Alexa, who had one child and knew she didn’t want to have more, grew tired of using temporary birth control methods. She was ready for a permanent solution and her doctor agreed that sterilization was a good choice for her.
The procedure itself was relatively easy. The whole thing was done in about an hour and the only side effects were a day’s worth of muscle soreness and two little scars, no bigger than pencil-top erasers. And since Alexa is in a monogamous relationship and not concerned about STIs, she’s now set to have worry-free sex for the rest of her life.
A co-worker kept asking me, “Do you have a boyfriend? Can I set you up with my friend John?” And I kept saying, “No, no set-ups. No, thanks.” And she said, “Oh, come on. He has a boat downtown at the harbor and he likes to travel just like you,” and I’m saying, “No, no set-ups, no, thanks.” Then I was home one night watching the news and there was a story on the news about a boating accident near the harbor, and they were interviewing this man on TV and his name was John. And I knew he had a boat, and I knew – and it was the same harbor where he was at. So I went to work the next day, and I said, “Denise, was that your John that you kept saying to fix me up with?” And she said, “Yes, that was him.” I’m like, “Okay, you can fix me up.” So I got to see him on TV before we had a date. I chose to get my tubes tied when my daughter was about four and a half or five. I was kind of tired of the other methods of birth control I was using. So I talked to my doctor a couple of times, and you know, then on one annual appointment I finally told him that I was ready to have my tubes tied and do something permanent. He was real open – you know, real open to it. He didn’t try to tell me that I was too young or to wait 10 years or anything. He said, “Yeah, we can do that.” When I had the procedure, I got in a full hospital gown and had an IV. And they put me under for it. So everything went through the IV, and they said, “Oh, you’re getting – your arm’s going to feel real warm in a minute and then you’re going to fall asleep.” And that’s exactly what happened. And an hour or so later, they were – they were waking me up and giving me juice to drink. After the procedure in the next couple days, I felt a little sore, like I had just exercised and had a little muscle soreness in my abdomen. Didn’t last for more than, I’d say, 24 to 36 hours. Not very long. I had a little – a little incision by my belly button and one about four inches down, and they were smaller than the top of a pencil eraser, so they were really tiny. And I – I had no problem healing, so it was painless. My favorite part about having my tubes tied is it’s just worry-free. If I – I don’t have to worry about getting pregnant, that’s the main thing. The other thing that I would mention, that if I was going to have a new partner or multiple partners, I probably would use some other form of protection. But since I’ve been with the same person for 12 or 13 years, we’re – we’re very happy, and it’s care-free. My name is Alexa. I’m 29, and I’ve had my tubes tied. So that’s my method of birth control.