When are you supposed to first visit hospital?

Hi there, I'm 11 weeks pregnant and over the moon. The only thing irritating me at the moment is not knowing what to do. O.K, I need to see my GP, I need ultrasounds, I need to go for check ups at hospital. etc. I've been to see my GP, I had an ultrasound at 7 weeks because I was worried about miscarrying again, and had some blood tests done there as well. Went back to discuss ultrasound and let my GP know which hospital I would be going to. Anyone got any nightmare or nice hospital storys to assist me? I'm tempted to change my choice of hospital because the earliest they could book me in was at 15 weeks. Is this normal or am I carrying on like a worried pork chop for nothing? What will my first visit at hospital entail apart from loads of paperwork? Will I get an ultrasound done there? Do I suddenly get another doctor dealing with me from now until I give birth? At what stages should I have an ultrasound? What about antenatal classes? What's going on? I thought I would be guided through this stuff and not have to play guessing games myself. All you mums make it look so easy! HELP! P.S- I'm from Melbourne.

Hi super

I didn't book into my hosiptal (werribee mercy) until about 15 weeks (I'm 27 weeks now) and there was nothing medical about it - just paper work and a bit of a tour which was really good.

I know how you feel though as my mum is interstate and so I often feel really alone (thats why I love this forum!!! thanks girls:o))

My ob is pretty unhelpful so I know what you mean about the guessing games but I would suggest getting an ob/gyn pretty soon and ask him/her those questions that are bothering you.

Anytime you feel like chatting drop me a line at stephaniedavy@optusnet.com.au

Hi Super,

My advice would be to ring your hospital yourself and find out what they have available!

My first pregnancy was considered "shared care", which meant my GP looked after me for all my normal antenatel appointments, ultrasounds and blood tests! I had a "booking in" appointment at the hospital at about 20wks, then a check up at 36wks! After that i went weekly to the hospital from 38wks!

Last pregnancy i saw the Community midwives, which are a team of 10 midwives that are based at the hospital! The idea being by the time you deliver, you have probably met the midwife who will be delivering your baby. A very nice personal service i loved! They also came for home visits in the first few days! Each of the ladies was very friendly and professional!

These are just a few options that may be on offer for you! There are so many things to be done at certain times, you need someone who knows what they are talking about!

This is also a great place to ask all the questions you want!

Best of luck,
Tepe

Hi Super,

I hope I can help you out!!!

I am 10 weeks pregnant with my 2nd baby and have "been there done that" am a little wiser second time round. I am a lot more assertive with my GP too. I insisted on an ultrasound at 8 weeks because I have a history of miscarriages too. I told my doctor that I wanted the same share care arrangement I had with my first Pregnancy ( this is a different GP to my frist pregnancy). I go to my GP for all my regular check ups, blood pressure, blood tests, weigh ins etc. I got to a private clinic as a public patient to see my midwife and obstetrician for specialty treatments and check ups. It is so easy to feel like you are on your own. I had a 12 week appointment with my OB and midwife for my first pregnancy, then saw my GP till 18 weeks, then returned to my OB at 19 weeks and had another ultrasound. Then I saw my GP as required and my OB as requested. You just need to be assertive and tell ou rGp and OB what you want from them. If you are unhappy then see some one else. I went through the public System in Qld and was treated very well. I will be doing the same again. I reccomend Antenatal classes for frist timers and get a tour of your hospital of choice as well.

I WOULD LOVE TO TELL YOU MORE.... BUT MY DAUGHTER IS SCREAMING AT ME IN A FOUL RAGE.

Hope this helps a little, have to run......

Michelle smile

Hi again Super,

I felt that I needed to come back and appologise for my abrupt ending to my last post. My 12 month old decided to throw a monster tantrum... something she has just recently discovered.

The very first thing you need to do is find yourself a good GP someone that you feel comfortable with, someone you can talk to and tell them that you need them to help you through each step. Shared care is pretty common, because it doesn't make sense to take up valuable time with an OB for blood pressure check ups and the like. I found the midwives to be the best to deal with anyway and my daughter was delivered by 2 midwives.

