A guide to your pregnancy
The first step of your pregnancy, after seeing the little positive stick, or missing your period is for you to have it confirmed. Call immediately to have a pregnancy test done with your doctor or a lab, the doctor will most likely run a blood pregnancy test as these are more accurate than urine tests. Once the pregnancy has been confirmed there are certain things to do.
Set up an appointment to see your OB/GYN or midwife as soon as possible. This is the first appointment where your doctor/midwife will want to know all your medical history. If you have been pregnant before, what types of sicknesses run in your family, etc. If you can, try making sure you know all of this ahead of time, maybe even have it all down on paper so when he/she asks you are prepared. During the days or weeks leading up to this meeting you may have concerns, write them down and ask them.
Believe it or not doctors are there to help you, and they have been asked every question you can possibly think of. Before leaving your doctor may even give you a bag full of goodies all about being pregnant. Your doctor will either give you another appointment or have you set one up before leaving. There are some great books out there if you are really worried about what will happen next or how birth is going to be, check them out.
Make sure that you get your prenatal vitamins, they are very important during pregnancy. If for some reason you can’t take them, talk with your doctor he/she may be able to prescribe something else. You will get your first ultrasound, around week 20, this is normally when you can find out what sex the baby is. However some doctors like to call it safe and give you an ultrasound around 10-12 weeks just to make sure the baby is in the proper location and all is going well. You will also be asked to take an orange drink that you must drink in five minutes. You will wait around for an hour to three hours, at which point your blood gets drawn and you can go home. The test determines if you have or have a chance of getting gestational diabetes.
At first your appointments will be about 4 weeks apart until you hit the 36 week and at that point it will be two weeks later and a week later after that until the baby is born. By now you should be preparing to have the baby. Ensure you stay healthy and positive, it is a good idea to practice pelvic exercises to keep the pelvic strong towards the delivery date.