About two months ago, I made the decision to have a birth control consultation at my university’s women’s clinic. I didn’t really know what to expect, considering the fact that this was a spur-of-the-moment decision that I just happened to make after my last nutritionist’s appointment. Often times, when young girls decide to go on birth control, everyone automatically assumes that they’re doing it because they want to be carefree and engage in unprotected sex. For me, this was the furthest thing from my mind. I had never had sex before and I can honestly say that I didn't plan on having sex anytime soon. I personally don’t believe that having sex and being a sexual being is bad at all, nor does it make you any less of a person, but I know that rushing into that isn’t something that I would choose for myself. As of now, I have had sex, but when I scheduled this appointment, that definitely wasn't a topic of concern.
Prior to my appointment, I can recall feeling a bit nervous about talking to the doctor about going on birth control. I had specifically chosen a female doctor because I thought that it would help to make this more of a comfortable experience for me, which I later found was certainly the case. This appointment wasn’t even something I had mentioned to my mom, nor my friends, because I didn’t want people to assume that I was doing it for intercourse purposes. In reality, I was just seeking a solution to my increasingly brutal menstrual cycles. While I realize that there are many women out there who choose to just deal with this natural part of life, I believe that if there’s a solution to a problem that you have with your body then you are totally entitled to go for it, without judgement.
When I was first taken back to the nurse’s office to get my height and weight, I was still feeling incredibly anxious. Thoughts were racing through my head about the assumptions that the doctor might make about it or even just my friends who knew what I was planning. There’s absolutely nothing with getting birth control for the intentions of being sexually active, in fact, for those who are planning to be sexually but aren’t ready for child rearing, it’s an awesome solution. That just wasn’t my intention when I made the initial appointment. At 19 years old, I can’t say that I had never thought about sex before, because that would be a lie, but at the time of making this appointment, that wasn’t something that I thought that I was ready for. Luckily, for me, the nurse who completed my intake was very kind and sympathetic to my situation, something that all girls need when going through this process. Aside from going over my medical history, to notify the doctor of any issues that I might have with potential forms of birth control, she asked me about school and we even talked about her children and her preferential choice of birth control. She was no only than her mid-twenties or early-30’s but it was really comforting to see that this is something that older women experience as well.
After my intake with the nurse, it was now time to go back to see the doctor. When I first got to her office, I was ready to turn around and leave. I wasn’t planning on having sex, so did I really need this birth control? I had dealt with menstrual cycles for the last 9 years of my life, so would a few more painful years really be that bad? I’m going to hit menopause soon, right? As soon as she smiled at me and told me to have a seat, which I did, I knew that things would be okay. Throughout the course of the appointment, she educated me on all of the different types of birth control that my insurance would cover free of charge, and why there were certain birth controls that I cannot take. Apparently, if you’re someone who has migraines with aura, which I am, then taking a form of birth control that has estrogen in it greatly increases your chance of stroke, so it’s best to stay away from those. She let me play with the little models of the IUDs that she had in her office, and I got to ask her all of the questions about my body that I could handle. By the end of the appointment, I was feeling really hopeful and excited, and we agreed that two weeks from that day I would get the Skyla IUD, which has minimal amounts of hormones, inserted.She also gave me a few packs of latex free condoms and made me promise that if I was sexually active before my next appointment, I would use them. I definitely wasn’t planning on having sex with anyone at that time, but I appreciated her concern for my sexual well-being.
I did go to the next appointment, but I did not end up getting the IUD inserted. Every experience is completely different and unique from every other, but it was very painful and a little traumatizing for me. I did end up getting the Nexplanon implant in my left arm, which was completely painless. Initially there were some pretty awful side effects of the implant, but now I love it. It has caused me to lose weight, I haven’t had any changes to my skin or hair, and it has definitely made my menstrual cycle less uncomfortable. There are a few things that I wish I could change about it, but it has only been a month so I’m letting it work itself out. I do recommend that any college-age girl who isn’t on birth control talks to your gynecologist to find a form of birth control that works for her because it can do wonders for your period and it's definitely nice to know that you’re protected for when you might decide to become sexually active at any point in time.