Besides all that get yourself a good book on pregnancy and educate yourself a little. Doctors aren't the be all, end all.

Keep us posted on your progress. Would love to hear from you. When are you due??

Michelle :0

I didn't get booked in for an unltrasound with my 2nd till I was 18 weeks, and yes I was worried as I had just had a miscarriage about 4 months earlier! everything turned out fine and I now have a little 3 month girl to go with my 3 year old son! I went public with both and found this hospital to be great! All the midwives were so wonderful and friendly and I still run into the one that delivered my first and have a great old chat with her!! Hospitals can be daunting but don't fret they are usually have pretty helpful and friendly people working in them!

Hey Stephanie,

Congratulations. Is this your first baby? I'm sorry your mum is interstate, it must make life difficult for you. I hope you at least have a partner or a close friend who can share this amazing experience with you. My situation's different from yours in that my mum is around, it's just that she's so excited (she's been waiting for years) that I worry she'll 'take over'.

Thanks for the advice, my doctor has organised an ob for me and I'll be meeting up with him soon. After listening to friends with children, I got private health cover which I now regret doing. I really wanted a female ob but they are scarce and expensive, so now I'm going with a male ob for heaps cheaper. After paying all that money for private cover, heaps of people have decided to now tell me that public is just as good. I'm not rich (got pregnant whilst looking for work actually, which means I'm relying on hubby for income and I hate that), but I want the best during this mega important time of my life.

I just had my second ultrasound yesterday. I knew there would be a difference with this one and that this time i would be able to see limbs. I wasn't prepared for how emotional I would be though.
I know I'm not the first person to be pregnant but it's just so amazing. I don't know what your reaction was like but I looooved it. Can't wait for the next ultrasound.

I haven't been able to get into my email account for a few days which is why I'm responding to you through the forum. Would like you to keep me posted though. When are you due?

Till next time, take care.

Hey everybody,

Thanks so much mum78, Stephanie, Tepe and Maddychelle for all your advice. You guys have been great.

Tepe, I cannot be bothered calling the hospital for details because I know I'll get some busy bitch who doesn't feel like working answering my questions abruptly and rudely. That's why i'll wait until my first appointment at hospital to ask all my questions, people are much nicer when it's face-to-face. For the moment, I'll use this forum so that people such as your lovely self can answer my questions!!!!!! You say you have 2 under 2, are you pregnant at the moment?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maddychelle, congratulations on being pregnant with baby number two, you're at early stages too, hope all goes well for you. I'll certainly keep the shared care arrangement in mind, most people seem to be happy with this type of care. Sounds like you are going to have your hands full when number two comes along. Question: Did you feel 'off' whilst being pregnant prior to the miscarriage? I ask this because I felt really tired and had very strong period like pains before mine. And yet, with this pregnancy I feel completely different. I'm not as tired, the pains are to be expected but they are not half as bad now. As far as reading goes, I haven't stopped. The books are great for telling you what is happening to your body and how to look after yourself but they don't help with knowing when to go for ultrasounds and the like. Got any books you can recommend? When am i due? Very close to your due date actually- July 9th according to my calculations, July 14th according to my first ultrasound and July 12th according to my last ultrasound. In short, early July.

Mum 78, nobody seems to be telling me the names of the actual hospitals they've been to. Are we not allowed to say or are you all not from Melbourne? How is life treating you with two little ones? How far gone were you when you had the miscarriage? Sorry to go on about miscarriages everyone but I'm really curious, did you feel any different compared to your other two? Did you find giving birth the second time around less difficult/ painful than the first time around?

Well kids, I wish you all a happy new year, may all your dreams and wishes come true. Don't get used to the long letters, I don't have children like most of you yet so i'm guessing they'll be much shorter when that time comes! Next question, anybody got any comments on what they used to relieve the pain when giving birth. I'm hoping for a natural pregnancy- am I dreaming or am i just nuts?

Super.

