). I went into an almost trance. The pain was so great I almost passed out and struggle to remember what actually happened. My boyfriend filled in bits I was missing.
Now, I have a high pain threshold. I pierced my own ears (up the top) and belly button when I was 16, have dug gravel out numerous previous knee wounds, opened up my leg on an escalator and watched it get stitched without anaesthetic. So, I can quite comfortably say I am usually pretty good with pain. THIS WAS THE WORST PAIN OF MY WHOLE LIFE. NOTHING compared. Nothing even came close. Tattoos were like a feather compared to this. The nurse kept coming back in over and over while I screamed for something stronger. She ended up eventually getting 'authorisation" to give me a Patheden injection. After about 5 mins I was spacey, had stopped vomiting and felt like a person again. But get this. I was STILL hurting. Was manageable though. Even a massive injection in the butt didn't stop the pain.
I had been lying on the bed and felt movement - like when you know you need to change a tampon? so went to the loo and passed tissue into the cardboard bowl that was placed in the toilet. I suspected it was the foetus so the nurse washed it off and brought it back to me. It was about the size of an old 50c coin. It was a pale yellow colour and had the texture of a sponge and looked like, well lots of wet tissues together? And on one side of the circle was a little black tiny bean shape. My poor little baby.

I went home and passed the placenta in the shower so added that to the pregnancy tissue and froze it. (It is still tissue and so will decompose unless frozen.) Later in the week we buried it in a little treasure chest. I bled for another week or so, not heavily and with some pain but not unmanageable.

I used pads for the first time (YUCK) as per doctors orders, and researched why. When we uses tampons, we risk getting TSS etc due to cleanliness. There is always a risk that some bacteria could get on the tampon then we plug it into a nice warm moist environment and leave it for a few hours. After an abortion our uterus is wounded. It has had a placenta ripped off the walls and is heavily bleeding from chemicals, so it is highly susceptible to infection. Now, although the chance of infection is very low, the conditions are favourable, so as far as I was concerned it was not worth the risk no matter how gross pads are.

It’s now 4 months later and since then I have had 5 periods - with more pain than I pre-abortion. It’s been 4 months, but I still do not regret my choice. I thought long and hard and researched every viable option and made an informed decision from what I found. I do not however beat around the bush when it comes to what I did. I know that I killed a baby. It was my choice to end that life. It may have been scientifically been a group of replicating cells, but it had the POTENTIAL to be a little girl or boy. I took that potential away. That is why I call it a baby. To me it was not a foetus or embryo or tissue. It was a baby (in the making). And I ended that life. And I will live with that for the rest of my life. But I knew that from the start. And I accept that it was the right choice at that time, so I cannot beat myself up as there is nothing that can be done or changed. The hardest question I ask is whether I would do the same. Although I don't regret it, I am still working through whether I would change it if I could go back. Whether regardless of my financial state or that baby's possible deformities, that I should have taken responsibility for having sex when I was not ready to be a mother.
I am 23 and long to be a mother now. I understand part of that is wanting to replace the child I lost but it has also made me appreciate the value of life, and its preciousness.

A post above says they suspect some of these other posts as fake. Just because someone can't spell doesn't mean their stories are fake. I manage people and I have seen some terribly spelt emails. Yes, it may be from people overseas but from what I have researched, the dosages are the same worldwide, however EVERY woman is different. I had massive amounts of pain, and yes, I am real and can spell. My heart goes out to women who are scared, frightened and unsure. The best advice I can give is be totally sure about your decision. Investigate all options and don't be in denial about anything. Be prepared for pain - both physical and emotional, and if you don't think of it as a baby, then lucky you, but if you do - don't shy away from that. And, as far as I am concerned, these babies go to heaven. So, thank god for God.

I hope my baby will forgive me one day. And that I will forgive myself. But I chose this, and I accept that.

I found out last Sunday that I was 4 weeks pregnant. I talked to my boyfriend and we both decided that it would be best to have an abortion. I chose the medical abortion since it was so early in the pregnancy. I went that Friday and they gave me the pill in the office, 4 pills to take home. 24 hours later I took the 4 pills (2 in each cheek). I have to say that it took about an hour for me to even feel cramping. I did have diarrhea soon after I took the 4 pills. I started bleeding a few hours after, but not heavy at all. It's the third day of me taking everything. I have been bleeding but I wouldnt say heavy, just constant. There has been little tissue and tiny clots. I guess I'm just wanting to know if anyone else has taken the pills this early within the pregnancy? If so, how did it effect you?

hey,
I did it when I was in an engg college studying in 2003. I never thought it was an abortion and that it was just a medical procedure to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Both me and my boyfriend thought of going ahead with this because we were both studying and have no financial means and cannot
possibly dreamed of having a baby. I was 22 at that time.

I was only in the 20th-30th days of conception that time. I am very sensitive and can feel any slight changes taking place in my body which makes me visit the doctor even before I missed my period. And I had non whatsoever pains or problems at all and since I was very early, I could only see some blood like clots ( like menses) and nothing at all.
I took this decision and still support it because it is always better to terminate an unwanted pregnancy then the child to be born and have a life not being happy and feeling unwanted and having a hard life.

I even did not feel any regret because I seriously thought it was for the best of everybody--my parents, me and my bf and the unborn too. I did not not even cry over that. Somehow I am a very emotional girl and can cry very easily but this decision i took very calmly which is very surprising now that i thought of it.

I am 28 now and still not married now. I don know but I don't feel any remorse and seeing all this people saying they felt bad, I am wondering why don't I feel any remorse?

Of course, I would have done anything not to get pregnant that time. I know aged 22 seems like matured person but I was just like a teenager that time with whatever no thoughts of taking charge of my life and no thoughts of future.

