Can anyone tell me what I should expect at
my first antenatal appointment? I rang my
doctors office as I found out I am
pregnant this morning and they said they
are going to send me a letter for my first
antenatal appointment.
I know I will have a blood test but what
is this for? And what other things will
they do?
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KatieFlower
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Feb 2006 Posts: 407 Location: Massachusetts, U>S>A
Posted: 07-20-07 09:33am
Okay, I am not totally sure about what the
blood tests are for, but for my first
appointment they checked height and
weight, checked my breasts, and did a
pelvic exam. That was how my first one
went.
Okay thank you.What is the pelvic exam
for? And why did they check your breasts?
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cln1812
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Jul 2006 Posts: 527 Location: La Porte, TX
Thanks: 1
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Posted: 07-20-07 10:09am
Well, it's actually a prenatal appt.,
right since the antenatal appt. comes
after the baby is born?
Anyway, at my first prenatal appt., I had
to pee in a cup, get weight & blood
pressure checked, have a breast exam &
pap smear, got a transvaginal ultrasound
to date the pregnancy (they didn't see
much at that point since it was so early),
and then had a ton of bloodwork done at
the lab. I know they check your levels of
HCG (the pregnancy hormone) and probably
your progesterone levels too (since low
progesterone could indicate an impending
miscarriage), but I think some of the
other bloodwork is to check for STDs like
chylmidia and gonorrhea and they checked
iron for anemia and goodness knows what
all. It was like 7 tubes of blood or
something. I thought I was going to pass
out since I'm not good with bloodwork
& needles at all.
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kaerbear
Most Diplomatic Poster
Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Posts: 1557 Location: ,
Posted: 07-20-07 10:25am
cln1812
wrote:
Well, it's actually a
prenatal appt., right since the antenatal
appt. comes after the baby is born?
Anyway, at my first prenatal appt., I had
to pee in a cup, get weight & blood
pressure checked, have a breast exam &
pap smear, got a transvaginal ultrasound
to date the pregnancy (they didn't see
much at that point since it was so early),
and then had a ton of bloodwork done at
the lab. I know they check your levels of
HCG (the pregnancy hormone) and probably
your progesterone levels too (since low
progesterone could indicate an impending
miscarriage), but I think some of the
other bloodwork is to check for STDs like
chylmidia and gonorrhea and they checked
iron for anemia and goodness knows what
all. It was like 7 tubes of blood or
something. I thought I was going to pass
out since I'm not good with bloodwork
& needles at
all.
mine was exactly the same except for the
breast exam
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Becky
Especially EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Jan 2006 Posts: 6224 Location: London, England
Thanks: 0
Thanked:7
Posted: 07-20-07 10:46am
over here they are called antenatal
(during pregnancy) and post natal (after)
my mum just had her first appointment and
i went with her. he weighed her, asked
about her family history and basic medical
history, weighed her did her height, asked
her to pee in a cup, did blood tests and
scheduled her for an ultraound because she
doesn't know her lmp (last menstrual
period).
At my ones it was pretty much the same
except i usually knew my lmp so they got
this little circle thing out which
calculates your edd (estimated delivery
date)
Thank you for your replies! I am so
excited How early
can you hear the baby's heart beat?
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Bridget
Moderator
Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Posts: 10817 Location: ,
Thanks: 61
Thanked:42
Posted: 07-20-07 11:47am
mrs_pregnant
wrote:
Thank you for your replies!
I am so excited How early
can you hear the baby's heart
beat?
i heard my baby's via doppler at 9 weeks
exactly, but that's early. i think 12
weeks is more the norm but then some
people still don't hear it until around
14. it's different for everyone.
We don't mind. A girl would be nice but
equally so would a boy. My sister has a
boy and a girl she's very lucky.
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sillyakchick
Supporter
Joined: 12 Apr 2007 Posts: 2688
Thanks: 5
Thanked:0
Posted: 07-20-07 12:29pm
beckster
wrote:
over here they are called
antenatal (during pregnancy) and post
natal (after)
my mum just had her first appointment and
i went with her. he weighed her, asked
about her family history and basic medical
history, weighed her did her height, asked
her to pee in a cup, did blood tests and
scheduled her for an ultraound because she
doesn't know her lmp (last menstrual
period).
At my ones it was pretty much the same
except i usually knew my lmp so they got
this little circle thing out which
calculates your edd (estimated delivery
date)
How early
can you hear the baby's heart beat?
