whats the normal tests doctors do when pregnant

[1pj]

Hi!Im pregnant with my second child and im going by my calculations nearly 7 weeks,so with the holidays and things i havent been able to get into my doctors so now ive booked it(with the earliest being next friday).I was just wondering though as to what tests are normal when you go?Its just that last time my doctor did no test except blood tests for my blood type and for to see if i was still vaccinated against certain things but she didnt do hcg levels or anything but ordered a scan straight away which ended up being awful because they couldnt see anything at that time so sent me home saying i would likely miscarry but come back in 3 weeks so after 3 agonising weeks i went back for a scan and the lovely scan tech couldnt believe that my doctor didnt even give me blood tests to test hcg levels so it could ease my worrys during that time so what im wondering is,is it normal to have those blood tests to test the hcg levels?im just thinking maybe i should see another doctor this time round i dont want the worry again

[Mum2Romone]

A blood test for hcg levels and immunity is pretty normal I think.... sounds like we are the same, 7 weeks....that's all I have had so far....

congratulations

[emc2]

My GP did all the right tests but didn't give me a lot of advice. I found out I was pregnant at 8 weeks.

She did give me a HCG levels test, so I would ask for that this time. I did the HCG, then went back and got an ultrasound at 9 weeks, and the screening blood tests etc you are referring to. She then sent off for the hospital referral, but the RBWH have you do the 12 week blood test, and NT ultrasound, and the 20 week ultrasound with referrals from the GP.

[~ Mylitta ~]

With my son I requested hcg quantitative tests (a couple in a row over a few days) because I had lost a previous bub early on and was scared it would happen again. Getting the hcg numbers just made me feel more secure. In general though, my GP doesn't do any tests or send me for any, just writes my referral to my Obstetrician. He doesn't even bother with a urine pregnancy test because he said the store bought ones are so accurate these days that he trusts them. I guess that would probably differ though if you were/weren't going through private health care with an Ob though. I see my Ob around 6-7 weeks for my first appointment, and at with my son's pregnancy he sent me for a blood panel that had a bunch of things like immunities, iron level and a range of others. He also has an ultrasound machine in his office, so at the first appointment he also does a quick internal scan to look for bub and the heartbeat. With this pregnancy he wasn't going to bother with the bloods because it really hadn't been that long since my last pregnancy, but my IVF specialist (this bub is an IVF bub) was about to send me for more bloods to monitor the hcg again, so I asked if he could just do it all to avoid another trip into the city. He ended up just ordering all the tests again anyway

Good luck with everything!

[emc2]

No the GP's don't bother with another urine test if you've peed on a stick.

Did have and will have urine tests through the public hospital midwife program I'm on though.

[angelaartsstudent]

I think they are meant to do one blood test for every STD under the sun too. Mine always has. But yeah, they don't do hormones if you've wee'd on a stick.

[wysiwyg]

First I had just HCG at about 5 weeks to confirm pregnancy - all other tests were done at the 10 week bloods for the NT test - and yes they have tested for every STD under the sun (HIV, Syphallis, Hepatitis) + Iron, Thyroid, Vitamin D, Blood Type, Haemotology, Rubella immunity. So GP referred me for all these this time and last time.

[MissM]

No the GP's don't bother with another urine test if you've peed on a stick.

Did have and will have urine tests through the public hospital midwife program I'm on though.

My Dr still got me to poas. Then i was sent for a bt which tested for all those STI's, hormone leves etc.



From SE Xperia x10a

[1pj]

thanks ladies so its not neccessary to ask for a hcg test to check if the levels are going up so can see all is ok?sorry i feel im re asking the same question i just dont know what to doooooo!!!i just dont feel pregnant this time is all except sore boobs is all yet i did yet another test yesterday and the line came up so dark even before it had properly been ready so im assuming alls ok i just cant help worrying i was so tired and not real sick but still enough to know last time maybe i will just be lucky and guess just have to wait few weeks untill a scan.

[emc2]

HCG levels are a good indicator of things, but I wouldn't want to do more blood tests than you have to. I guess I didn't have to wait for my scan as I didn't work out I was preggie until 9 weeks. In the meantime you'll have to take up knitting or something I guess!

[~ Mylitta ~]

In general I think it's not standard practice to have hcg levels monitored with blood tests, but if you really want it done, then have a chat to your doctor because I'm sure most doctors would be happy to let you have it done if you are worried and it would reduce your anxiety levels.

EDIT: Just wanted to add... Remember though that hcg levels are not always indicative of a healthy or non-healthy pregnancy. I didn't have hcg levels monitored with my first pregnancy that ended in us losing our angel, but when I questioned my Ob about whether we would have know earlier if we had monitored hcg levels, he said no because all the right hormones in my case were being made. On the flip side, there have been a lot of ladies on this site that have had hcg levels that didn't look like they were rising the "right" amount that have gone on to have perfectly healthy bubs...