【7 Years with the Pill】The Importance of Choosing Contraception and Pregnancy for Yourself.

Today's Icebreaker ☕ (Small Talk)

Hello. This is Niko-Niko.
This is my 4th day of writing on note. I've escaped the 'three-day monk' trap. ^^

I've recently been hooked on making sandwiches.
They're for my husband's lunch.

I used to make bento boxes, but he requested that I switch to something he could quickly eat with one hand.

When I tried making them, to my surprise! Sandwiches don't cost that much money.
When I calculated all the material costs, it came to less than 200 yen per meal.
(The bread is an 8-slice loaf, after all. It lasts for 4 days, thank goodness!)

(He said the fried chicken sandwich on the bottom left was the best. He demands sandwiches so thick they'd dislocate his jaw, so I have no choice but to bulk them up with lettuce lol)


Since I'm a full-time housewife, I have plenty of time.
My repertoire is limited, so I'll be using trial and error from here on out.

If anyone knows of any ingredients that would make them delicious if added!
Please, do let me know.

Well then, today I'm going to write about the pill (oral contraceptive).
For male readers, I don't think you'll have many opportunities to take it yourselves, so
you might think it has nothing to do with you.
(You might not have even made it this far in the first place)

However, for those who have a partner or a daughter.
For those who want to know about female hormones and the pill.

It takes less than 5 minutes to read, so I'd like you to gain some knowledge that such a medicine exists.

Or rather, as long as you're living your life every day, I think you'll have opportunities to interact with the opposite sex, so
I don't think it would hurt to know about it.

7 years of pill history. I take the initiative.

I had been taking the pill since I was 19.
The reason I started was simple: 'Because it would be a problem if I got pregnant while I was a student.'

I didn't discuss it with my boyfriend (my current husband), it was entirely my own decision.
I went to a women's clinic to get a prescription, and for the 7 years since, I've continued taking it almost every single day without fail.

The pill I was taking was called 'Triquilar.' One sheet costs about 3,000 yen.
For a student like me, this amount was by no means cheap.
In addition, it costs even more for clinic visits and regular check-ups (blood tests, internal exams, etc.)...

However, I believed that "proper contraception" was important, so I felt it was worth spending the money for that.
(I guess it's cheap if you think of it as being able to prevent pregnancy for 100 yen a day.)

While I wasn't taking it yet, he would of course use contraception, but I still felt anxious every time.
(The contraceptive rate for condoms is 85%, right!? What if I end up in the remaining 15%... I'm so nervous.)
*By the way, the pill is 99%.

If something happened, it would be "my" body that would change. Me, me, ME...
(Men don't change at all. What the heck, I thought, feeling frustrated.)

I was waiting (?) for my period to come every time, or rather, I felt relieved each time it did.
That happened month after month... I got tired of thinking about it, and after some continued mental strain, I decided to take it.

Instead of leaving it to the man, I would take the initiative! I would protect my own body myself!
Being able to do that made me happier than anything.

However, my mother opposed it.

Since I had a relationship with my mother where I could talk to her about anything, when I honestly told her about the pill, she worried, saying, "Isn't it bad for your body?" "It costs money, and is it really okay to keep taking it? Won't it affect your future?"

While I was grateful that she was worried about me, I calmed her down...
I had made the choice to take it based on my own judgment, and I felt I understood the side effects. (Of course, I had also received an explanation from the doctor.)
I was scared, but "getting pregnant now would be even scarier."

I wanted to study hard, and I had my own life.
Since pregnancy at that time was the thing I wanted to avoid most, my resolve did not waver.

The pill is "a habit like brushing your teeth"

I needed to take it every day without fail for a month, and I took it before going to bed.

Fortunately, I had almost no side effects. My weight didn't change either.
It suited my body.

Some friends were worried and asked, "Is the pill really okay?"
But I was satisfied with my choice, and I even felt proud that I was "able to practice contraception myself."
I even recommended it to friends who had boyfriends.

Besides contraception, the pill has many benefits, such as relieving menstrual pain, improving irregular periods, alleviating premenstrual syndrome (PMS), improving acne, preventing ovarian cancer, etc., and controlling the date of your period.
(Of course, since it is a medicine, there are also disadvantages.)

It was truly a blessing for me.

When to stop the pill and after stopping

I decided to "stop" when I felt I wanted to have a baby.

My period resumed within two months of stopping. I was a little relieved.

However, that relief was short-lived, as I continued to have headaches, nausea, and menstrual pain due to hormonal imbalances. I often had to take time off work.

"Will my body go back to normal? Is my body still capable of getting pregnant...?"
Since I had been taking it for seven years, I was worried that it might have some kind of effect.
At that moment, I was quite anxious.

During that time, I went for a bridal checkup, and the doctor who looked at the ultrasound said,
"Your uterus and ovaries are in good condition. I can see the eggs clearly, and the count seems fine."
I remember feeling relieved when I heard that.

My physical discomfort continued for a while, but it healed naturally over time.

Taking the initiative

After stopping the pill, I worked on trying to conceive, and while I took some breaks along the way,
I was able to successfully conceive a baby.

Although I believed it was just a superstition,
it was the moment the anxiety that "taking the pill means it will be harder to get pregnant in the future" disappeared.

I also felt a sense of relief knowing that my body was functioning properly.

Since I was a teenager, I have been facing issues regarding my own body.
I didn't want to leave it to others. I didn't want to entrust it to anyone else.
In a sense, it's selfish.

I felt that it is important for women to take the initiative when it comes to contraception, pregnancy, and childbirth.

Next time, I think I'll write about the timeline until I conceived,
the supplements my husband and I were taking for fertility,
and the tubal patency test, which is said to be extremely painful.

I'm thinking of writing about those things.

I hope this experience serves as a source of reassurance for someone.
See you later. ^^