Did you do anything special to conceive?

[StacylikesSparkles]

DH and I are planning to get started on babies next year (probably after summer, but earlier if I can talk him into it lol) and was wondering if you had to do anything special to conceive. I'm going to be 30 in 3 weeks and despite talking with my doctor (she thinks I will have no trouble) I still worry that it's going to take some extra effort to get pregnant. Clearly I'm ahead of the game here, but I'm just trying to prepare

 

[amc80]

DH and I are planning to get started on babies next year (probably after summer, but earlier if I can talk him into it lol) and was wondering if you had to do anything special to conceive. I'm going to be 30 in 3 weeks and despite talking with my doctor (she thinks I will have no trouble) I still worry that it's going to take some extra effort to get pregnant. Clearly I'm ahead of the game here, but I'm just trying to prepare

You sound like me! I started charting about 6 months before TTC. DH and I started taking vitamins (prenatals for me) 3 months before TTC. By the time the real deal came around, I knew exactly when to do the deed. I got pregnant the first try so apparently it worked. I'm hoping if/when we go for #2 it's as easy of a process.

Oh, I also cut down on caffeine, since it can interfere with the way the Fallopian tubes carry the egg.

 

[Haven]

I had been charting for at least a year before we decided to conceive. I was only charting my periods by the time we were ready to TTC, but even with just that little bit of charting I had a good idea of when we should try.

We got pregnant on the first try, so I think being familiar with my cycle was really important. I'm 32 now and due in three weeks with our first. DH is 42, so we're a bit on the older side.

I liked the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility for charting. I used fertilityfriend.com for the actual charting.

I didn't cut down on caffeine or take prenatals or anything, because we just decided to try one day and we got lucky and conceived that day.

Good luck!

 

[aviastar]

Hi Stacy! I am going to shamelessly invite you over to the Wanting but Waiting thread; there's a small (and growing!) group of us over there chatting about this exact thing- charting, pre-natals, losing weight, all because we all want to TTC in the next year or so!

And to answer your actual question- I am working on losing some weight, building core strength, and working on the savings account. And daydreaming about names, of course!

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

AMC80 & Haven - How lucky that you were able to get pregnant on your first try! I spoke with my doctor who told me she wants me to start prenatals 3 months before we start trying and she will be giving me a prescription for them to make sure I have all the necessary vitamins in my system. I don't drink much caffeine, but can certainly cut out the rest.

About the charting; is this something I can track while still on the pill? I am definitely checking out the book and website Haven, so thank you!!

Aviastar - I'm scoping it out now! Thanks for the invite though! I'm actually pretty excited to talk with ladies in the same boat or those that are pregnant and have been in my worried little shoes lol

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Like the other ladies, I stopped taking BC and started charting about a year before TTC. I wanted to make sure I was regularly ovulating and knew my cycles well (I have long cycles, so targeting my O day was key). I charted by taking my BBT and using ovulation tests. I also started taking pre-natals and DHA supplements a few months before TTC because I'd read some studies stating that 3+ months of both before TTC helps to boost the baby's IQ. I tend to take those types of studies with a grain of salt, but figured it couldn't hurt.

I don't think you can chart while still on BC because BC keeps you from ovulating.

 

[amc80]

I liked the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility for charting. I used fertilityfriend.com for the actual charting.



Good luck!

Ditto to these recommendations.

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

Like the other ladies, I stopped taking BC and started charting about a year before TTC. I wanted to make sure I was regularly ovulating and knew my cycles well (I have long cycles, so targeting my O day was key). I charted by taking my BBT and using ovulation tests. I also started taking pre-natals and DHA supplements a few months before TTC because I'd read some studies stating that 3+ months of both before TTC helps to boost the baby's IQ. I tend to take those types of studies with a grain of salt, but figured it couldn't hurt.

I don't think you can chart while still on BC because BC keeps you from ovulating.

I didn't think so, but figured I would ask

I think I'm going to talk to DH after the new year about going off the pill to get my body ready!

 

[amc80]

You can't chart while on BC since you don't ovulate. But you can temp/chart in order to get in the habit of doing so. Your charts just won't mean much.

