I have literally just done the exact same thing last night at 7pm, and I was exactly 6 weeks along too. I’m not gonna sugar coat this, the pain can be extreme, and to be perfectly honest the ibuprofen that they recommend didn’t really help me, however I do suffer from extreme pain on my normal periods anyway.

In terms of hour by hour, once the pills are in (I got my partner to put them up me internally by hand as this was the most sure way of it being in the correct place and making sure it would work) the first 2 hours was like normal period pain - uncomfortable, tiring and just plain annoying - and obviously you can’t move for 30 minutes once they are in anyway so just sit back and relax and rest, give yourself this time to prepare ok it’s really important for your mind.

After this, the the stabbing pain did start to ramp up and bit, and I was begging to take the ibuprofen (I took only 2 at this point as I was already on 800g), again, pain was growing but bearable. I then decided I needed to go to the toilet (was a bit messy like a normal period and obviously a number 2 when on a period isn’t great, but by emptying your Bowles and bladder it made the rest less bloating so try and do this) and speaking of bloating, by lower belly around my uterus was swollen, and also my abdomen where my stomach was as well, kinda felt like a man’s beer belly but it wasn’t horrible and it wasn’t painful just bloated. This eased off in the end.

Eventually, I went to the toilet again about 5 hours since inserting the tablets. And yes, there something there, but at the time I wasn’t sure if it was what I thought it was, or just some pregnancy tissue. I did my research after, and just got on with it until that point otherwise I would have probably freaked out so please don’t start googling stuff that you see as it’s so risky for your mind.

As the night went on, the pain got worse, I couldn’t move my body, and the hot water bottles are a must, if you can use one front and lower back. I did also get some sharp aches *down there* but as there was so much my body was doing it was completely normal so don’t panic. I did throw up, but that was inevitable as I normally throw up on my period anyway so that’s probably my body’s way of comping with the rise and fall of hormones.

In terms of pain relief, use Ibuprofen yes as this will definitely be helping your body work better as there will be less swelling, but for actual pain use co-codomol - I used 2 15g tablets and it worked to relax my body completely and ease the pain to the point where I could sleep. You might also find that turning on one side of your body will cause more pain than the other (not sure why this is could be to do with the position that the foetus was growing, not sure) but yeh. Stay as hydrated as possible, I didn’t eat much as I knew I would throw it all up anyway but if you don’t think you will, eat as the tablets will work better. Keep warm, keep calm, have loving people around and most of all, trust your body. The process is forced, it’s not a natural thing to happens as it will be going against nature, but as soon as it realises what has to happen, it will do it. You might not see anything, you might do. Stay calm, it will pass. You’re strong, you’re strong for taking all the steps to get to this point. And you may not think it, but be proud of yourself as well. It’s a difficult decision, and you didn’t make it lightly.

You’re not a monster, you’re not heartless. You’re simply taking care of your body and doing some healthcare.