When I hear doctors appointment, the first thing I think about is the long wait in the waiting room we are all accustomed to. Well, this wait is even longer…. You may have to wait 5 or more weeks like I did when you use an early response pregnancy test. Let the waiting begin….. I guess you should get used to it as you have 9 months of it!
Once you call your doctor and tell them your LMP, the waiting game begins. I would say the first several weeks until the first doctors appointment are the most nerve wrecking. My doctors office would not see me until I was 9 weeks from my LMP, so I had 5 weeks of waiting for any confirmation more than the pregnancy test I took.
Questions bombarded my head: Is there really a baby growing in me? Is he/ she OK in there? Are these symptoms normal? I don’t have any symptoms is that normal? Is it an ectopic pregnancy? If you are like me you are probably looking up what you should be feeling to confirm you do indeed have a viable pregnancy. I did that and if it puts your mind at ease, please do. However, google can seemingly increase your paranoia as it will inevitably pull up something you never even thought of!
I had absolutely ZERO symptoms for the first several weeks and really negligible symptoms the entire first trimester which actually made me more nervous! I had no nausea, which I realize I was one of the lucky few but it always made me wonder if everything was OK. These are some of the issues with the ability to look up anything and everything.
If you haven’t already, make sure you are taking your prenatal vitamin every day. I had been taking vitaPearl, but now I just take the NatureMade Prenatal Multi + DHA. You can find these at Costco for about $15 for 150 pills. vitaPearl was originally covered by my insurance, but when I switched to a new prescription insurance the monthly cost went from $5 to $60! So Costco it was!
In the weeks up to that first doctor’s appointment make sure to take your prenatals every day, change your diet if you need to (cut out alcohol and smoking if you do either), eat healthy and keep up your daily routine and exercise. You can also make the decision if/ when you would like to tell your family or very close friends about your pregnancy.
Once we found out we were pregnant we had a busy schedule before the first doctors appointment, with two out of state trips already planned and a 5K we were signed up for. In being the first pregnancy I was sure to google if it was safe for me to fly and I spoke to my Doctor on the phone who told me it would be fine and to keep up my normal routine of running (since my body was used to it). Of course, I was still nervous to fly and was careful not to lift anything too heavy.
Our trips went great and I even started a tradition of picking up an outfit or a book from each place we visited for our new addition. Several cities have books specific to them designed for babies, which I looked for each trip.
Don’t worry the elusive wait will be over soon and you will be able to confirm your pregnancy!
