First Appt - "Blood Confirm" - at Foxhall OB-GYN Question

[Anonymous]

First time mom-to-be here, just made an appt. at Foxhall for a blood test next week (after positive HPT). The woman I talked to told me that it's just a blood test, but she also specifically gave me an appt. with Dr. Engel (who I've never seen). Can someone more experienced than I let me know what this first appt. entails (besides the blood draw)? Trying to figure out how long I'll be there, what info. they give, and if my husband should come. Thanks a lot!

[Anonymous]

I'd let your husband skip this one. All they do is draw blood to confirm the pregnancy hormone levels and your at-home test. Dr. Engel (who is very nice) will congratulate you, ask you a few questions, and give you some general info about being pregnant. I think you may get weighed & have your blood pressure taken. No internal exam. Nothing exciting happens. Lots of OB offices don't even do an appointment this early, but Foxhall does for some reason. Bring your husband to the next one, where they do the 1st ultrasound (via vaginal ultrasound wand) and you can see the little flickering bean of your baby and hear/see the heartbeat.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, PP (I'm the OP). Anyone have any idea of how long it takes - not including waiting time - for them to process the blood work? Is it pretty quick?

[Anonymous]

Not the OP, but also wondering about the first appt...

what if you're due for an annual exam at the same time? Do they do that too (to get it out of the way) or is it too risky to do so early on during the first trimester?

[Anonymous]

PP that initially answered here. I think it only took a couple of days for the bloodwork to come back to confirm the pregnancy. As for your annual exam, I'd just ask your doctor how they normally proceed. At Foxhall (and probably most practices) they do a full pelvic exam with Pap smear, etc. at the 12 week appointment, so they'd probably just wait until then. Here's a link to Foxhall's schedule of OB appointments, FWIW.

http://www.foxhallobgyn.com/schedule_ob_visits.asp

[Anonymous]

I had my bloodwork confirm appt. at Foxhall (w/ Dr. Lightfoot, b/c Sarafian was out on maternity leave) about 6 weeks ago. I had to wait 30 mins to meet with her, unfortunately, b/c they were running behind that day, but the appt. itself only took about 10-15 mins. 5 mins to weigh you and take your blood and blood pressure, 10 mins to talk with the doc. about any questions you may have. Easy as pie.

The first u/s at 9 weeks took a bit longer. Didn't have to wait at all that time. No weighing, blood pressure, etc., just an transvaginal u/s. We were in their giggling and chatting w/ Dr. Lightfoot and looking at the u/s screen for a good 15-20 mins. That was the extent of the appt.

Tomorrow is my 13w first full "prenatal appt", and NT scan. The NT scan, in a suite across from Foxhall ObGyn's suite, typically takes between 5 and 30 mins. Then you go in for the full first prenatal appt, which is apparently quite involved, with a full blood work-up, weight, BP, medical history, discussion of family congenital diseases, etc., and supposedly can take an hour or more.

Good luck to you!