Submitted by: Brittny

I found out I was pregnant two weeks before this past Christmas. I saw it coming and already knew before I took the test. I wasn’t surprised, even though it took a while for reality to settle in. I knew that if I ever got pregnant before I finished school, I would get an abortion.

It took me a few days to tell my boyfriend who kind of already knew I was pregnant as well, considering I had already told him I was late on my period before even taking the test. He and I had a long talk about it, and we both agreed it was not the right time to raise a child together. My boyfriend already has a 4 year old with his ex. I know it’s “my body, my choice,” but I did have to take my boyfriend into consideration when making my decision. He told me that he supported whatever decision I made, but still have me his opinion. He is an AMAZING father to his 4 year old and I wanted to make sure that if we brought another baby into this world that it was the right time for BOTH of us. I didn’t want us both to struggle raising a baby if we didn’t have to.

My sister was the first person I told, even before my boyfriend. Then I told my mother. I am 25 and my boyfriend is almost 33. If we wanted to have a baby right now, we could. But we would struggle. So deciding to terminate was our decision and when I told my mother and sister, they seemed to only support that decision. Which, of course, only made me push them further away during this process.

Before I found out I was pregnant, I already had an appointment set up with a brand new gynecologist that my sister recommended. His office was about an hour and a half away, in the city, but the travel was well worth it. My sister and boyfriend came with me to my appointment and he gave me all my options and talked to my privately about my decision to terminate. He did not judge. His job is literally to keep babies alive and healthy, but I was so happy he was willing to do the procedure for me.

My surgical abortion was yesterday, January 7th. My boyfriend took me. It was at the woman’s hospital across the street from my gynecologist’s office. We had to get there 2 hours early (we got there at 10:45am and the appointment was scheduled to be at 12:45). I was brought into a room, changed into a gown, and my nurse asked me a lot of screening questions. She also took my blood and started my IV. Then I met my gynecologist’s resident who was also incredibly nice and gave me the rundown on any possible complications of the procedure, which typically do not happen.

I had a gynecologist near my hometown from when I was 16 up until I was 24. She wasn’t much help with any reproductive problems I ever had and didn’t take the extra mile to go above and beyond, which is why I recently changed to a new gyno which I’m SO incredibly thankful for. When my new gynecologist gave me an exam at our first visit, he told me I had a retroverted uterus, meaning the anatomy is a bit different than normal and it’s positioned posteriorly. With this information, it helped them during my surgical abortion. If they didn’t know I had a retroverted uterus, they could have perforated it and therefore caused a complication. So if any ladies are thinking of going to a clinic or planned parenthood, PLEASE get the proper exam beforehand. Those kind of clinic may already do one, but I’m not entirely sure.

After I signed some consent forms, I met my anesthesiologist who gave me 2 Tylenol before my procedure (it’s part of her own protocol). After that, I waited for about 2 hours. I was so terrified as the minutes went by. I was also STARVING cause I couldn’t eat anything from midnight the night before up until after my procedure.

Eventually, my gynecologist came in and gave me further instructions. He told me about the meds I’ll need for afterwards. He told me I wasn’t going to feel anything because of all the meds and because I was going to be asleep. Then 2 people came in and escorted me into the operating room. Before entering, they gave me a medication through my IV, but in that moment I felt super light headed that I have no idea what they gave me and couldn’t even pay attention to what they were saying. I was so nervous and felt like I was going to pass out. Before entering the room, they dressed me in head gear to make sure all my hair was covered. I went in the room and my whole body went numb. They asked for my full name and birthdate, and I instantly started crying. Everyone was so patient with me and was so good at comforting me. There were a good amount of people in the room. They helped me move from my bed to the operating bed, and that was the last thing I remember. I went into a deep sleep with no recollection of anything and then someone said “Brittny” and woke me up. I had no idea what happened.

They brought me into my post-Op room to recover and they let me eat and drink. They had told my boyfriend in the waiting room that my procedure took a little longer because of how my uterus is positioned, but there were no complications. He came into my room and I was on SO many drugs I had no idea that the procedure even happened. The nurses told my boyfriend while I was in the procedure that I might have a bit of amnesia after cause of all the meds, and I definitely did. He said I kept asking him if the procedure was over and asking where I was, but it quickly wore off. I was allowed to leave about an hour later. They sent me home with some prescriptions, hot pads, and pads to put in my underwear. No tampons or sex for 2 weeks.

I was in a lot of pain last night (and my boyfriend, his 4 year old, and I all share a bed so it definitely wasn’t a very comfortable night of sleep,) but I plan to sleep more today and relax. I wasn’t as emotional afterwards as I thought I’d be either. I’m happy I had my boyfriend there to help me and support me throughout this process. I’m lucky that I had such a good team of doctors to help me through this process as well. I encourage everyone to do the surgical procedure rather than the abortion pill. I’m so lucky that, as a woman, I had these resources to help me choose what I wanted to do with my body.