Let me preface this by saying that everyone has a different experience and that this article is simply me telling you about my own. This is not to say you will experience the exact same thing as me.

I am a 19 year old college freshman in a very steady, long, faithful relationship. I was started on the pill when I was a sophomore in high school to help with my intense period cramps and bleeding and my acne and it worked amazingly. However, since coming to college, I have not been good at all at taking the pill so my periods would often become irregular or I would become sick from skipping pills and my hormones were super off. So I stopped taking the pills and started talking to my doctor about an IUD.

I decided I wanted the Mirena IUD because many people stop getting their periods while on it and that sounded great to me. I liked having birth control containing the hormones to help my body stay closer to what it was used to by now (and a birth control that lasts for up to 5 years? HELL YEAH). Leading up to getting it inserted, I was insanely nervous. I had never had a PAP Smear before and I was nervous about getting an exam and I already googled people's reactions; everyone said it was the worst pain of their lives.

Going into my insertion appointment, I was incredibly nervous but I had an idea of what to expect. I knew how the procedure would go and my doctor talked me through and talked to me during and told me everything she was doing. And honestly, it did hurt and it was really uncomfortable. I mean, they are putting something into your uterus. For me, it felt like a very heavy cramp and I could definitely tell it was in my uterus. It wasn't a pain that made me scream or anything, rather just something that made me grit my teeth together and make fists with my hands, but I was used to that from my really awful period cramps before birth control anyways. It was definitely an uncomfortable feeling for me, but it was over in about five minutes. I've sat through getting a giant tattoo for four hours and gotten lots of piercings so I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but getting something put in your uterus was a completely different feeling.

The real pain didn't come until after. The rest of the day those same heavy and strong cramps kept coming back and it was like I had the worst stomach flu of my life. I felt nauseated and it was a steady and constant pain that only dimmed when I got up and moved around. I exercised for a bit and ate a lot of food and that actually helped, along with the pain killers (I highly recommend taking ibuprofen before and after your appointment). It was definitely a very hard day but the cramps got less and less as the day went on and the next day, I had a few small cramps through out my day and now on my third day, I don't feel any cramps at all! I was intimate with my boyfriend soon after getting it put in and he said he could feel the strings but they didn't hurt or bother him.

While the procedure itself and the rest of that day were pretty painful, I'm happy that I got it. I don't have to worry about taking a daily pill and this will last me up to five years! I haven't had any weird side effects and it really eases my anxieties about getting pregnant in college because it's even more effective than the pill. In my opinion, it was completely worth it and I love it! If any of you women out there want a birth control that's low maintenance and very effective, I would recommend talking to your doctor about getting an IUD.