My doctor hasn't done any blood tests

[joeyree1970]

Hi

I am new hear and just wanting some info
I am 4 weeks and 1 day pregnant and my doctor hasn't done any blood work. He was happy to agree I was pregnant when i saw him on tuesday as i had already done had 3 positive hpt in a row.

I am booked in for an ultrasound at 7 weeks and then i will see him before he refers me to a obgyn because of my age. (41 and first pregnancy)

I just did another hpt today at 14 dpo and am still positive, but am wondering if he should be doing any tests.

Should I find another doctor or is this normal.

I don't have any health issues and fell pregnant after 2 mths ttc.

Any advice would be appreciated

Jo

[willow5]

Hi there welcome and congratulations on your pregnancy

I've had 3 babies and my GP never did any bloods to work out HCG levels either. They did do bloods a little later just a general check for general well being iron levels etc

If you're worried I'm sure you can request a blood test.

Hope you have a happy healthy 9 months ahead

[k4t]

If everything is going well there's no need to have HCG bloods. But if you haven't had general pregnancy health bloods like checking your hemoglobin level, rubella immunity, blood group etc then you could ask your GP to do those now. It probably won't change anything but it will save time later and if you need extra iron etc its better to know about it earlier.

[k4t]

I also forgot to mention, if you are going privately you might want to contact an OB before 7 weeks. At least in Melbourne I've heard some of the popular ones book out very early and friends of mine have had to cry and beg to get into their preferred doctor at 8 wks

[kristi14]

Congratulations

The bloods dont normally get done until you are booked into the hospital at about the 12 to 20 wk mark. If there is no reason to check anything at this point, they wont.

[EsJay]

Both times pregnant i have had hcg tests to check they are increasing, this is not mandatory though, depends on your dr. I do think its important to know the status of rubella immunity, sti check and iron levels, as well as blood group though, but thats just me. If you had all this checked while ttc then theres no need for it again. I would recommend calling to book into an ob asap, i booked into mine at 6w last time and got the last spot available, and she said it was unusual for her to still have places by then. Private obs book out quick. wishing you a h & h pregnancy

[Miss E]

My GP has never done any tests either, just said congratulations and written me up a referral to my OB. Congrats on your pregnancy!

[Ladylove]

I didn't have any with my GP at all. My first tests were by my OB.

[OceanPrincess]

Lots of different ways to do things!

My GP orders blood tests but only to check for the pregnancy hormone and check a few other things. Did you have any tests run when you were TTC?

[Megan]

Mine didn't do any bloods either. He gave me a referral for an ultrasound to have at 8wks. I then went back to see him and get a referral to my OB. I had a 10wk appointment with OB who then ordered all the blood tests which included the down syndrome test. I booked in with my OB before I had the referral or I would never have been able to get in.

[MLR1901]

I just posted something similar ...

Go get bloods done.
I wish I had insisted earlier to get them done.
I was pretty certainly my dates etc, so thought we were 8 weeks went for scan, apparently we are 5 weeks. I personally would rather be faced with the reality of what is happening (although I'm trying to be positive) I realise the odds are against us so far.

At least bloods will pick up changes in hcg levels hence less stress of not knowing what's likley to happen.

Personal choice I guess...

Good Luck and sending sticky vibes your way.

[Ladylove]

It is perfectly normal. Some do, some don't.

[Ladylove]

oops I forgot I already responded!

[~ Mylitta ~]

My GP told me that the home pregnancy tests are so accurate these days that if I got a positive on one, then he feels no need to confirm it with a test in his office or bloods. He just writes me my referral for my Ob.

I then book in ASAP with my Ob as he often books out within the first few weeks of pregnancy. Generally Obs will want to see you at 8-10ish weeks for your first appointment at which time they'll usually send you for bloods to test things like iron levels, vit D level, rubella immunity etc, and will also organise your 12 week NT scan if you are having one.

My Ob tends to see me early (during my 6th week) as we had a loss with our first pregnancy. In my second pregnancy I also asked my GP if I could have blood tests done to check my hcg levels and he was happy to do that, so if you really want it done you can request it. My daughter was an ICSI/PGD princess so the start of her pregnancy was monitored pretty closely with scans and bloods. So basically, there are lots of ways it can all be done

Best of luck with your pregnancy and congratulations.

[Julie Doula]

If you are fit, well and healthy, you do not need to be designated as 'high risk' purely because of your age. So you actually have a choice between an obstetrician and a midwife, perhaps interview one of each to see which model of care you think suits you best?

Congratulations, how wonderful to be pregnant at 41! (I was 43 when I had my son, but he was my 4th)