Hi ladies
I am around 7 and 1/2 weeks and my dr said that there's a test around week 12..it's a blood test with special ultrasoud to detect Down's Syndrome or Trisomy.. its more for mother over age of 35..
I signed up for it (Im 22) just in case but thinking to cancel and just go when 16-18 weeks. Then they still test the baby. The only thing is that if I cancel the one in January this means my next one will be in March and don't know if ill be patient enough to see my baby till then.. maybe just request an ultrasound around end of January?
Any suggestions ladies? How often do you go and when is your next visit?

Thank you!!!!
Marry Christmas to all and Happy New Year!!!

I have never saw a doctor through the pregnancy - in the UK its a midwife we see.

I saw midwife at 13wks when I had a scan - then 16wks for the downs blood tests.

After that - every 6wks or so.

You said maybe you could just request an ultrasound - thats great if you can - you would certainly not be able to do that here - unless it was an emergency and you were having pains etc.

Merry Christmas

My first midwife appointment was when I was 10 wks with a scan at 12 wks. The next one wasn't until I was 16 wks then 24 wks, 28, 32, 34, 36, 38 now 40 wks. My scans were at 12 wks, 20 wks and a private 4D scan at 28 wks.

Here in Ontario you see the doc/mw around every 4-5 weeks until the 3rd trimester or so, then it's every 2 weeks and for the last month every week.

I'm under the care of a great obgyn and go for check-ups / scans every 3 weeks. Once I reach 3rd tri I'll have weekly appointments.

im from pennsylvania and here you go about once per month, the 2nd to the last month is every other week, and the last month is every week. Could be more or less throughout the pregnancy depending on needs/high risk.

My doctor has scheduled appointments for me every 4 weeks during the first trimester. She said that will change as the pregnancy progresses, but didn't give me a specific schedule. She said they do the first ultrasound sometime during weeks 16-18 to screen for birth defects. If I was unsure about the date of conception - if I didn't know the date of my last menstrual period or if I had irregular cycles - then she would do an earlier ultrasound to date the pregnancy. I also had the option to do the early 12 week birth defect screening ultrasound, but have chosen not to do that.

Ultrasound is a great tool to help doctors keep you and the baby healthy during pregnancy, but it's still a source of energy, and it is probably best to limit your baby's exposure to only those scans that are really necessary. For example, I personally wouldn't ask for a scan just to see the baby, or get a picture of the baby. Just my two cents, though.

Yours was similar with my first pregnancy. I looked at my old diary entries....

I had my first midwife appt at 10 weeks, 20 wks, 24 wks, 32 wks, 36 wks

scan at 12 wks, 20 wks, 29 wks, 32 wks, 36 wks,

consultant appts at 12 wks, 21 wks, 28 wks, 30wks, 32 wks, 38 wks and 40 wks.

I understand that you would have fewer scans with subsequest pregnancies except when you are high risk.

I agree with vermillionsky about the appt schedule and the ultrasounds. It seems to vary greatly on location tho as far as both go. I asked my doc why we only get one scan at 20 weeks and he said altho ultrasound does not us radioactive waves it still shoots high frequency sound waves at the baby. More testing needs to be done on the affects of U/S. After he told me that I was fine on having one scan. That's my opinion tho. Good luck!

Edit; I also wanted to mention that there is an extremely high rate of false positive with those genetic abnormality tests. If it comes back + they will usually want to do an amnio. The risks of amnios are high also. So if you get a false + with the blood test and nothing is wrong doing an amnio could cause problems. They most commonly see a baby being born with a wrong number of fingers or toes. We chose not to take the risk of having it done since my OH and I are under 30 and have no family history of problems. Also we knew we would not abort even if it was positive so why put ourselves through that stress? You should always make your decision on what's best for you. Just do your research before you agree or disagree to tests involving your most precious gift.

I asked my mw about the risks of amnio and she said the numbers for the hospital I would get it done at (if my risk is determined to be high) is less than 1% for miscarriage. After looking at several sites online, they all say the risk is between 1 in 200 and 1 in 400 or higher. That may be too high a risk for many people, but I unfortunately have known people who have found out from their amnio that their baby is severely disabled and will not survive anyhow. It is a risk that is up to each individual to make for themselves.