Removal Question re pain, and belly swelling

I have had the Mirena IUD for about 10 months. I had it inserted at my 6 week postpartum checkup after having my second child. It was terrible getting it inserted - much worse pain than a pap, - perhaps because I had two scheduled c-sections and have never had labor which my doc said women who have had regular births had less pain at insertion. Either way, since then I have really not had much trouble with it except for the occasional headache. I have an appointment on Oct. 3 to have it removed since my husband had a vasectomy and has recently been given the "all clear" and we figured after reading this forum and what awful experiences other women have had that its better not to have it. My question is - does it hurt as badly to remove as it did to insert?

Also, in reading other messages, women have mentioned that it caused belly swelling and it was reduced after removal. I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight but for some reason, in spite of running, tons of ab work, and healthy eating, my belly appears to be swollen all the time. I had chalked it up to the fact that I had baby (and c-section) #2 and maybe it wouldn't go flat again, but do you think it really is swelling considering I haven't really had other side effects? Tweet