Alright, so being a teen parent and knowing without a doubt that I am NOT ready for another child, I'm obviously on birth control. In fact, most hospitals recommend you get on some form of birth control a day or two after having a baby. Why? Because as teen parents, we aren't well equipped to take care of one child, let alone two!
So, what are the advantages of birth control?
1. Baby. Prevention. Obviously.
2. Some forms of birth control can help with acne. An extra bonus!
3. If ever you have a 'slip up' and forget to use a physical barrier as protection (condoms) you'll be medically covered!
4. Being on birth control takes most of the guess work out of everything. Schedule an appointment, go to the appointments, and you're good to go!
There are a billion different kinds of birth control, some that work better than others. One of the forms that I REALLY don't think anyone should be on, especially teenagers, is the pill. If your family was anything like mine when I was young, my parents always told us to remember to take our vitamin before school. Did we EVER remember? No. Never. And back when I was that young, my biggest priority was making it to the sandbox before anyone else and making sure my mom packed the right sandwich. As a teenager, I had a billion and a half more commitments and obligations that constantly whirled around in my head so taking a pill would have been the least of my worries. Sure, I've never been on the pill, I've always preferred the Depo Shot (We'll talk about that later) but after seeing so many of my friends take the pill, I'm pretty much terrified of it. Firstly, they all forget to take it sometimes, whether it be once or three times in a row. And what did most of them do upon forgetting to take it???? The next day they'd double the dose!!!!!! SERIOUSLY????!!!! That's called overdosing folks, and it doesn't work. So, after seeing how teens easily abuse it, I've found that it's probably not the best thing to supply to a teenager who you don't want to get pregnant.
However, I'm a fan of the Depo shot. It's a three month birth control and for the most part, it's pretty effective! However, it's essential that you go the exact day that your next appointment is scheduled. If you're late on the shot, then you're vulnerable to become pregnant. So it's best that if you ARE late, you be cautious and use an additional form of birth control for a month or so to be safe.
These days there are more advanced methods such as the IUD and the Nexplanon. Each have their positives and negatives. The IUD can be used for up to ten years depending on which one you get and apart from being a bit invasive when it comes to getting it inserted, it's pretty effective. On occasion, the IUD's DO slip, and may cause pain. If you do experience extreme pain in your pelvic region, it would be best to call your doctor.
The Nexplanon is another thing entirely. It had the exact same chemicals that are in the shot (so if you weren't a fan of the Depo Shot, it wouldn't be a good idea to get the Nexplanon) but it's released for 3 years from a tiny little bar that they insert into your arm. I recently got this form of birth control and to be honest, it hurts horribly. This is the third day that I've had it and though my arm is still really bruised, the pain has gone down quite a bit as compared to yesterday and the day before. In order to insert the Nexplanon, your doctor will make a tiny incision in your arm (less than a centimeter) and will then inject a numbing solution, and then the Nexplanon bar that has a watery solution of some kind to make the insertion easier. Then they wrap up your arm and suggest you leave it wrapped for at least 24 hours to keep the swelling down. Your arm WILL be bruised and will swell quite a bit regardless. My doctor told me not to do much heavy lifting to avoid irritating the muscles in my arm, but seeing as I had to carry James as well as his diaper bag and my purse (probably should've left the purse at home) up three flights of stairs by myself, I really wasn't able to get around the whole heavy lifting thing. When we reached the apartment, I sat James down, got him out of his carseat and then tried not to die. When I took off my coat, I saw that the gauze had rolled into a coil and was digging into my incision. YOUCH! So I unwrapped the gauze before I was supposed to because it hurt like crazy. So in short, the Nexplanon isn't that painful to have inserted, but is really sore for a few days after so take plenty of time to rest and heal so you don't irritate your arm. However, I think a little bit of pain for a few days is worth the 3 years of coverage.
And then of course the one form of birth control that no one thinks of, ABSTINENCE! It's really the only FULL PROOF method of birth control that works every time. If you don't have sex, you don't get pregnant (obviously) and that's the only way to make sure that a baby isn't going to bless your womb any time soon.
On another note, I think that a lot of people think that abstinence is for single people. That's really not the case. Abstaining from sex is a choice even people in a relationship can make believe it or not and even happens between people that are MARRIED! Who'dathunk right? Not to throw out my personal business or anything, but after having James, he's made it pretty easy to not even think about intimacy. A screaming, crying, teething baby in his crib across the room is a really great way to stay away from 'the mood'. Sure, Jesse may be bummed out and in need of some lovin on occasion, but that doesn't stop him from falling asleep the moment his head hits the pillow.
So, this was an awkward blog right? Sure it was! But it could be worse. Wouldn't you rather read this blog and know everything about birth control than get pregnant? Maybe not everything... but still.
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