Hellobee Boards

I have Paragard. I don't have my period yet but I chose it over Mirena because I didn't want any hormones for several reasons, one of which is that I'm breastfeeding. According to my midwife, your cycles would behave exactly as if you were not on anything. Because I didn't have particularly heavy cycles or bad cramping previously, Paragard was a good choice for me.

I will say that I know a lot of people who have Mirena and love it. The hormones are more localized than the pill so people tend not to have the same side effects, if any.

@Revel: Not at all -- I had it put in at 10 weeks PP. I think they have to wait until 8 weeks? But I had to wait an extra couple of weeks because I had to have a little procedure down there at 6 weeks PP and they had to make sure the incision had healed.

I haven't yet had my cycle, so I can't attest to its efficacy, though I can tell you IUDs have the highest rate of success of most any other birth control. I love that I don't have to worry about taking a pill or anything, and it's good for 10 years. You can start DTD right after getting it, and you can get pregnant right after getting it removed. You don't even know it's there. I had some minor spotting and cramping for a couple of days after placement, but otherwise, after giving birth vaginally, it wasn't at all painful to have it placed and it took about a couple of minutes.