Family Forum / Pregnancy / Pregnancy / March 2007

It's normal to have a first visit around 8-10 weeks.  If you're
concerned about vitamins, you can purchase prenatal vitamins OTC
(assuming you're in the US) at most stores with a pharmacy or decent
vitamin section.

Nan

Assuming your wife is taking folic acid-if not get taking them asap, then I
doubt you'll get any vitamin advice other than general healthy eating.
There are things to avoid in pregnancy: don't take supplements with vitamin
A (or any foods like liver that are high in vitamin A)
Don't eat foods with a high risk of food poisoning: raw egg, uncooked meats,
pate, soft/unpasturized cheeses.
In Uk pregnant women are adviced not to eat more than 4 tins of tuna a week.
Never found that one a problem. :-)
If you have allergies in the family then they tend to suggest you avoid
peanuts. I don't think there's much research backing this up, but you can do
that. It's not avoid anything that says "may contain nuts" but don't go
eating bags of them!

Basically the first appointment they'll take bloods (check blood group,
check rubella immunity and iron levels) check your blood pressure (to give
them a base line to compare it with) take down family history (like high
blood pressure/baby abnormalities) and may talk to you about breastfeeding,
antenatal testing and that sort of thing. I would say your date was about
standard timing for the first appointment.
Debbie

    That's not at all too late.  Many women don't get
seen until near the end of the first trimester.  That said,
you're obviously correct that she should be eating well
and so forth from the beginning.  There's an obvious gap
in the system.  As with so many other things to do with
one's health, it become important for people to be proactive
themselves.
    If you want good information on prenatal nutrition
and such, I think Bridget Swinney's book _Eating Expectantly_
is a good one (unlike the popular _What To Expect When You're
Expecting_, which has, in my opinion, rather suspect dieatary
advice).  Sadly, few doctors provide much information or
support on prenatal nutrition anyway (midwives tend to do
a better job of that), so you really just ought to plan to
spin up on that information yourselves.

Best wishes,
Ericka

firstly, you can find out for yourself what is advised, for diet and
nutrition, you could also see your primary care doctor. The key think is
folic acid, 400 mcg daily, if she's not taking that then get to the pharmacy
and buy some right away.

Other than that, the appointment seems at a reasonable time, she'll be about
nine weeks, which is find for a first appointment, my one concern would be
if you were at all unsure about dates, the earlier you scan, the more
accurate the dating is and they way doctors can get antsy about postdates
etc. I'd rather get it accurate to start off with, but if he cycles are
regular, then that is unlikely to be an issue. But, assuming they have
facilities to scan at the visit if necessary, that is plenty soon enough.

Have you thought about a midwife? They often have much more time for
discussions about things like nutrition.

Anne