getting my "tubes tied"

[Kathi OD]

I had my tubes tied 22 years ago, after 3 kids and an ectopic pregnancy.

Even 22 years ago, they went in through the belly button. No scar and very little discomfort afterward. It certainly was much easier recovering from the tubal ligation than it was from any of the pregnancies (none of which were c-sections).

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I had it done in my twenties and I've never regretted it, nor had any medical issues associated with it. Some women probably do, I don't doubt it, but I didn't. It didn't change my periods or any of that. Now I'm in my 40's and peri-menopausal and that has changed me a great deal. (I'm seriously thinking of getting on the pill just to regulate my periods so that they don't come somewhere between every 2 weeks and every 6 weeks.) But the tubal wasn't a big deal. One day in and out of the hospital, one day on pain pills, one day lying on my back reading, one day being careful and feeling. . .round with the remaining gas. And that was about it.

 

[rigs32]

I also had mine done in my 20s. I have tiny clips on my tubes rather than them being slashed and burned. The procedure was on a Friday. I was out by lunch, went to a movie that night, and was back to work on Monday. I want to say that my OOP was low as my salary at the time was not fantastic.

No regrets.

My SO has since changed, so if he had gotten a vasectomy I would have been back to traditional BC which is what I wanted to avoid.

 

[MizTink]

I also had mine done in my 20s. I have tiny clips on my tubes rather than them being slashed and burned. The procedure was on a Friday. I was out by lunch, went to a movie that night, and was back to work on Monday. I want to say that my OOP was low as my salary at the time was not fantastic.

No regrets.

My SO has since changed, so if he had gotten a vasectomy I would have been back to traditional BC which is what I wanted to avoid.

another reason i wasn't asking for reasons HE should have a vasectomy. this is for ME!!

 

[manning]

i'm also considering one.
i'm 28 and my 'baby' is 8yrs old. my oldest will be 11 next month.

i ADORE babies. i always wanted 3 sons. my 2nd son is... difficult... and we kept putting it off either waiting for him to "grow out of it" or waiting for a better financial situation. i also found out about 3 yrs ago that i have a clotting disorder which makes pregnancy very risky for me (basically, VERY lucky to have gotten pregnant and carried my sons to term). AND pregnancy is awful. i throw up 24/7 for 9 months.

also, b/c of my clotting disorder, i cannot use any form of birth control.

anyway... all that to say.... while i'd love another, i don't know if i can handle the age difference. and i KNOW i can't handle my husband's constant "you're too young for a tubal..... but i don't know if i'll ever want another baby". that little glimmer of hope tears me up. so. rather than the rollercoaster ride of emotions, i just want to take the option off the table completely.

would like to hear others' experience w/ the surgery and also emotionally.

You have a known risk and your husband is ok with having another one?

 

[dismom2]

My best friend had this done and wishes she didn't. She said she now has THE worst bleeding, pain and cramps every month. Everyone is different, though. Maybe she was just one of the unlucky ones.

When I inquired about it with my doctor, she went out of her way to talk me out of it, saying it was a 'major' surgery, and proceeded to tell me about all the things that could go wrong. Scared me, so DH got snipped (and he had no problem doing so---was a simple 15 minute procedure and he wanted to go straight to work afterward). I know you don't want to hear about the male option-- I'm just sharing my story with you--not giving any advice.

I have another friend who had this done because she did not want any children. Years later, she has now just adopted her 4th child. I think she should have waited until she was older to decide whether she wanted children or not (she was in her 20's, so different situation than you).

 

[bambii]

AND i had it done buy going threw the belly button but i was in the O.R. for a long time (oh yeah i aslo had my bladder tacked due to )i had so much scar tissue due to surgeries to remove cysts from my ovaries,

and the doctor told me i had to come back in a few days to see if the tubes got tied and the test hurt they put my on the xray table and shot this dye in me to see if it they were tied, the dye hurt really bad.. well i had to go back under and get my tube tied again... .. well i love it now my monthly visiter only last for one or two day.. but still get pms..

 

[PaulaSB12]

See I wouldnt put up with that I had one natural birth and 3 c-sections. Thats more than enough pain and dh went and did his part.

Tell hubby his man hood is not in jepordy. My husband was out on his motorcycle the next day.

Now this is where I disagree,you both chose to have children and that is ok but to expect your other half to have a vascetomy is not ok. With 50% of marriages ending in divorce why make him sterile when he might wish to become a father again. For these men who do have the op I would recomend storing some seman for future possible use.

 

[Pikester]

Just want to put another option out there. After two children, which is what DH and I wanted, it was time to make a decision; him or me. I talked with my Dr and she does a fairly new permanent birth control procedure called Essure http://www.essure.com/ I can't remember how long it's been since I had it done, a few years maybe. I had an awful time getting regulated on the pill after having two kids. Was sick of wearing something all the time "just in case".

