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Getting Ready
Prepare your space for your abortion. Clean the space, wash your sheets, buy fresh flowers, light some candles and incense. Put on some nice, relaxing music.
Make sure to have your Abortion Timeline. It can be extremely useful for tracking when you took each misoprostol dose. It is attached to this page again, just in case 🙂
If you can, make sure you have a hot water bottle or heating pad ready to go. It is common to shiver and get very cold after taking misoprostol, and a warm blanket and heat source make all the difference.
Misoprostol Alone–Step-by-Step
Step One: Ibuprofen
One hour before you plan to take your misoprostol, take 800mg ibuprofen–This will prepare your body for the cramping that will begin.
Step Two: Prayer
I invite you to start with the Prayer + Cleansing ritual from the previous section
Step Three: Take the Misoprostol
Insert pills into your chosen administration route. Whether you choose vaginal, buccal, or sublingual, it is important that you use the same route for the duration of the abortion, for every round of misoprostol.
In other words, do not mix routes, like 2 pills in the mouth, and two in the vagina. Maintain the same route throughout, whichever you choose.
Note down the time you took the misoprostol.
Step Four: Wait 30 Minutes
It takes about 30 minutes for the misoprostol to dissolve completely. It is important that they dissolve, and are not swallowed. They will absorb into the soft tissue of your mouth or vagina, and enter your bloodstream.
if you have put them in your mouth, you can swallow the remaining bits.
If you throw up before the 30 minutes is over, it is important to readminister the pills. If it has been 30 minutes or more, the misoprostol should be completely dissolved into your bloodstream. It is normal to get sick to one’s stomach after misoprostol.
Step 4: Get Comfy
Within the hour you should start to feel the misoprostol. You may have chills, stomach cramps, and you may go to the bathroom often.
Get a hot water bottle or heating pad, and cozy up under a blanket. It can also be nice to watch a movie, or simply lay in meditation and feel the process unfold.
Bleeding should begin between 1-8 hours, normally.
Step 5: Wait 3 Hours
Make any notes of your progress, your bleeding, and what you notice.
After 3 hours from your original misoprostol dose, take another dose of the misoprostol–the same administration route as before.
Step 6: Wait another 3 Hours
Note if any bleeding or cramping has started, any changes to your process, and pay attention to the fetus passing
Take your 3rd dose of misoprostol
Step 7: Fetal Passing
Note the time when the fetus has passed. There is more about this in detail in the next section. Once it has passed, you can be sure that the majority of the procedure is over.
Your bleeding should decrease to the level of a menstrual period.
Note: It is possible to pass the fetus and still have retention of the pregnancy after. Read the section on Danger Signs later in the course.