After I had my first little dude, I knew by my six week appointment that babies are HARD. I was in zero hurry to have another any time soon. Time was on my side, since I had my first at 27, so we embraced the idea of a 2+ year gap between kids. I knew I wanted an IUD so I wouldn’t have to worry about taking daily pills.
Fast forward about 19 months, and I happily returned to the doctor’s office to have it removed when we were ready to start trying. In the two years prior, I had light, infrequent, barely-there periods and essentially no other side effects. Getting it removed was a breeze. So about a year later, after another pregnancy and birth, I had no reservations about getting another Mirena IUD. Again, insertion was a breeze, and after my two week check to be sure the strings were where they should be, I didn’t think about it again. Of course, they mentioned to periodically check the strings to be sure it was still in place, but I thought, “honestly, where is it going to go?” and never really worried about it.
This time around, though, I didn’t have the magical barely there period side effect. In fact, I was dealing with the opposite. Frequent, heavy periods, insane PMS and all those unpleasant side effects of being a lady that I hadn’t missed over the past 3+ years. As my baby crept toward his first birthday, I had a nagging feeling that this IUD thing just wasn’t working the way it should, and I resolved to make an appointment to have it removed and switch to birth control pills until we decided we were ready to grow our family again.
I made an appointment with a new midwife in our new town, as we recently moved. I got there, answered a collection of questions about my medical history, and disrobed so she could get that sucker out of there. As much as no one enjoys the “feet in stirrups” appointments, I was relieved to have finally taken 20 minutes to dedicate to my own self care. What I didn’t anticipate was my 20 minute appointment turning into a time-consuming, stressful and expensive ordeal.
You see, when the midwife went to remove the IUD, the strings were nowhere to be found. What should have been 2 minutes turned to 15 minutes of poking and prodding with all sorts of instruments, in a search and rescue effort, but the strings were just not there. Hm. The midwife said that more often than not, the strings have just drifted into the uterus, and a quick ultrasound can detect where the IUD is, and it shouldn’t be a big deal.
None of this sounded right to me, but I rolled with it and headed up to the waiting room to wait for my ultrasound. After a long wait, a quick transvaginal ultrasound showed a very empty cervix and uterus. My IUD was missing in action. Gone. So back down I went to the midwife’s office to discuss what to do next. You can’t remove an IUD that isn’t there, right?! But the question was, where was it?
The midwife told me that rarely, the IUD can dislodge and fall out, typically hidden in a clot of blood. She said that she was 99% sure that this is what happened, but on the very rare occasion, the IUD can perforate the uterus and venture into the body. Since I hadn’t been in pain, and this is typically a painful occurrence, she didn’t expect it would be the case, but just to be safe, she gave me orders for an abdominal x-ray to confirm that my IUD wasn’t hiding out somewhere.
Now I don’t know about anyone else, but as I drove across town to the radiology office, I knew in my gut that it had to be in there, because there was no way I would not have noticed an IUD falling out of my body. And it took all of two seconds to find out that my intuition was right. I lay on the table for the x-ray, and the tech asked what they were looking for. I told her, and as soon as she ran the scan and the image popped up, she blurted out, “Oh, there it is!” She immediately apologized, since I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to get results of any kind from an x-ray until the radiologist reviews it. But then, since she already told me, she let me see, and there, hanging out by my left pelvic bone was the IUD. Just hanging out, you know, not preventing pregnancy like it was supposed to.
The midwife, who was supposed to be in touch within 24-48 hours of my scan, called me 15 minutes later. She told me that she was transferring my care to one of the OBGYNs at the office, who I would need to meet with as soon as possible for a pre-op visit. Yes, pre-op. Now this hobo of an IUD needs be surgically removed. “Oh, and by the way,” she said, “take a pregnancy test, since it’s unclear how long you’ve not been preventing one.” Oy.
The good and bad news – I’m not pregnant. Of course, we weren’t trying to get pregnant {obviously}. But when I heard that we weren’t really preventing a pregnancy, and I saw the stark white pregnancy test, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad. We do want to have a third child down the road, and the idea of getting pregnant without having to “try” – and by not trying, I mean not charting, tracking cycles and OPKs, scheduling sex, living in a months-long state of anxiety/disappointment/frustration/impatience – sounded kind of lovely, especially since our little guy just started walking and seems so much less little these days.