 

[MickeySP]

he also doesn't have insurance, i do...(we're not married)

Find out if insurance considers this elective surgery, make sure they'll pay.

I have 3 friends that had tubals, none had any trouble at all. Day procedure unless you have complications or some medical history.

 

[kirbsam]

Now this is where I disagree,you both chose to have children and that is ok but to expect your other half to have a vascetomy is not ok. With 50% of marriages ending in divorce why make him sterile when he might wish to become a father again. For these men who do have the op I would recomend storing some seman for future possible use.

i was wondering how long before we got to the storing semen advice. i thought third page. i was wrong.

 

[NikitaZee]

Now this is where I disagree,you both chose to have children and that is ok but to expect your other half to have a vascetomy is not ok.

Totally agree. My dh doesn't want to have a vasectomy either, and there is no way I would insist that he get it done. I respect his feelings in the matter and would never force the issue, just as he would respect my feelings if I didn't want to get my tubes tied.Besides, like the OP said, she doesn't need advice about vasectomies, she pretty much knows she is getting her tubes tied.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

Now this is where I disagree,you both chose to have children and that is ok but to expect your other half to have a vascetomy is not ok. With 50% of marriages ending in divorce why make him sterile when he might wish to become a father again. .

ITA! This is why I had it done and didn't force the issue with DH. I knew he wanted more kids and I didn't. I felt it wasn't fair to him to when I was the one that didn't want to have more children.

 

[SaraJayne]

ITA! This is why I had it done and didn't force the issue with DH. I knew he wanted more kids and I didn't. I felt it wasn't fair to him to when I was the one that didn't want to have more children.

Interesting perspective. So if you have your tubes tied, but your DH is still able to/wants to have children, who exactly is he planning on having more kids with??

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

Interesting perspective. So if you have your tubes tied, but your DH is still able to/wants to have children, who exactly is he planning on having more kids with??

My point was that if for some reason we had gotten divorced or something had happened to me, he could go on to have more children. I was 35 and he was 36 when I had mine done. I don't think it is right to force steralization on someone who doesn't really want it...

 

[punkin]

For some reason I find this thread incredibly depressing.

 

[powellrj]

I had mine done after my last c-section. My periods had been light and almost non existent before hand which was why my Dr thought I might be in early menopause NOT pregnant. 2 years after I had it done I was back having an ablation because my periods were so heavy and painful. This was all before the Internet so I really didn't do much research. A few years ago when I started hearing stories from other woman about the painful and heavy periods I did a little research and found there were other women out there who had the same thing happen. While the ablation did help, it didn't solve my problem. Now they do think I really am in menopause almost 15 years later!

 

[Desiree]

i'm also considering one.
i'm 28 and my 'baby' is 8yrs old. my oldest will be 11 next month.

i ADORE babies. i always wanted 3 sons. my 2nd son is... difficult... and we kept putting it off either waiting for him to "grow out of it" or waiting for a better financial situation. i also found out about 3 yrs ago that i have a clotting disorder which makes pregnancy very risky for me (basically, VERY lucky to have gotten pregnant and carried my sons to term). AND pregnancy is awful. i throw up 24/7 for 9 months.

also, b/c of my clotting disorder, i cannot use any form of birth control.

anyway... all that to say.... while i'd love another, i don't know if i can handle the age difference. and i KNOW i can't handle my husband's constant "you're too young for a tubal..... but i don't know if i'll ever want another baby". that little glimmer of hope tears me up. so. rather than the rollercoaster ride of emotions, i just want to take the option off the table completely.

would like to hear others' experience w/ the surgery and also emotionally.

I also have a clotting disorder. For that reason, DH is planning on having a vasectomy. He was willing to do so even before we found out that I had the disorder.

 

[mefordis]

Tubal ligation may bring on early menopause. I am convinced it did for my mom who went through menopause at 42 or 43. Her mom and sisters went through it around 48-50.

I stopped considering having it done once I found out this could be a side effect.

http://www.tubal.org/CanTLcauseMeno.htm

 

[PebblesMom]

I had DS last January...and I was going to have a tubal when he was born. The morning he was born was chaos due to the fact that he decided to arrive before I was ready, the epidural was ready or the doctor was ready and by the time everything had calmed down and I had him in my arms I did not want to go have it done, so the nurse called down to the doctor and said that I had changed my mind. I talked with my doctor about it again at my 6 week check and he just said to schedule it with his office when I was ready, well almost a year has passed and I still have not. I am almost 36 and have two wonderful, healthy, happy little boys and DH and I feel like our family is complete, but I just have not been able to schedule that appointment...because it does make me sad. Not sure why, when I know that I am happy with two and I know I don't want any more.