I have tried to search the net for any long term effects and couldn't find one and if anybody have done it more than once, what are the effects for future babies?
I really want to have babies later and I know I will be a very good loving mother too.

Thanks!

Hello,

I read one story.. see above, given the phrasing, it seems like she is english which is quite interesting given the fact, I have been on some of these "support" sites and find the stories that turn out in a good way, well.. nothing IS GOOD about vomiting and bleeding. I meant that the abortion came out to be complete. A lot of these woman who do not want to remain anonymous are from Europe. Could it be that the "magnitude or strength" is greater than the ones here in the states? I am so terrified right now guys. I go in tomorrow to take the pill. These stories are scaring the shit out of me.. I am gravitating to the ones that are "good outcomes"

Anyway, I have two beautiful daughters (5 and 23 months). My hubby is incredibly supportive. I am a musician and after many LONG years, I have finally gotten back to my old self. dropped ALL my baby weight, actually, I am more fit than I have been since I was 25. I am down to my pre baby weight and then some.. My career is finally taking off again, We stand to make some very good money this year because we have been so VERY BROKE and so I feel this year was the year that we were going to get back on our feet. I am almost 40, I have had 2 HORRIFIC C sections (which by the way, I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy). I almost died the second time because they couldn't stop my uterus from contracting. I began to notice my breathing was heavy and SLOW, I told my husband this while literally looking at my body part down below where the OB had just suctioned my daughters head out of me. All I know is that they gave me "special K".. yes, no LIE.. it's a RAVE drug.. an animal tranquilizer which made me TRIP MY BRAINS OUT.. My hubby turned into Alice and Wonderland and then starting growing pink helmets on his head. No, I have NEVER taken acid in my life but I can imagine that this what might be a "good trip".. to me, it was the most TERRIFYING and out of control feeling I have ever felt. I almost felt like this might be the point where I go INSANE. Why, you ask... They gave this to me to put me out because I was so overwhelmed and the fact, that I started to decline in my breathing was more than I could handle.. WHAT THEY DIDN'T do was to give me VERSED which was to help so I wouldn't remember my experience.. BUT I DID...like it was yesterday. I CANNOT relive that moment again, nor do I want to experience the physical pain of another c section. Believe me, I FOUGHT tooth and nail to have a natural birth with my second, in fact, I had seen the "business of born" by Rickie Lake.. PLEASE.. SEE THIS MOVIE.. It will change your life and the way you see your body.. Anyway, let's get to the point of my story. My husband and I have not been in a good place for a very long time.. struggling financially, emotionally and never have time to spend with each other anymore so we both decided to go see our individual therapists.. things seem like they are getting a little better but we are still NOT in the place where we want to be.. It was one night of "WHAM BAM THANK YOU MAM".. if you get my drift.. 3 AM in the morning. kinda like going to the bathroom.. mechanical and for me, I should have been a blow up doll. I know he was trying to " be with me" but I SHOULD HAVE NOT HAD SEX. I didn't want it, I had a lot of resentment and anger and I am KICKING myself for giving in. At the time, I thought it would help. we didn't use any protection just "the method".. I thought I had just finished my period and when he went to work the next day, I woke up in a PANIC checked my menstrual calendar and freaked out when I discovered it has been two weeks to the day. The WORST time to have sex. I didn't really notice anything until a week ago I was constipated and eating everything in sight. We have had sex before and used the "pull out thing" a number of times.. I always get my period. I am not a lush but I enjoy cocktails or wine every night.. my ritual (2 drinks at the most), I take adderall for my adult ADD *which yes,, I have been diagnosed all my life* like I said, I am almost 40.. I am under a lot of stress... I know HOW you get pregnant DUH, it's just that I can't believe with all that I do and what I put in my body, I still got pregnant. This will be my FIFTH time with my husband..I have also had 2 miscarriages before I had my first and then right after she was born.. The thing was, I actually WANTED another baby then, right now, just CAN'T and I feel it in the core of my soul!
I am so SCARED to do this tomorrow.. can anyone give me GOOD SOUND ADVICE! I have told my husband it's his turn.. He is getting a vasectomy and I will not TOUCH him until he does.. I am going like a NUN bout this.. I can actually look at my husband and get knocked up.. I no longer will be self sabotaging and careless.. It's NOT WORTH IT!!!!

Thanks

I WAS HORRIFIED TO GET THE PILL AFTER READING ALL THE BALONEY ON THIS WEBSITE. THE ADMINISTRATORS OF THIS SITE SHOULD REALLY TAKE ALL THESE AWFUL STORIES DOWN. AFTER TAKING THE PILL MYSELF I DON'T SEE HOW ANY OF THIS COULD BE TRUE. I WENT TO THE DOCTOR AND TOOK MY FIRST PILL ON FRIDAY. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENED. THEN YESTERDAY I PUT THE FOUR PILLS IN MY CHEEKS, I IMMEDIATELY FELT A TINGLING SENSATION. ABOUT 30 MINUTES LATER THE DIARRHEA STARTED, I WENT TO THE BATHROOM ABOUT 5 TIMES. I FELT CLOTS PASSING (i chose not to look at them) AFTER ABOUT 3 HOURS THE DIARRHEA AND HEAVY BLEEDING STOPPED. AND I WAS WEEK. IT WAS MOSTLY TIRING AS I SLEPT IN BETWEEN MY TRIPS TO THE BATHROOM. UNLIKE ALL THE STORIES ON HERE I FELT NO PAIN, HARDLY ANY CRAMPS. JUST TINGLING. TODAY I FEEL REALLY DRAINED. I HAVE HAD THE SURGICAL PROCEDURE AS WELL AND IF I EVER HAD TO CHOOSE I'D CHOOSE THE PILL.