 

[enbcfsobe]

I second Taking Charge (often referred to as TCOYF). Don't wait like I did -- just get the book, read the parts about understanding your cycle, and you will be way ahead of the game. Ask your doc tons of questions, even if they seem stupid. If you have a smartphone, get a free app to track your cycle conveniently and keep it backed up so you have the records for later if you need to discuss with your doctor (also great for getting a more accurate due date!). Its a fine balance between making yourself stressed and getting yourself educated. I wish I'd not listened to those who said "oh, don't bother reading now it'll probably just happen." If it does "just happen" while you're educating yourself, that's great. But if you wait until it doesn't work to start learning, you'll kick yourself later. Trust me.

Vitamins are good, cutting back on anything that is a potential endocrine disruptor, horomone imitator, or that otherwise could delay or interfere with your cycle may also be a good idea (after no luck and 2 early misses I started avoiding soy, BPA, caffeine, alcohol). I also stopped eating sichuan food as the peppercorns are used in traditional medicine to stimulate menstruation. These may or may not have had any impact, but by that point I would've tried anything.

Less about conception but not a bad plan to get your doc to run an initial pre-conception blood panel. Mine identified that I was no longer rubella immune, but because I got it before TTC I was able to get vaccinated and wait the appropriate time rather than risking getting rubella while preggo, which is apparently really bad. It may also identify any issues such as thyroid that could affect your ability to conceive before you start, so you don't have to wait until you have already become frustrated.

I know this may seem overwhelming and unnecessary, but if you really do want to take some control of the situation, learning about your body and your cycles and the complex hormonal interactions that make us tick reproductively is the best thing you can do to give yourself a great chance of finding success quickly and with less frustration! Good luck!!!

 

[Laila619]

Ditto enbcfsobe--make sure you find out if you are immune to Rubella (German measles). If you aren't, you'll want to get the vaccine, and then you will have to abstain from TTC for 3 months afterward. If you aren't immune to Rubella, and you got it while pregnant, it could be deadly to your baby.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_rubella-german-measles-during-pregnancy_9527.bc

Also, make sure to take prenatals as the Folic acid is very important!

 

[amc80]

I know this may seem overwhelming and unnecessary, but if you really do want to take some control of the situation, learning about your body and your cycles and the complex hormonal interactions that make us tick reproductively is the best thing you can do to give yourself a great chance of finding success quickly and with less frustration! Good luck!!!

This! That was my thinking. For example, if you aren't ovulating, you'd be able to see this before TTC, and start talking to your doctor.

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Took an ovulation predictor test from drugstore; had a positive pregnancy test 14 days later on first attempt. Highly recommend.

 

[that_someone_special]

Well, what we did is decide to wait until next spring after two good cycles. When we stopped trying and I was getting ready to go back on BC, bam- pregnant. I wonder if being less stressed coupled with a 10lb weight loss helped me... Either way, whatever it was worked, and now I'm due in March.

I also have a history of very irregular periods and extremely heavy bleeding. Docs have suspected I might have pcos in the past, so we were pretty sure that we would eventually end up with a specialist next year. I guess anything can happen.

 

[Puppmom]

I would prepare but I wouldn't stress...it really does suck the fun out of it. When we were trying for DS, I took folic acid and DHA. I had regular cycles so I pretty much knew when to try. After the first 3 months of not getting pregnant, I decided to chart. It turned out that I ovulated 2 days earlier than I assumed so the charting was definitely helpful. This last time, I charted prior to TTC to see if I was ovulating around the same time. I wasn't as diligent about it because I found that I could be a bit obsessive about it.

I know people who cut back on caffeine and lose weight and chart and have sex at all the right times and have trouble getting pregnant and I know people who literally have no clue that there are only certain fertile days each month that have gotten pregnant right away.

My own personal history is that I've been pregnant 4 times. My first was by accident. I was 17 years old and had sex two times...knocked up. My second time, we TTC for 5 cycles. My third time, we used protection and had sex ONE TIME the entire month outside of my normal fertile window. That pregnancy ended in miscarriage. This time, we TTC for 5 cycles.

