Any Mamas wait until the 2nd tri to see an OB?

[Ottbabies]

I want to have the min amt of prenatal visits as needed and will be seeing an OB for the first time next month, I have been checking my BP daily, eating healthy etc but has anyone ever had to deal with any animosity because you waited so long to go in? or have to deal with any questions about it? I guess that is all I am nervous about!

[ScarletBegonias]

i've always waited until about 12 weeks, to see if i would miscarry or not. the one pregnancy i did book a mw appt right away was the 3rd m/c i had. so i've learned that waiting is best for my mental health and resources.

[ursusarctos]

I plan to wait. I went to the first appointment when I thought I was pregnant in order to get an ultrasound and I realized they don't have anything I need in the first trimester and there was no reason for me to go there before 20 weeks or so (when I would like to have an ultrasound).

[MJB]

I'm planning to have a few visits this pregnancy (none the last). I just called and got in with the CNM practice, they will schedule my appt. after I come fill out papers. I'll be 11 weeks when I go in and do the papers next week, so I'm guessing my first appt. will be somewhere between 12-14 weeks. I can't imagine they'll have a problem with it. I only want 2-3 prenatals so I can get the quad screen and an ultrasound. After 20 weeks I don't plan to see anyone.

[onyxravnos]

i saw some supportive mw's for prenatal care but just in case i needed to go to hospital i wanted an OB to have some idea of who i was and have my chart on hand. I didn't make an OB apt until i was 39 weeks. saw him all of twice

[1babysmom]

Well she wasn't an OB, but I waited until 24 weeks to start my MW appts last pregnancy.

[fwlady]

Many OBs won't take you until you hit 20 wks (wth?). Others won't take you even as a transfer at or after 20 wks. I started my prenatal care at 12 wks. Kymberli

[UCmamaToMany]

I'm around 12 weeks and still haven't made my OB appointment. I'm still waiting for insurance cards to arrive in the mail, but I usually wait until I am 12 weeks or later before calling an OB for an appointment.

I've never had a problem. I've had dumb questions like "Well, how do you know you're pregnant?" asked of me. But that's be about it. :

I wouldn't worry. I think some prefer you not come before the 2nd trimester. I mean seriously they can't really do anything for you other than answer questions and try and make nervous 1st time moms feel "at ease" with everything going on; or to calm down nuerotic worry warts over every little spot of blood they see. But that's just my 2¢ worth.

I don't think you'll have any problem.

[~RememberToForget~]

With both of my babies i waited until 14 weeks.

[rlmueller]

19 weeks

Fought off a dating sono with the midwives and won. No animosity whatsoever. Maybe should've waited longer even, but wanted to be able to be taken as a client.

[Ottbabies]

Thanks Mamas! Our first delay was because of insurance, DH had just started a job, then I decided that I would be in charge this pregnancy and started doing my research which has led us to feel UC is right for us so I thought that waiting until I was 20 weeks to see the OB was a good idea but then I started feeling that maybe the OB wouldn't be so receptive that I waited so long to see them (I saw an OB with my first @ 8 weeks lol)

but you all have good points and I feel more at ease.

[Sarah Faith]

I really wish more women would wait. At least until 10 weeks. I thought it was funny when I booked my first appointment for this last pregnancy (with CNM's at a birth center) and they were all worried b/c they didn't have any appointments nearby (I called at like 6 weeks) I said "it's fine, I really don't want to be seen until at least 10 weeks anyways". I don't like early US and if they can't even hear a hb on a doppler what is the point of the appointment?

I have a poor friend who just went through a miscarriage. I swear the emotional impact was compounded by the tons of appointments she had. She went right in at 4 or 5 weeks and then they did an US right away. They didn't see a fetal pole and so they were very negative (even though they wouldn't see one that early even with a viable pregnancy) She was all excited and the tech was kinda a jerk when my friend said "oh, my baby" the woman said "its just a blob" then she kept going back over and over for bloodwork and u/s and then they decided she had a miscarriage and they gave her a D&C without even giving her the option to try to miscarry naturally.
Have you guys ever seen the website misdiagnosed miscarriage? It is all these stories about women who were told they had miscarried but go on to have healthy pregnancies. All I think when I read it is how all that heartache can be avoided by just waiting to see a doctor until later.

