Booking appointment

[Holly91]

Good morning everyone , I have my booking appointment today but it is being done over the phone, and I’m not sure what to expect? Is there anything I should be asking? I’m very unsure on how many weeks I am as have irregular cycles and looking back had pregnancy symptoms quite a while before actually doing a test, is there normally quite a wait for a dating scan after booking appointment ? As I feel I need one pretty soon Any advice would be great TIA x

They just want to know your pregnancy and health history really. You'll have bloods and other checks done at an app in person.
My scan was for 3 weeks after my phone booking app, bloods was a week earlier than the phone one. I got my letter within hours of my referral being done as our trust has gone paperless so all digital letters (so much better).

Your booking appointment will last about an hour on the phone, midwife will go through a lot of questions on your health and family history of any health conditions etc. Do you know the date of your last period? They may calculate your dates based on that. Dating scan happens at 12 weeks so they need to work out your dates in order for you to be booked in for your dating scan. They'll also get you booked in for a face to face midwife appointment to take bloods and dip your urine/go over any concerns you may have.
With the current pandemic in mind a lot of areas are reducing the amount of face to face contact with midwife so bare this in mind. I am nearly 12 weeks with baby no.2 and I feel like they are basically leaving me to it this time round, they did say I can call the delivery suite at the hospital if I have any concerns though. Never feel like you are wasting their time if something is bothering you. Better to be safe than sorry.

Congrats btw! 💖

Thanks for the replys 😊 I’m hoping it’s not going to be another 3 weeks lol hopefully they are paperless here too, I really don’t know the last date of my period , as for many people Covid has been a massive stress my business was locked down for the 3rd time in a year and tbh I’ve not been in the best place since January, my period was the last thing on my mind which I now feel stupid for Not keeping track or not knowing that for all those weeks before I did a test (got a very strong positive on 7 March) that my body had been telling something was different ( I’ve been having symptoms from the end of jan/ beginning of feb) I really did just thing it was anxiety and stress, I’m now struggling with the fact that I could be a lot further along and wasn’t looking after myself at all for the first few weeks and that I have not done my baby any good ☹️

Well just be honest with them. If you don't know your last period I don't know what they'll do, but presumably give you a scan soonish to find out.

You say you've been having symptoms since start of Feb, do you mean morning sickness? If so, that's most likely to start around six weeks, so you'd be very very roughly 11 weeks ish now.
If you mean less identifiable symptoms, like slightly sore nipples/a bit bloated or similar, that's harder to pin down.

Usually the first scan is between 11 and 13 weeks, but if you're not having the screening for Down's Syndrome then the exact date is less important I believe. I didn't want the screening because I knew I wouldn't abort the baby even if it did have Down's, so my first scan with previous preg was actually after 13 weeks. They still dated the pregnancy accurately so it was fine.

Try not to worry, just be honest and the midwife will help you. That's what they're there for.

Also don't worry about not looking after yourself - baby has a yolk sac to live on up til about 11 weeks ish, so what you ate doesn't matter. Just start being healthier from now on :)
I've been living on little more than Haribo and crisps for weeks now because that's all my morning sickness will let me eat! It's normal. Soon I know I'll have more energy for exercise and my appetite will come back and I can eat better.

@FeistySheep yea been having nausea dry heaving and sickness, loss of appetite cramping sore boobs couldn’t stand being in the kitchen etc all looked so obvious once I’d actually done a test 🤦🏻‍♀️ The midwife rang me at the correct time and said ‘ did u know u was meant to be at the surgery for you booking appointment today’ 😮 Was told it would be over the phone which she wasn’t surprised that the reception had made a cock up lol so she did all the questioning over the phone then got me to go in an hour later for bloods, urine height weight etc she seems to think I need a scan as soon as possible so has sent it off as urgent and booked my next midwife appointment for 5 weeks away which she said she would normally book for 15 weeks but she thinks I’ll b past that by that date she was really reassuring About the worries I had about Not looking after myself properly (god I sound like a child) I’m glad it’s not just me that’s been living of crisps haha seems to be all I can stomach although the nausea has eased off in the last day so hopefully I’ll be able to eat air more as when she took my weight I was concerned that I have lost 3kg in the last 2 weeks thanks again to the 3 of you for replying to my rambling earlier 😊

@Holly91 Honestly dont panic too much about not eating, baby will take literally everything from you and leave you with nothing lol. With my first I had hurrendous sickness between 14-16 weeks and I lived on ice water, it was all I could stomach and even then I brought that up most days. Baby was absolutely fine, dancing away at my 20 week scan in fact! 🙈
I'm now pregnant with baby no.2 but my nausea has started much earlier this time, some days I'm okay, other days I live off toast and fruit as it's all I can stomach. Good luck OP and any questions feel free to message me! 😊