 

[Echidna]

We aren't TTC yet, but I came off the pill in August 2011 in preparation. I am very glad I did, as I have discovered that I have long cycles (similar to NEL, from memory) so we might only have 6-8 chances a year to fall pregnant. I'm also reasonably sure it took a full 12 months for my cycles to become fertile (not charting, just monitoring cervical mucus). This is handy to know and will inform when we start trying.

 

[Dandi]

I went off the pill in December 2011 and started taking folic acid a month before that. I charted my cycles and used OPKs to see if and when I was ovulating, and to get an idea of the length of my cycles, which fortunately becamse pretty regular straight off the pill. On our second cycle trying (March this year) we conceived using times intercourse relative to the OPK result. I'm now 39 weeks pregnant, eek!

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

I second Taking Charge (often referred to as TCOYF). Don't wait like I did -- just get the book, read the parts about understanding your cycle, and you will be way ahead of the game. Ask your doc tons of questions, even if they seem stupid. If you have a smartphone, get a free app to track your cycle conveniently and keep it backed up so you have the records for later if you need to discuss with your doctor (also great for getting a more accurate due date!). Its a fine balance between making yourself stressed and getting yourself educated. I wish I'd not listened to those who said "oh, don't bother reading now it'll probably just happen." If it does "just happen" while you're educating yourself, that's great. But if you wait until it doesn't work to start learning, you'll kick yourself later. Trust me.

Vitamins are good, cutting back on anything that is a potential endocrine disruptor, horomone imitator, or that otherwise could delay or interfere with your cycle may also be a good idea (after no luck and 2 early misses I started avoiding soy, BPA, caffeine, alcohol). I also stopped eating sichuan food as the peppercorns are used in traditional medicine to stimulate menstruation. These may or may not have had any impact, but by that point I would've tried anything.

Less about conception but not a bad plan to get your doc to run an initial pre-conception blood panel. Mine identified that I was no longer rubella immune, but because I got it before TTC I was able to get vaccinated and wait the appropriate time rather than risking getting rubella while preggo, which is apparently really bad. It may also identify any issues such as thyroid that could affect your ability to conceive before you start, so you don't have to wait until you have already become frustrated.

I know this may seem overwhelming and unnecessary, but if you really do want to take some control of the situation, learning about your body and your cycles and the complex hormonal interactions that make us tick reproductively is the best thing you can do to give yourself a great chance of finding success quickly and with less frustration! Good luck!!!

Thank you so much for this!! I totally think being prepared is the way to be, which is why I'm asking all this stuff now, as opposed to the month we start TTC. I went home last night and started talking with DH about all this and going off the BCP sooner. He thinks I'm a little nuts at times, but is totally supportive in prepping my body for babies.

I did not know ANYTHING about the Rubella issues, so I will be making an appointment at the first of the year to check on that and do the regular screening of blood tests. I already talked with my lady doc about doing the testing prior to us TTC and she has been nothing but supportive. I think I would rather know tomorrow lol...I'm seriously considering making this my last packet of BCP to gear up my body. Plus, I'd really like to start charting sooner, rather than later. Do you have any smartphone app that you'd recommend for charting?

I'm ordering TCOYF tonight when I get home!

Also, make sure to take prenatals as the Folic acid is very important!

Exactly what my doctor said, which is why she wants to prescribe something instead of doing OTC. She said one of her patients took OTC prenatals and her pills had NONE!!

Took an ovulation predictor test from drugstore; had a positive pregnancy test 14 days later on first attempt. Highly recommend.

Good advice! I think I'll pick one up this week just to have ready for when I get off the pill!

Well, what we did is decide to wait until next spring after two good cycles. When we stopped trying and I was getting ready to go back on BC, bam- pregnant. I wonder if being less stressed coupled with a 10lb weight loss helped me... Either way, whatever it was worked, and now I'm due in March.

I also have a history of very irregular periods and extremely heavy bleeding. Docs have suspected I might have pcos in the past, so we were pretty sure that we would eventually end up with a specialist next year. I guess anything can happen.