[UCmamaToMany]

Originally Posted by Sarah Faith

I really wish more women would wait. At least until 10 weeks. I thought it was funny when I booked my first appointment for this last pregnancy (with CNM's at a birth center) and they were all worried b/c they didn't have any appointments nearby (I called at like 6 weeks) I said "it's fine, I really don't want to be seen until at least 10 weeks anyways". I don't like early US and if they can't even hear a hb on a doppler what is the point of the appointment?

I have a poor friend who just went through a miscarriage. I swear the emotional impact was compounded by the tons of appointments she had. She went right in at 4 or 5 weeks and then they did an US right away. They didn't see a fetal pole and so they were very negative (even though they wouldn't see one that early even with a viable pregnancy) She was all excited and the tech was kinda a jerk when my friend said "oh, my baby" the woman said "its just a blob" then she kept going back over and over for bloodwork and u/s and then they decided she had a miscarriage and they gave her a D&C without even giving her the option to try to miscarry naturally.
Have you guys ever seen the website misdiagnosed miscarriage? It is all these stories about women who were told they had miscarried but go on to have healthy pregnancies. All I think when I read it is how all that heartache can be avoided by just waiting to see a doctor until later.

I haven't but would LOVE the link!

I agree with you, thouh. I may sign up on Due Date board but I can't STAND reading about women going in for multiple "routine" u/s at 4, 6, 8, and 10 weeks and then at their 12 week appointment told they miscarried. Part of me wants to just type "Maybe you shouldn't have has so many ultrasounds! Perhaps your baby would be alive!" of course I can't ad I don't know that for sure either, but it makes me wonder.

I also couldn't let a doctor "take" my baby from my body no matter how dead s/he thought it was because I've read too many stories like the one you described where they were told they miscarried but went on to have babies.

So I have a really hard time reading on mainstream boards for the first 16 weeks.

My last baby ended in a miscarriage, and while I was scared throughout the beginning of this pregnancy not once did I ever consider having an early u/s "to see" if baby was okay because I didn't want to increase it's risk of a miscarriage! I've heard the heartbeat now with my home doppler and I am satisfied until I can get that u/s after 20 weeks.

[1babysmom]

I don't know...while I wouldn't and don't do a ton of u/s's now just because I feel differently about them (not against them completely, just think the majority of them are unecessary), but I lost my first few babies so I did go in early for an u/s at 6 weeks with my DD1 then had one or two more before the 2nd tri. It really made a difference for me to be able to SEE one of my babies for once, even though I knew it wouldn't improve the outcome (though we were trying to figure out WHY I was miscarrying). I don't know, maybe I wouldn't have felt that way had I had children BEFORE my miscarriages rather than the losses having occurred before I'd ever had a live birth... I know it's common here to be absolutely anti-u/s, but I'd have felt horrible if someone commented on me having early ones after my m/c's, when it was a VERY special time for me.

[ScarletBegonias]

Originally Posted by UCmamaToMany

I can't STAND reading about women going in for multiple "routine" u/s at 4, 6, 8, and 10 weeks and then at their 12 week appointment told they miscarried. Part of me wants to just type "Maybe you shouldn't have has so many ultrasounds! Perhaps your baby would be alive!" of course I can't ad I don't know that for sure either, but it makes me wonder.

actually, your instincts are right on! here's an excerpt from an article about ultrasound. ultrasound DOES CAUSE MISCARRIAGE, BIRTH DEFECTS, INTRAUTERINE DEATH and PTL.


"Obstetricians in Michigan (Lorenz et al., 1990) studied fifty-seven women who were at risk of giving birth prematurely. Half were given a weekly ultrasound examination; the rest had pelvic examinations. Preterm labour was more than doubled in the ultrasound group–52 percent–compared with 25 percent in the controls. Although the numbers were small the difference was unlikely to have emerged by chance.


A large randomised controlled trial from Helsinki (Saari-Kemppainen et al., 1990) randomly divided over 9,000 women into a group who were scanned at sixteen to twenty weeks compared with those who were not. It revealed twenty miscarriages after sixteen to twenty weeks in the screened group and none in the controls."

