Advice on how to spend the first few weeks of pregnancy

[TTCbaby2023]

Hi everyone
I found out I was pregnant last week (for the first time) and tomorrow I will be 5 weeks. I had initially booked a private blood test for hcg and progesterone but my veins are so crap they could not draw any blood. I was counting on that to give me a bit of reassurance that things were ok for now until the early scan that is booked for mid April. Now I find myself eagerly waiting until that scan without the blood test and would welcome any advice on what you do to keep patient 😆 and not drive yourself crazy!!

I rang my doctors who arranged a midwife visit for a few weeks time (I was around 5 weeks too). They lso told me to start taking Pregnacare vitamins straight away. Other than that I just took it easy and googled stuff I should/ shouldn't eat.

Congratulations!

This is my 14th pregnancy, I'm 32 weeks pregnant after 13 miscarriages so those early weeks were riddled with anxiety for me.

I also got Hyperemesis from 6 weeks so was put on bedrest by my consultant at the hospital.

I took every day as it came, I loaded lots of books onto my kindle and read, took the dog out so I got some decent fresh air, I setup a subscription for Calm app and did some guided meditations for beginners and also listened to the sleep stories when I was feeling too anxious to sleep, made sure I had a nice soak in the bath of an evening,I set up a countdown app on my phone with every scan and midwife appt in it, it was nice to see the numbers going down!

Wishing you all the luck in the world ☺️

@elm26 thank you! I still try not to get my hopes too high as miscarriages are unfortunately extremely common at my age.
14th pregnancy? Wow you must be very brave but also very strong. I'm dreading how an mc might affect an already fragile mental health. Congratulations on your own little miracle!
Thank you for your advice, I think using a calming app can help when I feel overwhelmed. I will feel a lot better if the early scan goes well even though I know that it doesn't eliminate the risk of mc entirely.

@Greenfree I've just received the date for my booking appt which will be week 12. I thought it would happen a bit earlier though? Do you also have a scan during the booking appt? Supplements wise I take folic acid and vit d as well as calcium.

This is a bit late… I’ve always had booking apps around week 8 (I’m currently 7 weeks) and normally after your booking in they arrange your scan date :-)

I had booking appt at 10 weeks. You don't get a scan during this. Bloods, urine, BP, height, weight and medical history. I had my first nhs scan at 12 weeks x

In London I had them both at the same time

Perhaps because mine was at 10 weeks. If you're having your Booking Appt at 12 ish then no reason why they wouldn't do both x

Just look after yourself. Fresh air, exercise, low stress, enjoy things you can't enjoy when you're massive/with a baby. Eat nutritious food, get into good habits. Do stuff you enjoy.