While my periods are not irregular, they are super heavy and long when I'm not on the pill. I'm not sure what pcos is though. I also talked with DH about getting in shape now. He is super supportive and said he would be glad to watch me do Pilates, but does not plan on doing them himself

I would prepare but I wouldn't stress...it really does suck the fun out of it. When we were trying for DS, I took folic acid and DHA. I had regular cycles so I pretty much knew when to try. After the first 3 months of not getting pregnant, I decided to chart. It turned out that I ovulated 2 days earlier than I assumed so the charting was definitely helpful. This last time, I charted prior to TTC to see if I was ovulating around the same time. I wasn't as diligent about it because I found that I could be a bit obsessive about it.

I know people who cut back on caffeine and lose weight and chart and have sex at all the right times and have trouble getting pregnant and I know people who literally have no clue that there are only certain fertile days each month that have gotten pregnant right away.

My own personal history is that I've been pregnant 4 times. My first was by accident. I was 17 years old and had sex two times...knocked up. My second time, we TTC for 5 cycles. My third time, we used protection and had sex ONE TIME the entire month outside of my normal fertile window. That pregnancy ended in miscarriage. This time, we TTC for 5 cycles.

What is DHA? I feel like by my going over everything now and preparing myself (both physically and mentally) and keeping myself educated, I will be less stressed by the time that we make it official that we're TTC. I surely hope I'm not going to drive myself crazy when it's time, as I'd rather drive myself crazy and obsess about it NOW, before the fact!

We aren't TTC yet, but I came off the pill in August 2011 in preparation. I am very glad I did, as I have discovered that I have long cycles (similar to NEL, from memory) so we might only have 6-8 chances a year to fall pregnant. I'm also reasonably sure it took a full 12 months for my cycles to become fertile (not charting, just monitoring cervical mucus). This is handy to know and will inform when we start trying.

I went off the pill in December 2011 and started taking folic acid a month before that. I charted my cycles and used OPKs to see if and when I was ovulating, and to get an idea of the length of my cycles, which fortunately becamse pretty regular straight off the pill. On our second cycle trying (March this year) we conceived using times intercourse relative to the OPK result. I'm now 39 weeks pregnant, eek!

Ok ladies, you make me want to seriously make this my last pill cycle. I'm going to talk with the hubs about it tonight!

I just want to say that I appreciate everyone chiming in here! This is obviously a very special time in our lives, but I'm super excited about having a handful of 'experts' to bounce questions and ideas off of!

 

[amc80]

I recommend the fertility friend app. It's free. Also, if you are on Facebook, friend/like FF. they offer crazy discounts every now and then for their subscription. With the subscription you get some more in depth features.

 

[enbcfsobe]

I used P Tracker -- i tried out the free version and then bought the full version. it wasn't too expensive and didn't have a monthly subscription fee. it has cloud or email backup available. it had enough features for me to refer to it during my appointments and add my own notes but doesn't make graphs as pretty as FF does.

 

[luvsdmb]

Hi,

I was 35 when we got married July 2011. In September we decided to really give it a try to get pregnant, thinking it would take us a long time.
So I bought an ovulation kit from the local drugstore, went online to www.babycenter.com and entered my last period and how many days between my period. If you aren't the normal 30days it will change the day you ovulate. I got the days listed I was suppose to ovulate and we"got busy" the days before it said I was suppose to ovulate, but using the kit I wasn't yet. But we kept on and I kept on using the ovulation kit, the one night I wasn't in the mood I went ahead and used the ovulation kit and of course that was the day I was going ovulate in the next 24 hours or so. So needless to say we "got busy" the next few days too.
Fast forward to Oct. 16, 2011 I bought a pregnancy test from the dollar store (yes it was $1)just to check and at about 10pm that night it was positive! I could not believe it. Although I hadn't had my period I was not expecting it to be positive.
Baby Emerson was born 6-1-2012, which is his Dads birthday, what an awesome present.

I highly recommend ovulation kits to anyone trying, it really narrows down the few days it's best to try.

 

[tammy77]

When I was ttc my first two I went off bc, read tcoyf and charted a few months beforehand. First pregnancy when I was 24 took zero months (ha! She didn't want to wait for me to get the courage to take the ttc plunge.) My second dd was at 26/27 and took 4 months of charting and ti (while still nursing dd #1).

