So as you all know, last week I went to the doctor’s office to get my IUD inserted. As someone who is done having kids, had horribly wretched periods before I got pregnant, and is married, I was a perfect candidate for it.   A small plastic T-shaped device, the Mirena is placed in your uterus, emitting low doses of hormones. It’s supposed to last up to five years. Here’s hoping.

When I got to the doctor’s office I was visibly nervous. Wouldn’t you be? Here I was, about to hop on an exam table and let someone place a foreign object in my uterus. Meaning PAST MY CERVIX. Ouch!

Turns out, the hardest part is waiting. The suspense kills you. All the literature and the nurses assured me that the entire procedure should only take 5-10 minutes. “It’s really simple,” they kept telling me. “It’ll be over in no time.”

My doctor comes in the room and we begin to chat. I think he can tell I’m nervous because he slows down and walks me step by step through the procedure.

“First,” he says. “I will check the positioning of your uterus, to see if your uterus points up or down, so I can know at what angle I need to insert the device.”

So far not too scary.

“Then I will put a clamp on your cervix so I can get up there…”

Here’s where he lost me. I have a friend who recently got the Mirena who told me about this step. Somehow I was hoping my cervix would be a bit more cooperative and this whole clamp thing could be avoided. My nervousness returned.

“Then I will open you up, and insert a probe to see how large your uterus is so I can know how far to insert it.”

Okay. At this point, I’m done with all this talking. I just want to get it over with.

“Then I will insert the IUD, cut the strings and we’re all done.”

He has me lay back on the table and we begin.

He starts by doing a pelvic exam. Have I mentioned how much I hate those? Then he proceeds to do all the steps in order. Surprisingly, I barely felt the clamp on my cervix, but when he inserted the IUD past my cervix into the uterus, I felt a cramp like no other.

Luckily, though, that was the worst part. As soon as he clipped the strings, he looked up at me and said, “Congrats! You have an IUD.”

So this IUD is supposed to be a godsend for women like me. I’ll let you know if it lives up to the hype.