by Sister Zeus
(success) no
In 1994 at the age of 24, I became pregnant for the first time. It was not planned. I have always felt pretty clear that I did not want children and the man I was with did not want a child either. The choice was an easy one, my path was clear. Being somewhat knowledgeable about herbs, they were my first choice. I called upon the wisdom of the earth mother and my ancestors to grant me wisdom and courage, to guide me on my journey, to aid me in releasing the spirit, in ending the pregnancy.
I had been studying and using herb for four years prior. I had familiarized myself with the herbs commonly used for abortive purposes. At this time in my life I was traveling with my then partner in Florida, we were doing some camping in the National Forest. I was in the habit of carrying a variety of herbs around with me. I happened to have some dried pennyroyal with me.
Unfortunately, it is all too easy to lose track of time especially when camping. I lost track on the day I was to begin using protection (condoms). That error on my part lead to my first pregnancy. I chart my cycles every month and made note of the unprotected intercourse and denial quickly stepped in and I conveniently "forgot" about the whole thing. That is until my period was three days late and I began to wonder why my breasts were feeling tender. I had a vague memory of something earlier in the cycle, I refreshed my memory by looking back on my chart. My heart sank as I admitted the truth to myself. I was pregnant.
My period was four days late when I started drinking pennyroyal tea. I was camping and it was not convenient to make tea as I soon discovered, I had only two opportunities during the day to make tea, the first day I made it by the cup, the days following I made it by the quart in the morning and again in the evening, which I drank through out the day and night. I did this for 5 days. Most of the tea I drank was cold, I don't know If this had any effect upon my results. By the second day of drinking the tea I was feeling ill, nauseous. I stopped taking the tea when my cycle was in its 35th day, usually my cycle is 28-30 days long (day 1 being the first day of bleeding). I rested for three days, finished my camping trip. In retrospect, I could have done some things differently, like altering my camping trip so that I could focus on the task before me and nurture myself through it. I could have started taking the herbs much earlier, for example I could have taken Queen Anne's Lace as soon as I realized my mistake, or Vitamin C. I am one of those people who believe something can be learned from every experience, and I have learned a great deal from this one. It in fact has played a significant role in the path my life has taken. You could say that instead of birthing a child, I have birthed myself. I have discovered 'what I want to do with my life', that is to councel women in matters of fertility and infertility and am working toward those goals.
Now my period was a week and a half late. Returning to civilization, I started taking a pennyroyal tincture on the 38th day of my cycle, a dose every 2 or 3 hours. I took the tinctures for an additional 6 days. I was feeling pretty nauseated (but not vomiting), either from the herbs or from my hormones going crazy, morning sickness, I don't know. I was having a really hard time finding anything I wanted to eat. Crackers became my staple. It was really awful. In the meantime, I searched for someone who could do a menstrual extraction, I stopped taking the tinctures when I found someone to help me. I desided I would rather end the pregnancy with a menstrual extraction than a clinical abortion. Menstrual extractions can only be done very early in the pregnancy, so timing is very important as is knowing where you are in your cycle. For more information on menstrual extractions.
