Questions to ask at first OBGYN appt?

karah0011

Hey! So my wife and I have our first OBGYN appt tomorrow! We are meeting with a doctor that we have no idea about.  I was hoping that you could give me some questions that I should/need to ask him.  Since we don't have a cryo bank in NM we will need to have the frozen sperm shipped to the hospital.  So I will ask those questions...anything about that or anything else that is a MUST? Thanks!!!

LolaBelle515

We used a known donor, so some of the questions are different, but it is good for anyone starting to TTC to ask what recommendations the doctor has to make your body the most welcoming vessel possible. Things like which foods to stock up on/avoid, if your blood levels are good (blood pressure, cholesterol, iron count), etc.  You'll probably have your own questions once he starts saying things, too:)  Yay for the first appointment!!

leapgirl8

I would ask what they typically recommend as far as intervention: How many ICIs or IUIs do they usually do unmedicated before they want you to start using Clomid or other drugs? How do they decide when to move on or what protocol to use? When do they switch people from medicated IUIs to IVF, and if they don't do IVF, where do they recommend you go? Obviously everyone hopes for a BFP before you have to consider those questions, but it's good for you and your partner to sit down and think about what kind of intervention you'll be comfortable with, and the schedule for that, before you go down this road. You don't have to make hard and fast decisions, but it's good general information to have.

hlke

At our "thinking about TTC" appointment we talked mostly about what my wife should be doing to prepare her body - what foods she should be eating, prenatal vitamins/folic acid/DHA, vaccinations she should get before getting pregnant.  She recommended we get the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler and start charting C's cycles and learning her fertility signs.

 She also talked briefly about what our insemination options were and offered to find out more about the less medicalized options (like midwife insemination), but we are moving before we'll be ready to inseminate, so we held off on that part.

One thing to ask is if they regularly work with certain sperm banks, or if they are willing to work with whichever one you choose.  Ask generally that they walk you through what insemination involves.  And be sure to ask about their hours for monitoring ultrasounds and IUIs - there was a thread on here just a few days ago about working TTCers, and the hours were a big concern for everyone.

Finally, before you go, I would think about what you want your approach to TTC to be.  Some people want the absolute highest chance of conceiving with each cycle, and some people want as little intervention as possible.  Once you've thought about what you want, you can ask questions to gauge how well the clinic's philosophy fits with yours.  My obgyn is at a large academic medical center that is very intervention heavy, but C's obgyn is at a small, low-intervention clinic.

karah0011

Thanks for all the great advice everyone! Just what I needed!