Nadine,

We meet again!! Did you have both your children at Toowoomba Base? That is where I had my daughter. I found them to be fantastic and am headed back there for this baby too.

Michelle

Hi Super (Hi everyone else too)

yes my first baby (I'm 26) and very excited and quite anxious but I'm sure that is normal. My mum and dad are both really excited I'm an only child so they have been waiting a while too gasp)

I don't have private health cover and was lucky enough to find an ob who bulk bills!!!! So I am happy enough with him. I stopped working at 12 weeks due to feeling incredibly sick so its been pretty hard financially but I guess mostly because we were so used to wasting so much money!!!

Haha you ask about my second ultrasound? I threw up in the poor womans garbage bin. Needless to say it never got finished and my ob was happy for me to not try again so at least that solved the problem of whether to find out the sex or not gasp)

I'm due 30/3 and our wedding anniversary (4 years) is the 26th so that is pretty exciting plus having a birthdat 4/4/04 would be cool too but I know this little wriggly monkey will come out when (s)he is good and ready gasp)

Where abouts in melbourne are you living? Do you know what hospital you are going to go to?

Talk to you soon and hope you can get into your email soon.

To everyone else - sorry this was directed mostly at super but at least you all know a little about me now.

Big hugs

Stephanie

Hi Super, and all other wonderful people out there,

NO, i am not pregnant, I have a 2.5 year old and a 6 month bubba, they are 23 months apart. Who knows what could be on the horizon though!!

So glad to hear you sounding much more positive... it is such a daunting experience without support and guidence. Good on you for finding a Ob that bulk bills.

Hope to see you around this site, mainly so i can be a stickey beek, and hear all about your pregnancy!

Wishing you all the best for 2004, may it be filled with joy and excitement,

Tepe

Hi Super,

So great to hear back from you!!

Well to answer your questions about miscarriages (I feel like I know a bit about this having gone through it twice) I had no morning sickness before both of my miscarriages, I had some abdominal cramping but that was about all. Then at about 9 - 10 weeks both times I just had some light bleeding. I went straight to bed, elevated my feet and tried not to stress, but the bleeding got heavier and then the abdominal pain got increasingly worse. Off to the doctor I went knowing with a heavy heart that the news wasn't going to be good. I was sent off to have emergency ultrasounds, only to be shown and told there was no heart beat and in cold clinical terms - I had a non-viable foetus inside me. I was sent off to hospital both times to have D&C's (evacuations) done. It required a full day in hospital and a full aneasthetic. After each proceedure I woke up crying and in pain. But it just made me more determined to fall pregnant and 3rd time lucky we got our perfect precious daughter. I had lots of morning sickness with my daughter and very little abdominal cramping. With my current pregnancy I have had sparratic morning sickness, lots of nuasea, and very little cramping... but I have been very tired up until the past week. I am 10 weeks now and going strong. I am not 100% sure of my due date by approximation I am due 21 July, by ultrasound at 8 weeks, 3 days I am due 30 July, so I'll wait and see what they think at the 18 - 20 weeks scan. Then I'll just wait and see what date the baby chooses!

I am going to find out the sex of the baby, are you? Do you want to know? I am so impaient. I can't wait 9 months to find out.

To answer your other question about books, well a book I bought and has been great for me last time and this time so far is called "What to expect when you're Expecting" by Arlene Eisenburg, Heidi Murkoff & Sandee Hathaway. It breaks everything down month by month. The other book I found helpful is called "Antenatal Care" By Dr. Miriam Stoppard. It is only a small book, but goes into details about all the tests to expect, the equipment used, the sort of birth you want, medical emergencies to be aware of, step by step routine care etc. I aslo bought a magazine called "She's Having A Baby" It was brought out by "SHE" Magazine. It has some good ideas and articles in it, plus pictures of the developing baby (real ones) and a week by week breakdown for what to expect.

Wow, I hope this the information you wanted. I didn't tell you the name of my hospital because I live in South East Queensland and it would be of no use to you.

Good luck with the weeks and months ahead smile I look forward to hearing more from you.

All the best,
Michelle (maddychelle)