Why an ultrasound first

A home test cannot tell you the pregnancy is in the uterus. A mailed envelope cannot tell you that either. Location is the point. Dates are the point. Multiples are the point. Cardiac activity is information you are owed. Those facts matter before anyone swallows a first pill. A nurse can talk through them with you. Find a pregnancy center near you if you want a scan at their location.

More on what a scan can tell you: Ultrasound.

A nurse can talk with you in chat, or write back on the form. Free and private. You decide. Find a pregnancy center near you if you want a test or scan at their location.

Talk with a nurse — free, private.

Get the facts. You will not be pressured here.

People skip a scan because they think the only point was to talk them out of it. Location is still the point. Dates are still the point.

Location

The approved mifepristone regimen is not treatment for ectopic pregnancy. It is contraindicated if ectopic is confirmed or suspected. Expected symptoms — abdominal pain, uterine bleeding — may resemble a ruptured ectopic. An ectopic may have been missed even if ultrasound was done beforehand. FDA materials say ectopic pregnancy occurs in approximately two percent of all pregnancies. A ruptured ectopic can be fatal. That two-percent figure is from the FDA Q&A, not the Mifeprex label. A positive test is not a location.

One-sided pain or pain at the tip of your shoulder is an ectopic concern. Treat it as an ER.

Soak through two thick full-size sanitary pads per hour for two consecutive hours: that is an ER. If you are crashing before the second hour, do not wait. One-sided pain, shoulder-tip pain, spotting with dizziness, or fainting belongs there too. Tell the ER you took the abortion pill — mifepristone, misoprostol, or both, if you know.

Serious and sometimes fatal infections and bleeding occur very rarely. No causal relationship between mifepristone and misoprostol and those events has been established.

FDA labeling says follow-up about 7 to 14 days after mifepristone is very important. If listed contacts cannot be reached, go to an ER.

Dates

Current FDA-approved labeling is for medical termination of intrauterine pregnancy through 70 days gestation. The Medication Guide says Mifeprex is not approved for ending pregnancies that are further along. “Not approved for later gestations” is not the same sentence as “the pills don’t work after 10 weeks.” This page will not write that slogan.

A last-period guess in your notes app is not dating. How far along: How far along am I?.

Alabama law makes it unlawful for any person to intentionally perform or attempt an abortion except as the statute itself provides. Pills are not a lawful elective abortion here. We do not sell, ship, or name vendors. This is not legal advice.

Cardiac activity

Cardiac activity typically begins in the sixth week of pregnancy as dated from the last period, which is about three weeks after fertilization. Sources give a range, not one day. At that stage the heart is a beating tube, not a four-chambered heart; it is still a functioning human heart.

This page will not write “the heart starts on day 22.”

What a limited ultrasound is

A limited ultrasound at an independent pregnancy center can confirm a uterine pregnancy and give dates. It is not diagnostic OB care. It is not a full anatomy scan. It is still more than a website. Those scans belong to that center. Call the listed center before you drive. That number is theirs, not a nurse line.

FDA labeling does not invent a “you must have an ultrasound” rule as the only allowed follow-up method. Independent of that, you cannot see location from a mailbox. See Local confirmation. For a map of independent pregnancy centers, see Find a center near you. For more of the law, see Can I get an abortion in Alabama?. If you are still weighing the decision, Considering abortion?.

Do not take leftover pills from a friend tonight. Leftover misoprostol is a danger, not a plan. Confirm you are pregnant. Confirm it is in the uterus. Confirm how far along. Then talk. What now is the numbered version.

If you have taken only mifepristone and you want this pregnancy to continue, that conversation lives on Changed your mind after the first pill?.

A nurse is here.

> Emergency. One-sided pain, shoulder-tip pain, spotting with dizziness, fainting, soaking two thick pads an hour for two consecutive hours: 911. If you are crashing before the second hour, do not wait. If you may harm yourself, 988.

A nurse can use an interpreter. We write in English first.

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We do not sell, ship, or name vendors. Independent centers named here are not a chain.

Chat is not medical care. An emergency room is.

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