"No Pain, No Gain"

Well if that ^ isn't the truth then I don't know what is anymore.

I went to the hospital thirty minutes early today, took an ibuprofen and read a book I started a couple days ago - a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child (my first one!).
Anyhow, I waited and waited and my appointment time came and left...the procedure's only supposed to take up to ten minutes so I was confused why I waited nearly forty-five minutes but anyhow.
Finally it was my turn and I walked into a room with two female nurses and a male doctor waiting to do the procedure.
The doctor clearly explained the point of Essure and it was everything I had read about in English (in case the doctor didn't speak English or very well) and I was prepared.

I had expected some pain relievers beforehand, as I read online that some women got a needle down south so they were numb and couldn't feel anything.
That was not my case.

It was honestly a really cool procedure - I don't dare say "surgery" because no incisions were made and I wasn't knocked out for it.  The nurses strapped my feet into these black Donald Duck-like boots on stirrups and as I was shimmying my butt down closer to the doctor he decided it was prime time for some small talk.
Just mostly chit chat about my children's names and why we went with Finnish names and the nurses spoke with me in Finnish asking what languages they spoke and so on.
They thought A-Man's samples of Finnglish were adorable and then there was a camera placed inside.
It was really slender and tiny - didn't even know he had placed it inside, had it not been for the jumbo flat screen behind his head up on the wall for me to see my insides.
They also flushed my insides with saline water so they could see everything clearly...so afterwards - do have a pad in your underwear because it'll be raining down there for awhile.

Once my Fallopian tubes were found - he showed me the tiny Essure coil and then click click - he inserted it.  He was able to do this all from this tube-like device (trust me - I would've taken photos if I had my phone in my hand - it was that neat!) - so there was no need for jumbo male doctor fingers to go inside.
Is it just me or do I always get doctors with long finger nails or jumbo log-sized fingers?!

That's when the pain started.  Good grief!
I thought and expected some pain of course - but once they were in and the camera removed - I put my underwear and pants on and was ready to pass out from the pain.

Have you ever been in labour before?  Or had serious crohn's pains?  Or severe period pains?
Or maybe you've had migraines that were super nasty and you were nearly blinded by the pain?
On top of all that mushed up together - you were also kinda hungry since you weren't allowed to eat or drink 4-6 hours prior.
That was me.

The doctor inquired how I felt during the procedure and I told him bluntly that it didn't hurt until he put the second coil in and I may as well be in labour right now.
He looked at me trying to hold my tears back and requested some pain relief from the nurse for me.
"Do many women feel like they're having contractions right after this?!  Why is this so ridiculously painful?  And I don't mean emotional pain - this is CONTRACTION pain!" I grunted at him - tears pouring down my face.

It wasn't enough.  They gave me 1.4 grams (plus the 400 grams I had 45 minutes before going in) in painkillers and also a shot of direct pain relief into the back of my hip/arse.
I laid in a recovery room bed - thankfully alone and just sobbed.
Finally the drugs started to kick in enough that I could walk slowly and I went on the bus - since I needed groceries anyway.  The nurses were super nice and even the doctor took a peek in on me lying in bed and they told me I'll have an appointment in August some time to test the tubes and see if they're blocked or not.

I grabbed some Subway and got a bit of groceries that I could carry comfortably and the pain seemed to subside (thank goodness).
While eating my sandwich I saw a very pregnant lady waddle into the mall and was quickly reminded that this pain (should be!) is temporary and the reason for getting Essure - is because I don't want to be pregnant again.
3 is enough and we're more than happy with that.

So - no pain, no gain indeed.
BIMU

*Update: It's the morning after and I'm happy to let you know I'm not feeling any pain at all!

See Ya Later

I think it's quite safe to say we are personally done with having children.
Growing up I envisioned one boy and one girl, as I had grown up, and if you add an extra boy in there-that's what we have.
I'm pretty sure I wrote about this before but I really was surprised about getting pregnant the third time. It was not planned and quite unexpected but we kept the baby and she's a wonderful addition to our family.

I have thought long and hard about what I'm going to write next so I'll just come out with it.
Had I known about V-Man's autism diagnosis-prior to planning our second pregnancy, I probably would've been against having more children. However, we were already expecting during his tests and that's the way things go.

Not that I hate my other two kids or want the V-Man growing up lonely!!
I just see it from the perspective that I and SH could put 100% effort into his PECS, therapy and maybe he'd be better or further along in his development.
He's doing great at the daycare and seems to be getting better at communicating what he wants by dragging us to the item or location, or by bringing the item he wants to us.
He's eating a lot better and trying new foods that we feared would never ever happen up to two years ago!
I'd say our % of trying therapies with him at home is under 50%.

We try to make up for it by taking him places, hiking, swimming everyday in the summer, encouraging him to explore outside (typically fenced in playgrounds or out in the woods) and inside as well with different textures and smells (ie cooking).
Also SH pointed out that siblings can teach a lot of things that therapy and daycare simply couldn't, like: compassion, bullying and defending yourself and social skills.

So based on previous experience with getting pregnant with M-Girl and knowing SH wouldn't go for a vasectomy - we looked at all of our options.

A) A vasectomy had a waiting list in Finland of at least two years. Women seemed to have half the wait time.
B) An IUD is great but needs to be replaced every five years or so.
C) The pill typically works but I do experience pregnancy-like symptoms regularly and often miss my period, despite having been finished breastfeeding four months ago.

I'm super fertile and I know it. The last thing we want is to bring another child into our life and not have any sanity left at all. Or patience for the three kids we have. Or end up hating each other and getting a divorce. Or not being able to split our attention evenly among each child.
And if a fourth child (or more) had "something" like the V-Man? I just don't think we could handle it.

So what did I decide on?
Essure.

I had a discussion with my doctor and told her quite firmly that three is more than enough for us. They're now at the age they are fighting and not quite grasping the idea of how sharing works - so yeah - 3 is enough!
I was told this is a permanent procedure and is quite effective. After the coils are inserted into your Fallopian tubes, there is a three months waiting period to ensure your tubes have grown over them and some dye is inserted to see if it gets past the (should be) blocked tubes. If it doesn't leak past - awesome it works and you no longer require birth control like condoms or pills.
Of course nothing is 100%.
I am scheduled to have this procedure done tomorrow around lunch time and I hope all goes well.
I'm reading reviews and some women have had awesome experiences, while others have not.
Some have even gotten pregnant after having the procedure done and having had the blocked tube test done too!
Holy nerve wrecking but trying to be positive! :)

I haven't shared this decision with many people - so please don't be offended if you're reading this for the first time!
Some friends have told me they'd rather their husband/boyfriend to do it and that they don't like the idea of having that part of their womanhood removed or not in use.
However, I have a husband with a condition that any amount of stress can cause flare ups and he'd be in more pain than he can tolerate and I can't afford to have him sick at home and in a lot of pain (read: mostly useless with helping me with the kids!).
And it should be noted it's not that he wouldn't get it done!  Just those stress flare ups are too much.
I also don't feel (and won't) less womanly by doing this.  Why should I?
I've been fortunate enough to have three children and I'm done.  I'd do it one more time as a surrogacy for my closest friend here - but seeing as that's illegal in Finland - I am not able to.

Off to watch Daredevil on Netflix!
BIMU

PS: Daredevil is pretty good! SH wasn't a fan of the Ben Affleck movie - but so far so good.