Image ID: a black and orange image of Sisyphus pushing up a boulder. The boulder is labeled "the fucking menstrual cycle".
A few days after my period ends I just blissfully forget about it until one day I wake up and notice my crotch looks like someone was murdered there. Super duper fun.
It hurts. Some Gynecologists will offer anaesthesia, mine is more a "suck it up buttercup" lady but does tell the nurse to hold your hand. The worst part was definitely the depth sounding. Once that's done, it goes in, some cramping, and as I noted, the first one I had the light spotting for nearly a year. I had already had kids, but my daughters reported similar experiences. They didn't have the year of spotting but a couple months of spotting then nothing.
One or two days of pain for six years of no periods and no pregnancies is a good deal I think. If you don't have sex with men I still think it's a good enough tradeoff for no periods. I left the last one in until my doctor was sure I was through menopause, that made it so easy.
Birth control pills made my migraines so much worse, and raised my blood pressure. The hormonal IUD did neither of those.