The next day I met with the doctor, who told me that in 26 years as an OBGYN, this was only the second IUD he had seen migrate out of the uterus. Lucky me. Since I wasn’t in any pain, and there weren’t any concerns of the IUD harming any other internal organs, there was no big hurry to remove it ASAP. This was good because my hubby and I were both looking at booked calendars over the next two weeks, filled with work travel, out-of-town visitors and our little man’s first birthday party.
Later this week, the IUD will be removed. Hopefully uneventfully. The procedure is supposed to be fairly non-invasive and laparoscopic, though I will be put under general anesthesia for it, which comes with its own set of risks.
I’ll probably start back on the Pill while we bide our time until we’re ready for a third. And in the meantime, if you’re using an IUD and genuinely do not want another child, be sure to listen to the doctor and check your strings once a month or so. Nine hundred ninety nine women out of every 1,000 don’t deal with this, so for most people, this is the perfect birth control. If this happened to me, I don’t think this would dissuade me from using an IUD, so that isn’t the intention of this post. Just listen to your doctor, and even more important listen to your body.
Stay tuned…
guest
I love IUD stories (I know, weird) because I have had 2 failed IUDs, the second resulting in a surprise pregnancy! They don’t really know why this happens to people, but after a second failed one they basically say you’re no longer a candidate. But just know that the entire time that thing mine was misplaced (they didn’t actually fall out), I wasn’t trying to prevent pregnancy but only managed to get pregnant once over the span of about 10 months. Right now I am 27 weeks into a planned pregnancy (that first one with the IUD resulted in a healthy baby girl), and it only took one try.
blogger / kiwi / 626 posts
“Now this hobo of an IUD needs to be surgically removed”. This may be one of the best sentences I have ever read. I’m so sorry you are going through this., especially with the thought that you’ve been unprotected from pregnancy this long. I hope the surgery goes well for you without any complications.
pear / 1998 posts
This happened to my friend, although she had pain and noticed right away that something wasn’t right. (It was after her third child). She had to get surgery and said it wasn’t too bad. She just had to care for a few stitches and oddly, her right arm got pretty sore, which they warned her about.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
how crazy!! so glad you’re okay tho!
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
Yikes! I never check for my strings, LOL
pomegranate / 3225 posts
Oh dear. I’m so sorry. For all the success cases of the IUD I have known more women with problems than I care to remember. And I’m adding you to the list! I just checked my strings and they were no where to be found …
grapefruit / 4717 posts
Ugh. I’m so sorry this happened to you, and I hope the surgery and recovery go as smoothly as possible.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
Its odd to hear the statistic that 999 out of 1000 do not experience these issues, but yet, on HB and other sites, it seems fairly common for these IUDs to either fail, fall out or migrate! How effective are they really?
pomelo / 5628 posts
Just wow.
apricot / 483 posts
Ugh I’m sorry you had this issue as well. It sucks, is scary, and feels like “why the hell did I do this to myself” in retrospect. I hope your surgery goes well.
I dealt with this exact same thing in September 2015. I posted about this but I’ll let you know what my experience was too, or anyone else who’s reading this. I had mine placed at my 6 week pp visit on a Friday. The OB tried to put it in twice; the first one “misfired”, the second one immediately hurt. I bled pretty profusely Friday and Saturday, and ended up calling the after hours OB on Saturday night who just suggested to make an appt the next week.
On Tuesday (Monday was a holiday), a different OB at my practice searched for it, couldn’t find it, and so they sent me for an Ultrasound. I went in for the U/S, where they also did not see the Mirena. She said one of two things happened – either it fell out on it’s own, or it had perforated into my abdomen – they would send me for an Xray at the hospital as an abundance of caution to see if it was in there. The xray tech didn’t say anything and the following day they got the results, it had perforated my uterus and was in my abdomen. So they scheduled me for a laparoscopy to remove the IUD the same day (Wednesday).
The laparoscopy wasn’t awful, but I was so upset about it because I knew my milk supply was going to tank since I had to miss a few feedings (and DS wasn’t taking a bottle well at that point). I was sore afterwards, and the arm or shoulder pain people experience afterwards is due to them puffing your abdomen full of air during the surgery. I have 3 little scars now (on my belly button, hairline, and side) but they aren’t large -the largest is maybe 0.75 inches. I probably felt totally normal 5 days after. It just sucked as an overall experience. So yeah, anti-Mirena user right here.
persimmon / 1286 posts
glad you are ok, sending you good thoughts for a quick and easy procedure and recovery!
