An Ode to The Uterus

I.

Will.

End.

You.

Cramps and the Skyla IUD 

To all of the women out there that suffer from cramps on a monthly basis, I am sorry.  For the universe to have cursed you wonderful individuals with what seems like a tiger fit inside your body each month is beyond me. Last night I had my first tumble with my uterus singing the demonic hymns of its people.  After recently making a switch from normal pill birth control to Bayer's Skyla IUD, I've experienced minor cramping each month.  On pill BC, I had no issues. It was a simple, summer breeze each month, as long as I remembered to take the pill. But that's the reason I switched. And now... I really want to switch back. 

For someone thinking about an IUD, here is how mine has gone: implantation hurt like a bitch, no periods, minimal spotting, but my uterus has decided it wants to come unglued each month to murder the organs that are within any proximity to it.  At this point, I will not be getting another and I'm dreading having this one taken out. If next month I'm lying in bed, crying because I don't want to move and Icy Hot is my old friend, then I will be getting it removed (as scary of a thought as that is.) 

Information you're probably looking for: 

• I did not gain any weight after Skyla was implanted.
• My appetite did not change.
• The implantation was difficult. It hurt pretty badly, but it was over quite quickly. My doctor told me I'd be able to do it on a  lunch break, but that was not the case.  I was very faint and extremely lightheaded for the rest of the day. 
• The spotting was not a lot, surprisingly. Small pads were enough to handle it. 
• I haven't had a true period since I got it put in 5 months ago. 
• The cramping I've started to experience after getting off of birth control is pretty much unbearable. But I had never experienced cramps before or during birth control. 
• I have not experienced any cysts on my ovaries. I had one rupture when I was younger, so I would know if I did have one or not!
• No PID or life-threatening infections. 

Skyla IUD image sourced from Bayer Press Release 

Some Women Really Don't Want Babies

This brings me to an issue I was pondering while trying to sooth the beast that is my uterus. If by the time you're in a respectable place in your life (and that's up to the discretion of the individual) and you KNOW for a fact that you do not want children, why can other more permanent options of birth control not be undergone?  You can ask my mom. I've been asking why I'm not able to get my "tubes tied" since the age of 16. Babies were just never on my bucket list. 

And for some reason, this concept just seems very... unfamiliar or unnatural to some people. Just because I do not want to squeeze an alien spawn that has sucked my life force for the past 10 months out of one of the smallest openings on my body, and then care for it for another 18 - 25 years (depending on how it.. ya know.. grows) doesn't mean that I'm a bad person. It's my prerogative.  If I want to be sterilized, then I should be able to be. That might be a little extreme, but if a woman knows, deep down, that she will never want children, then why should she be unable to undergo a surgery in order to prevent that. 

I know these surgeries are dangerous and typically done when there is a large medical need.  Personally, I think children are a large medical need, and not wanting to produce one is, as well.  But doctors probably don't see it that same way. 

Not only that, but maily LEAVE WOMEN ALONE. If they do not want children and they are choosing to live a different life, LEAVE THEM ALONE. Don't tell them things like "You'll want one when you're older" or "it's a woman's right to have a child." That's nice, it's also my right to not have a child.  I have my own opinions and I have my own rights and just because they are the opposite of the status quo, doesn't mean they are wrong. It simply means I and other women alike have chosen a different life path than you and deserve the same sort of respect given to them as they give to you. Sure, I don't understand children and the want to have them, but I don't down people for having them. If another individual wants to be a mother/father, then that is their choice and they are going to make it. 

Stop telling me I'll regret it when I'm older. Just like my tattoos, I will regret nothing I have or have not done.  I am no feminist. People have very terrible/negative association with that word.  I'm a person who wants equality for every being on the planet. In every way possible. Not just for equal pay, but equal rights in every single thing that an individual chooses to do.

A Side Note on He For She 

This post is sort of women-empowerment in my sense of the word.  So there is a place for me to mention the UN speech that Emma Watson made for her He For She campaign.  I nearly cried. Actually, I believe I did cry.  Not only do I think she's a fantastic woman and very smart, I think that what she has partnered with has made her even more fantastic. The UN Women and their He For She campaign is great. I do see the flaws, but I do see what good it is trying to make.

This next video, I saw on Facebook after watching the Emma Watson speech, and nearly cried again. It's so good to see that so many people, in the new generation, want so much more for everyone around them.