preconception appt questions

laurabeth4you

Hello,

I will be going to my doctor on Thursday for my preconception appointment. I wanted to know if any of you have had one and what are good questions to ask. I know all the basic ones, but what did you ask? I am very excited for my appointment.

crunchymamaof2

Is this a common thing? I'd say a good physical is the most you'd need. Maybe your doctor is educated on charting, but in doubt it. Check out fertilityfriend,com or the book taking charge of your fertility. Getting to know your body and your cycles is invaluable.

delujm0

This is unnecessary.  At my last annual i asked my OBGYN if there was anything i should do if i was going to TTC before my next annual...she asked if i was taking PNVs (yes) and then took some blood to make sure my innoculations were up to date, and she said "call me when you get a +HPT."  Honestly, if you are due for a normal physical, you can have your innoculations checked there.  you don't need to make a special OBGYN appointment for this unless you have a preexisting condition.

asws1208

laurabeth4you I don't know why people have to be so mean! I had an appt too. I asked about which prenatals were best.. I had questions about other medications I was on.. I get migraines so asked about meds for those, time line once we got pregnant what would happen, when to make an appt if I was not getting a positive HPT. Things like that. I just saw the PA but she was very helpful and didn't make me feel like I was wasting her time at all. Good luck!

laurabeth4you

I just want to say the reason why I am going is because I have a cyst and they want to check on that. Also, I have a retrovertered uterus that is why I made the appointment. @asws1208‌ thank you for being so kind. I should have been more clear in my question.

crunchymamaof2

laurabeth4you said:

I just want to say the reason why I am going is because I have a cyst and they want to check on that. Also, I have a retrovertered uterus that is why I made the appointment. @asws1208‌ thank you for being so kind. I should have been more clear in my question.

If you need to be seen for a cyst the. Ok, fine. Before you leave you can simply ask "hey we plan on ttc. Anything I need to know?" And go from there. A specific appointment isn't really necessary. And FTR- blunt and honest =/= mean.

wannallama

I switched my Dr. right before H and I decided to ttc, so my first appointment when I met him I was able to ask any questions I wanted to. I mainly asked about the hospital and delivery such as rooms, do they work with another practice for on call,  their NICU level in case it is needed/where they would transfer a baby if needed, things like that. I might just be weird though asking that stuff? But I wanted to know way ahead of me being pregnant in case I wanted to go with a different practice/hospital.

PrimRoseMama

@asws1208 : yeah, it's not "mean" to be up front about this. Honestly, aside from going for the annual Pap smear etc. there really is no good reason to have a "preconception" appointment.

I just mentioned TTC for DS (back in 2012) to the midwife doing my pap. She said have well-timed, unprotected sex for a year. If I'm not pregnant in that year we could go from there.

You can get most "preconception" questions answered over the phone. This saves the doctor's time (for other patients with real medical concerns), & a copay (which saves us all money).

The advice is usually "have sex & see you in a year if not pregnant."

DebateThis

ASWS, why the hell do you keep posting here? Your posts are ridiculous and you bitch a LOT about people being "mean" to you.

OP, a retroverted uterus means exactly nothing for TTC. It's very common - something like 20-25% of women have it. Get the cyst checked out and get any vaccines/boosters you need now (if you need an MMR booster you would need to wait a month to TTC, for example, and you should be scheduling your routine flu vax for in the next month or two). But really you don't need a preconception appointment for this stuff.

daisycakes2

I'm a little late for this one but I thought I'd add in my thoughts.

I went in for a preconception appointment also- I coupled it with my yearly. It was comforting just talking to my OB about anything I needed to start doing and for her to give me the go ahead from a medical standpoint. She had me come back for a blood test to make sure levels were good and to make sure I had antibodies for chickenpox and rubella. There's nothing wrong with going in for a preconception appt and more power to anyone who decides to!

DebateThis

sparklegrump said:

Do people really think that being 20 lbs over "healthy" BMI is going to be detrimental to their pregnancy? Because if that's true my kids and I should have been completely screwed.

Anecdote vs data.

DebateThis

sparklegrump said:

sparklegrump said:

Do people really think that being 20 lbs over "healthy" BMI is going to be detrimental to their pregnancy? Because if that's true my kids and I should have been completely screwed.

Anecdote vs data.

20 lbs though? Really?

20 lbs on a 5', regularly 100lb woman? That's a fifth of her body weight.

It's never a yes/no whether extra weight is absolutely going to be detrimental to a pregnancy... but it absolutely DOES increase the risks, and if you have an opportunity to attempt to lose it prior to pregnancy, that's not a bad thing.

Twinkie0612

DebateThis said:

sparklegrump said:

sparklegrump said:

Do people really think that being 20 lbs over "healthy" BMI is going to be detrimental to their pregnancy? Because if that's true my kids and I should have been completely screwed.

Anecdote vs data.

20 lbs though? Really?

20 lbs on a 5', regularly 100lb woman? That's a fifth of her body weight.

It's never a yes/no whether extra weight is absolutely going to be detrimental to a pregnancy... but it absolutely DOES increase the risks, and if you have an opportunity to attempt to lose it prior to pregnancy, that's not a bad thing.

I agree with DT.  It is hard to say how much extra weight is detrimental to your health.  I am about 10lbs over a normal BMI and my RI wants me to lose the weight.  While still in the normal range, my fasting insulin was higher than ideal.  She thinks it could improve our IVF cycle, plus she worries about me developing insulin resistance especially once I get pregnant.  One of the risk factors for insulin resistance is being overweight.

crunchymamaof2

GhostMonkey said:

DebateThis said:

sparklegrump said:

sparklegrump said:

Do people really think that being 20 lbs over "healthy" BMI is going to be detrimental to their pregnancy? Because if that's true my kids and I should have been completely screwed.

Anecdote vs data.

20 lbs though? Really?

20 lbs on a 5', regularly 100lb woman? That's a fifth of her body weight.

It's never a yes/no whether extra weight is absolutely going to be detrimental to a pregnancy... but it absolutely DOES increase the risks, and if you have an opportunity to attempt to lose it prior to pregnancy, that's not a bad thing.

120 lbs is still a normal BMI for someone that is 5'.

And again, BMI is a fucking joke if you have any muscle. My max weigh for BMI is 155. I was that in high school and was definitely not heavy. 20lbs of extra fat is bad. 20 lbs of muscle isn't necessarily bad. Body composition makes a huge difference in whether that 20 lbs is awful or not.

This. BMI is so inaccurate it's shameful. According to my BMI I'm obese. I've got some extra weight definitely but I'm far from obese. So much more needs to be considered beyond the number on the scale.

llbne

I mentioned to my dr at a normal appt that we planned on ttc. She ordered a few blood tests (which did actually identify some ttc potential issues like elevated TSH) and did a PAP smear and internal, but I would have had them anyway around that time. Still, I found it useful to discuss general health, prenatals, time frames etc.