This will be a comprehensive visit which includes a general health check-up including a pap smear (if not up-to-date) and initial prenatal lab tests (blood and urine tests).

Some OB providers will do a vaginal ultrasound at this visit to see your baby's heartbeat, confirm your due date, and verify your baby is in the uterus.

Doctor

It's normal to have some worries and fears about what's coming when you're pregnant. Regular screenings help your provider know how you are doing emotionally and if you need additional support.

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After your 1st prenatal visit, your routine prenatal appointments will be about every 4 weeks for your 1st and 2nd trimester.

In your 3rd trimester, your routine prenatal visits will be more frequent. They will be every 2 weeks from about 28 to 36 weeks and then weekly after 36 weeks until you deliver.

During the 2nd month, your baby will grow from the size of an orange seed to the size of a raspberry.

By 6 weeks, your baby's heart is beating and can often be seen on an ultrasound, though it cannot be heard until approximately 10-12 weeks.

Doctor

Depending on your ethnicity or risk factors, your OB provider may recommend certain genetic tests for you.

1st trimester screening can tell if the baby might have a birth defect. The screening test is usually offered to all pregnant women, but you should discuss with your provider and decide if testing is right for you.

Schedule carrier tests for Cystic Fibrosis, Spinal Muscular Dystrophy, or other tests depending on your ethnicity/risk factors.

Schedule the NIPT blood test at 10 weeks or later or Part 1 of the Sequential Screen for 11-14 weeks.

If your provider has recommended that you have a Chorionic Villus Sampling, schedule this for 11 to 13 weeks.

Doctor

The nuchal translucency (NT) is a measurement of the fluid underneath the skin along the back of your baby’s neck.

This is usually combined with other 1st trimester genetic tests to screen for fetal Down syndrome and trisomies 13 and 18.

This screening test provides a risk assessment and a positive result indicates an increased risk, but does not necessarily mean that your baby has a problem, only that further diagnostic tests are options for you to consider.

Doctor

Nausea is typically at its worst during early pregnancy and can be due to a variety of factors. Here are some tips that might help:
• Eat smaller meals at regular intervals.
• Keep an emergency stash of snacks such as crackers, juice, and granola bars.
• Eat high protein foods, like a cheese-stick or nuts/seeds.
• Try ginger in the form of soda, teas, and candies.
• Suck on mint-flavored lozenges or chew gum.
• Take Vitamin B6 supplements (usually 10-25 mg 3 times/day).

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Growing a human is hard work, so try to lay aside your personal expectations of productivity during these early weeks.

Don't feel ashamed for asking for help from your partner, family, and friends.

Push up your bedtime if you can and try to get even an hour more sleep at night.

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Find out if your OB provider only practices at a particular hospital or birth center.

Doctor

The CDC as well as leading medical organizations for maternal, infant, and child health recommend that people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant, or may get pregnant in the future get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Pregnant and recently pregnant people are more likely to get severely ill with COVID-19 compared with non-pregnant people. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine can protect you from severe illness from COVID-19.

The benefits of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine outweigh any known or potential risks of vaccination during pregnancy.

There is no current evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine increases the risk for miscarriage, birth defects, pregnancy complications, or infertility.

Doctor

Although exercise is safe for most women, you should speak with your OB provider to make sure it is ok for you because there are some conditions in pregnancy during which exercise is not recommended.

Doctor

Your OB provider may recommend an over-the-counter or prescription treatment depending on the severity of your nausea.

The most severe form of nausea and vomiting, hyperemesis gravidarum, occurs in up to 3% of pregnancies and sometimes leads to hospitalization to restore body fluids and stop the vomiting.

Doctor

Sexual activity won't affect your baby, as long as you don't have complications such as preterm labor or placenta problems.

It is normal for pregnancy to cause changes in your level of comfort and sexual desire.

Having sex during pregnancy won't cause a miscarriage. Most miscarriages occur because the fetus isn't developing normally.

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