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
I find the statistic hard to believe because a friend of mine went through a huge nightmare with Mirena and I have seen many mentions of this on HB, too. Ugh, sorry it happened to you!
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@blackbird: I don’t check for my strings either and my OB actually told me I didn’t have to and that it often causes more stress because you can’t feel them even though they are where they are supposed to be.
persimmon / 1165 posts
My OB also told me not to worry about checking for the strings – a lot women can’t feel them even when they’re there. At my last annual, she could not see them and sent me for a u/s to be safe. Fortunately the u/s showed it was right where it’s supposed to be.
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
My OB told me to not check for the strings. Most can’t find them and freak out for nothing. So sorry this happened to you!
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
Oh man! How frightening! I’m so sorry to hear you’re going through this!
I’ve never been on BC, but recently considered the Mirena for when we’re done having kids. However, I’ve heard more horror stories than good. Plus, some say the hormones really affect them, which I’m also weary of.
Wishing you a smooth procedure and a quick recovery!
persimmon / 1396 posts
I have had 2 of my best friends have theirs fall out within 2 weeks of each other. Needless to say, I did not opt to get an IUD. Good luck with your surgery.
coconut / 8279 posts
Yeah, I have to believe that statistic is off, too. I have 4 friends – FOUR – that had to have theirs surgically removed because they had perforated the uterus.
Knowing so many people with either awful side effects or something like this happen is why I’ll never get one.
pear / 1593 posts
You officially scared the sh** out of me and can rest assured I am no longer considering IUD as back up to the vasectomy we are planning for DH after this baby
blogger / nectarine / 2043 posts
Oh mercy, that sounds scary. I know IUDs are mostly safe and everything has a chance of problems but for some reason IUDs just always freaked me out. When I told my OB PP that I wasn’t planning on any more, she recommended it and I opted to stay with the Ring instead.
blogger / pomegranate / 3044 posts
oh crap! Glad you’re ok
I had a similar beginning to this scare when I went for a checkup and the OB couldn’t find the strings, I made an appt for an ultrasound and thankfully it was just way tucked up in there. I’ve never been able to find the strings, and I am constantly freaking out if I feel a pain in my abdomen! I wish there was another alternative but I tried implanon (in my arm) and hated it + the side effects, and feel too young for permanent measures, so I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that my Mirena behaves!
blogger / pomelo / 5361 posts
Is it awkward if I just comment, “Going to check for strings RIGHT now.”?!?!
Hope the removal goes as smoothly as possible! So sorry this happened.
guest
OMG!!! I never check for my strings! this is so scary!! After reading your story and all the comments.. I just feel like getting an appointment and having the IUD removed!!
guest
I had a similar story but luckily the US showed mine in place. Now as long as I don’t have pain or feel weird I just get an US every 6 months-1 year to make sure it is still where it should be. I hope it stays there! No more babies for me.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
I have heard soooo many stories like this on my parenting listserv which has 5000 people on it, so I think the stat is way higher. It’s why I opted out of the iud!
cherry / 175 posts
Had my first pap since before having my 3.5 year old a couple months ago and we couldn’t find my strings. I had the U/S done and luckily it’s where it is supposed to be the strings must have just disappeared because I had them trimmed shortly after I got it. They were bothering my hubby!
It was a little bit sketchy waiting for all the results though! With a little bit of hope maybe we’d get a surprise baby – since were done… and I have baby fever!
Hope all goes well with your procedure!
eggplant / 11408 posts
Not another missing IUD!!! I’ve heard way too many of these stories. I actually had mine taken out because I had a bleeding/cramping/can’t find the strings scare last August. Fortunately, it hadn’t migrated, but I wanted that sucker out anyways. No more for me!!
I’m so sorry this happened!
guest
Yikes! I’ve heard about this but never checked my strings.
persimmon / 1436 posts
@Mrs. Confetti: how did it go? I have a consultation for the same thing Monday morning.
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
@Finfan: Surgery itself was okay. Was under general anesthesia for an hour, and recovery was fine. Day one was a blur, day 2 and 3 were tender and achey but fine, and the rest of the week, I was just sore. Honestly the whole thing has been an expensive nuisance more than anything. Sorry you are going through this too!
persimmon / 1436 posts
M
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
@Finfan: good luck tomorrow!