First Doctor’s Appointment

Hi there. Congrats! First of all, there are 2 types of scans. Earlier weeks would be transvaginal scan and for 9 weeks and above, would be ultrasound scan. for my secondborn, i purposely went to polyclinic to get a referral letter to kkh on my 9th week, because i am veryyy scared of transvaginal scan and prefer ultrasound. i was shocked that i had to do it for my firstborn because really,i am scared of everything. hahaha. but if you are feeling ok, and have no concerns, i suggest you wait because evenif you go earlier, you mite, not see the baby or hear the heartbeat and mite make you feel worried and anxious. but if you go, you will still hv to come bck for ultrasound scan. so abit leceh. haha. before you go, make sure you drink plenty of water as you mite need to pee on stick. but when i went for mine last year, i dont hv to. they straight away gave me a referral ltr. probably because of covid period. lastly, pls start eating folic acid. do not wait for dr's apptmnt. i recommend taking Blackmore's Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Advanced/ Gold. Take care!

Try to go with a full bladder. So that can hopefully see more things since the fetus is still very very very small :) My gynae didn’t get me to PEe on stick as I told him I did it at home and the line was super dark, so I guess he help me save cost. So may or may not ask u to pee on stick, depends on your gynae. My personal preference is try not to use the vaginal probe ultrasound method, just to be safe. Perhaps ask gynae whether can just do stomach ultrasound. If it’s too small to see anything (as per my case when I was 5/6 weeks at first check), then just go back a few weeks later to get a clearer picture. My gynae also didn’t want to do vaginal probe for me this early in pregnancy, but I know diff gynae have diff methods so 🤷‍♀️ Meanwhile it’s still good to go for check up and see whatever can be seen. Also doc may prescribe some supplements to help you stabilize the pregnancy esp first trimester. So it won’t be a wasted trip.

Congratulations! If this is your first ultrasound, the nurse will be prepping you on the table - you have to hitch your clothes up to show your belly, and she will apply a gel below your belly button and cover your underwear and legs with a sheet before doc comes in. I find it easier to wear a loose top or shorter dress. Keeping some urine in your bladder will help get a better ultrasound too. Prepare a list of questions for the gynae. Eg what symptoms to look out for, dietary and lifestyle restrictions. Check too if there's been any complications/illnesses in your family history and highlight to the gynae if any as they may be pregnancy risks for you Eg diabetes, thalessaemia

I also went for my first appointment around 6 weeks. You'll have to pee on a stick, get your height, weight, blood pressure measured. You'll most likely only see a yolk sac on ultrasound and no fetus yet. Then they'll set another appointment in 2 to 3 weeks time for a rescan.

Congratulations! Means during checkup u will be 5 wks plus? Just a heads up, its still very veryyy early.. so thr might be cases whr u wont be able to hear the heartbeat yet or something like dat.. bt dont get disheartened! Good luck!

You may need to do a vaginal ultrasound using a probe as it may be too early to detect using the conventional ultrasound. Typically around 7-8 weeks would be a better time!