Before you go through with tubal ligation (a surgical procedure) ask your doctor about Essure contraceptive implants. They take up to six months to "take", but once they do your tubes are blocked--and NO STITCHES to heal up from.
I had them put in August 2007, had to go through the HSG (not a pleasant test, but still beat recovering from surgery) test twice to confirm because they didn't take in three months, and have been OK since. The only problem I had was some cramping both after they were placed and after the HSG, but it wasn't much worse than my periods. They also recommend abstinence from vaginal sex both after placement and after confirmation to avoid infections.
My doctor put me under to place the implants, but some don't bother with general anesthesia. Although the confirmation test (hysterosalpingogram) isn't pleasant, at least I didn't have a surgery recovery.
More information is available from www.essure.com if you're interested. I also got some data from www.webmd.com after plugging "essure" into their search.
Above all, make sure you want to be PERMANENTLY sterilized before you go through either procedure. These procedures should be considered irreversible.