Guess How Much I Love You

I've been meaning to post about this for a few weeks now! When I went back to work, Margaret and I made a trip to K Mart to pick up some CDs for her to listen to in the car. I figured that since she was listening to kids' songs all day, maybe I should learn some of them or at least have them available for her at home. On this trip, I found a 2-CD set called "Guess How Much I Love You." It starts with a reading of the book of the same title by its author. And I have to say, I LOVE his reading! He has an awesome accent (Scotch?) and a wonderfully expressive way of reading the tale. The rest of that first CD also has soothing lullabyes. The first time I listened to it in the car, I was pretty sleepy and it did NOT help me with that. Which means it does what it's supposed to. The 2nd CD has nature sounds incorporated into music. I really do love this set and I find that I oftentimes leave it on even when she's not in the car.

On a more sensitive level, I'm having issues with the birth control pills I started at my 6 week post-partum visit. The first 4 weeks were fine, but after AF arrived, she hasn't seemed to want to stay away for long. I've probably had some sort of bleeding for at least 22 of the last 28 days. Not fun at all. And now AF is back again. Hardly seems to be worth the trouble of trying to remember to take them every day (which I only had 1 day that I was a couple hours late taking it) if they're not going to regulate my cycle. I am mainly taking it because of my irregular cycles due to PCOS. Well, that and that we won't be ready for #2 for another 3 or 4 years. Someone on FF recommended getting Mirena implanted instead. I guess it's supposed to be good for 5 years? It would certainly help with the problem of remembering to take a pill every day... But the side effects listed include irregular bleeding for up to 6 months! Yuck! I'm also not sure if my insurance will pay for it. I looked at my policy today and it said no contraceptive products. I imagine an IUD would fall under that. Which is stupid because they'll pay for Viagra and elective abortions. :( In Connecticut, a law was enacted on October 1, 1999 requiring all insurance providers to cover the cost of contraceptives... however, mine still doesn't. I believe they used the argument before that because we are on a municipal plan, we have to negotiate for that coverage. Doesn't make sense to me, but I've tried several times now to get the bargaining unit of our union to negotiate for it and they still won't. I finally sent them a letter today asking them specifically why they're not covered and I included the text of the law, mentioning that if I do not find a satisfactory resolution, I will take it to a higher authority. I did hear that 2 women in another municipality successfully sued them over this problem when the law first was enacted.

But I'm going off topic... Anyway, do any of you have experience with Mirena? Would you recommend it? Any problems I should know about? Did it negatively affect your fertility after you had it removed? Any input would be greatly appreciated!