[UCmamaToMany]

Originally Posted by ScarletBegonias

actually, your instincts are right on! here's an excerpt from an article about ultrasound. ultrasound DOES CAUSE MISCARRIAGE, BIRTH DEFECTS, INTRAUTERINE DEATH and PTL.


"Obstetricians in Michigan (Lorenz et al., 1990) studied fifty-seven women who were at risk of giving birth prematurely. Half were given a weekly ultrasound examination; the rest had pelvic examinations. Preterm labour was more than doubled in the ultrasound group–52 percent–compared with 25 percent in the controls. Although the numbers were small the difference was unlikely to have emerged by chance.


A large randomised controlled trial from Helsinki (Saari-Kemppainen et al., 1990) randomly divided over 9,000 women into a group who were scanned at sixteen to twenty weeks compared with those who were not. It revealed twenty miscarriages after sixteen to twenty weeks in the screened group and none in the controls."

I have that article bookmarked too along with 2 others that state pretty much the same thing, including one from the FDA. Still while I'd love to say that and rant and rave on the boards, we all know it's inappropriate and we don't "know" 100% sure that was the cause, even though I believe it is, doesn't make it so. :P Why I have to be controlled on the mainstream boards, LOL

[Serenyd]

Waited until 12 weeks so I would not be pressured into an early ultrasound, which I do not feel comfortable with anymore in the 1st trimester. No one gave me any grief.

[MiaMama]

Originally Posted by ScarletBegonias

actually, your instincts are right on! here's an excerpt from an article about ultrasound. ultrasound DOES CAUSE MISCARRIAGE, BIRTH DEFECTS, INTRAUTERINE DEATH and PTL.

Oh my goodness, thank you soooo much for posting this article. My daughter had IUGR, diagnosed at 38wks 3 days via Ultrasound because of a small fundal height measurement. Since I was technically full term, they induced me right then. I tried to at least go downstairs and get breakfast first, and they brought in a wall of people to YELL at me. "You are not taking this seriously enough! You MAY NOT leave the hospital! Your baby WILL DIE!" and so on.

After she was born, 4lbs 13oz but otherwise PERFECTLY healthy, I asked why, why did this happen? They said "maybe its just genetic" "sometimes you just can't explain these things." That made me want to sue for them abducting me.

Both my mother and my husband's mother went past 41 wks. If she had stayed in another 3-4 weeks, she could have gained another pound. I don't even think 5lb 13oz is considered IUGR...

In my case, I do not think the diagnosis helped me or her at all. Thank goodness they didn't catch it at 36 or 37 wks, she could have been in the NICU for being early, just like that article said.

To the OP: I have moved/ changed insurance/ changed providers several times this pregnancy. You could always tell them you saw someone else, but are still trying to get your records.... It was the truth with me, and no one even batted an eye. It also helps for declining things you don't want. "oh, I already did that, I'll see if I can get you the records."

[Ottbabies]

Originally Posted by MiaMama

Oh my goodness, thank you soooo much for posting this article. My daughter had IUGR, diagnosed at 38wks 3 days via Ultrasound because of a small fundal height measurement. Since I was technically full term, they induced me right then. I tried to at least go downstairs and get breakfast first, and they brought in a wall of people to YELL at me. "You are not taking this seriously enough! You MAY NOT leave the hospital! Your baby WILL DIE!" and so on.

After she was born, 4lbs 13oz but otherwise PERFECTLY healthy, I asked why, why did this happen? They said "maybe its just genetic" "sometimes you just can't explain these things." That made me want to sue for them abducting me.

Both my mother and my husband's mother went past 41 wks. If she had stayed in another 3-4 weeks, she could have gained another pound. I don't even think 5lb 13oz is considered IUGR...

In my case, I do not think the diagnosis helped me or her at all. Thank goodness they didn't catch it at 36 or 37 wks, she could have been in the NICU for being early, just like that article said.

To the OP: I have moved/ changed insurance/ changed providers several times this pregnancy. You could always tell them you saw someone else, but are still trying to get your records.... It was the truth with me, and no one even batted an eye. It also helps for declining things you don't want. "oh, I already did that, I'll see if I can get you the records."

That makes sense, I am only nervous because I will be 18 weeks at my first appt.