newbie and "beta" numbers?

[Anonymous]

I told a friend that I just found-out I was pregnant and my OB's office said their normal practice was to have my first visit at 8 weeks. She asked when I was going for blood work to see if my "beta numbers were increasing" properly? I have no idea what that is and the office never said anything about blood work before the 8 week appointment. Does everyone do this and my OB is lax or is it not standard practice? I tried to find info. on it and it appears that people who have undergone fertility treatment do it but why not everyone?!

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on the practice, but most docs don't require you come in for bloodwork before 8 weeks unless you have a history of problems. I switched docs and my new one didn't require it, but it gave me peace of mind so I asked if I could come in and have them check, and they had no problem with that. I think the reason they don't have you come in is twofold...first, OTC pregnancy tests are super reliable now, and two, by 8 weeks if you are still pregnant things are usually in pretty good shape

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

If you go in for a blood pregnancy test to confirm the pregnancy then they'll automatically check your betas. And when you go for your visit at 8 weeks or sono they might do a blood test again. If there are any issues, they would have a baseline value from your first blood test. It's sort of up to you if you want to go in for just a blood test in the beginning.

I didn't go in for my first pregnancy, I had one at the first appt at 8 weeks. When I went in for the first sono at 9.5 weeks and it looked like I miscarried they did another blood test immediately and two days later again to see if the numbers were doubling as they should or not.

Second pregnancy (all is well!!) I went in for a blood test at the beginning for my peace of mind. All it tells you though if it's within a normal range (the range btw is really big). If there are any potential issues, then you really need to test every two days to see if the numbers double as they should (under normal circumstances you wouldn't be having a blood test though every 2 days of course).

If you search for beta or hCG on this board you'll find lots of other threads.