Warning: the following piece is not suitable for potential employers, ex-classmates, vague acquaintances and delicate people.
I have a gynecologist-appointment today.
This sentence should have scared away any remaining Nosey Parkers
I do really have a gynecologist appointment today. But it’s gonna be the least awkward one I ever had. No undressing, no feet in the braces, no one fiddling down under… Nothing of that at all. Though he (or she, I have not checked, nor do I have preferences this time) will be placing a new contraceptive device.
In my arm.
I assume some partial nudity will be necessary for this procedure, yet no more than I show on a regular basis in da club.
After 12 (!) years of daily Pill (read: 50 mcg of estrogen and 125 mcg of progestagen) intake, I had enough. The hassle, the responsibility, the hormones. Bleh! Also, I’d recently had ‘the talk‘ with MyLove. We both don’t want kids- not within the next 5 years and presumably never. We both think it’s too early for serious (snipping) action, so I looked for a long acting method of contraception.
Keywords: less hormones and no hassle for at least a couple of years. After careful consideration, I ended up with two contraceptives: Implanon and Mirena. I googled, read women’s experiences, talked to friends… But I could not pick. To resolve my dilemma, I consulted my MD. He told me that both are 99.99% effective, both are progestogen-only (Implanon releases 40 mcg/day, Mirena 20 mcg/day)… and then he said something rather un-MD-like: “They are both suitable for you, so just follow your intuition. Choose the method that sounds the best or most comfortable to you.”
And so I did. I knew, I felt resentment against a ‘thing inside my womb’, yet a ‘thing in my arm’ did not sound bad at all. I have (had) my ears, tongue, eyebrow and belly pierced, I have two tattoos – one rather big – so the insertion of (yet another) object into my skin is fine by me. It will be in me, but not inside my body, if you know what I mean. How something small can make a huge psychological difference. I picked Implanon.
I have a gynecologist-appointment today.
update @ 16.00 PM All went well. I have a nice gynecologist. I got local aneasthetic, so I did not feel anything (HUGE hollow needle!!). Now, my upper arm is a bit sore, small black spot and I can feel the Implanon thingy with my fingers – you can’t see it, though.