1st appointment set - Page 3

[ShwarmaQueen]

Originally Posted by mariacm

Waiting to hear back now from the MW to make sure they don't risk me out for my MTHFR... keep your : for me please!!!

What's that?

[brightonwoman]

Originally Posted by MrsReady2bMama

How soon is it visible on the u/s? Six weeks? I will either be 5w5d or 6w3d at my appt!

The baby is about the size of a grain of rice at 5/6 weeks, so yes, they can see it just barely at that point. There's a good chance they'll have to do a vaginal ultrasound to see it at that point, but (I guess maybe they dont' for everyone, but I am one of the 10% of women who have a tilted uterus, so I don't 'pop up' until 10-11wks, and before that they can't see anything through the front.)

Originally Posted by ShwarmaQueen

Yes! My thing is that all major organ systems are forming up to 10 wks...I'm a little paranoid about the effect of the u/s...

I've been thinking about that. I keep reading that ultrasound is harmful for developing tissues (um, babies?!) so I'm feeling very hesitant to do extra ones--we'll get the 20wk one, but I'm inclined to avoid the early one, you know?
On the other hand, being post-miscarriage AND night-nursing (ie, my chart was nuts), I would kinda like a confirmation of my dates. I currently have an appointment scheduled for about 6w but I think I'm going to reschedule and push it out to 10 weeks. I'm debating even that a little bit though...

I live in an extremely rural area and will have to take a ferry and/or seaplane into Juneau to see anybody. With my last pregnancy I just opted to not see anyone until my second trimester (this was following three miscarriages in the 12-14wk range, which just proved to me that there wasn't much point in going before then). I had my first appt about 12 wks I think, and actually ended up switching practitioners for a variety of reasons, which meant that my first 'normal' appointment (ie, that was anything more than a consultation) was at like 17wks.
I feel like they never did much at my prenatal appointments, and it makes me really want to just UP...but I want to deliver at a birthing center, so I know I'll need to have some prenatal appointments with them if they're to be expected to take me for the birth. The thing is, we're almost certainly moving around 16-19wks (don't have an exact date) so I'm somewhat inclined to not bother seeing anyone before we go, and then just see someone once we move...

When do you do your first appointment? It sounds like a lot of us here aer getting it at 5/6wks, but I know my midwives/drs from before have said they don't usually bother before 10wks... What is your reasoning for starting when you do?

[ShwarmaQueen]

Originally Posted by brightonwoman

When do you do your first appointment? It sounds like a lot of us here aer getting it at 5/6wks, but I know my midwives/drs from before have said they don't usually bother before 10wks... What is your reasoning for starting when you do?

I'm in a bit of a predicament here. Since the spotting started I've been all schitzy that I'm miscarrying. So, I got an order from my PCP to go get a u/s in addition to the bloodwork. Here's what I'm thinking, if my blood work comes back normal from Thurs and Sat (meaning it doubles) then I might not do the u/s. If it comes back weird though, I think I will do the 6wk u/s. Does that sound right?

I'm also moving my 'dating' u/s back to 11 wks if all goes well (as originally planned).

[mariacm]

If I had gone with my gyn as OB, he'd have seen me at 8 weeks to do sono for heartbeat since I have a higher risk of miscarriage than most bc of my MTHFR mutation (see below). However, since I'm going with a MW, they normally start at 12 weeks but are starting at about 9 for me.

MTHFR mutation is a gene mutation you inherit which can cause you to clot too much. For some, it's a risk in general for stroke and such. Not so much for me. For others, the main concern is that the placenta can clot and then you miscarry (happened to my sis, which is how we discovered it).

So the MW is talking to their backup OB to make sure she doesn't consider it too risky to birth out of hospital. I do'nt see why they would, since the risk is too much clotting, not bleeding out, but who knows.

[ShwarmaQueen]

Originally Posted by mariacm

MTHFR mutation is a gene mutation you inherit which can cause you to clot too much. For some, it's a risk in general for stroke and such. Not so much for me. For others, the main concern is that the placenta can clot and then you miscarry (happened to my sis, which is how we discovered it).

My husband has the Lupus anticoagulant. It's very scary for him, but it would be terrifying for me to carry children. Are you going to be on warfarin or lovenox while preggo?

[mariacm]

Originally Posted by ShwarmaQueen

My husband has the Lupus anticoagulant. It's very scary for him, but it would be terrifying for me to carry children. Are you going to be on warfarin or lovenox while preggo?

No, I don't have to be on anti-coags at all. I just take a B-complex (all the time) called Folgard Rx, plus Prenate Elite prenatals while ttc/preg which have a different form of folate.

MTHFR basically screws with how you absorb/use folic acid, so if you can get enough in that you can use, you should be able to prevent problems. If you have a worse case than me, some ppl go on aspirin or heparin during preg.

[ShwarmaQueen]

Originally Posted by mariacm

No, I don't have to be on anti-coags at all. I just take a B-complex (all the time) called Folgard Rx, plus Prenate Elite prenatals while ttc/preg which have a different form of folate.

MTHFR basically screws with how you absorb/use folic acid, so if you can get enough in that you can use, you should be able to prevent problems. If you have a worse case than me, some ppl go on aspirin or heparin during preg.

Good to hear it can be managed. : Hope your pregnancy goes down without a hitch!

[mariacm]

Originally Posted by ShwarmaQueen

Good to hear it can be managed. : Hope your pregnancy goes down without a hitch!

Thanks, shwarma! Me too!