This go around at the age of 35 isn't so perfect, but I don't want to drag this thread down! I will say that if you're at or over 30 but still waiting, I'd strongly recommend getting your amh tested. It won't give you the whole picture of your fertility, but it will give you an idea of your ovarian reserve. I wish I had done that myself when I was 32 and foolishly thought I still had all the time in the world!

All that said, try to just enjoy the excitement of it all! Don't worry about those first few months if you don't get pregnant right away. Save that worry for if it goes beyond 6-12 months. Besides, you'll do plenty of worrying as a mommy!

 

[tammy77]

Oh I forgot to add one thing, if you don't mind using dip strips, wondfo opks on amazon are REALLY useful and cheap. Like 50 for $15 cheap. A lot of ppl use those then take a digital one when they think wondfo is positive. I have just used the wondfos and they've worked well to predict my ovulation (correlates perfectly every month).

 

[Octavia]

Less about conception but not a bad plan to get your doc to run an initial pre-conception blood panel. Mine identified that I was no longer rubella immune, but because I got it before TTC I was able to get vaccinated and wait the appropriate time rather than risking getting rubella while preggo, which is apparently really bad. It may also identify any issues such as thyroid that could affect your ability to conceive before you start, so you don't have to wait until you have already become frustrated.

This might sound stupid, but which doctor does this? When I lived in PA, I had an OB/GYN for all my lady-parts appointments, but here my PCP takes care of PAPs, would prescribe BC if I wanted it, etc. Obviously I will transfer to an OB/GYN if and when I actually get pregnant, but in the meantime I'm confused about how I'm supposed to approach pre-TTC stuff. I also have the issue that I cannot be vaccinated for pertussis because it's only given together with tetanus, which I'm deathly allergic to, so that's also something I need to discuss with someone. My PCP said she'd refer me to an allergist if I wanted, but I'm not quite sure what that would accomplish (maybe to figure out if my allergy has subsided a bit? ). Anyway, if anyone has had to deal with the when-and-how-to-switch-providers issue, I'd love to hear how you handled it.

 

[amc80]

Less about conception but not a bad plan to get your doc to run an initial pre-conception blood panel. Mine identified that I was no longer rubella immune, but because I got it before TTC I was able to get vaccinated and wait the appropriate time rather than risking getting rubella while preggo, which is apparently really bad. It may also identify any issues such as thyroid that could affect your ability to conceive before you start, so you don't have to wait until you have already become frustrated.

This might sound stupid, but which doctor does this? When I lived in PA, I had an OB/GYN for all my lady-parts appointments, but here my PCP takes care of PAPs, would prescribe BC if I wanted it, etc. Obviously I will transfer to an OB/GYN if and when I actually get pregnant, but in the meantime I'm confused about how I'm supposed to approach pre-TTC stuff. I also have the issue that I cannot be vaccinated for pertussis because it's only given together with tetanus, which I'm deathly allergic to, so that's also something I need to discuss with someone. My PCP said she'd refer me to an allergist if I wanted, but I'm not quite sure what that would accomplish (maybe to figure out if my allergy has subsided a bit? ). Anyway, if anyone has had to deal with the when-and-how-to-switch-providers issue, I'd love to hear how you handled it.

What I did was find a new OB/GYN before TTC. Then, I made an appointment with her to 1) make sure I liked her, and 2) get all of my questions answered. I figured I was better off choosing an OB when I was level headed (read: non-pregnant). Also, I figured it was better to be an established patient before TTC. This worked out in my favor when I had a chemical pregnancy. I was able to get in the same day I started bleeding, and I know that wouldn't have been possible had I not been established beforehand.

 

[enbcfsobe]

Less about conception but not a bad plan to get your doc to run an initial pre-conception blood panel. Mine identified that I was no longer rubella immune, but because I got it before TTC I was able to get vaccinated and wait the appropriate time rather than risking getting rubella while preggo, which is apparently really bad. It may also identify any issues such as thyroid that could affect your ability to conceive before you start, so you don't have to wait until you have already become frustrated.

This might sound stupid, but which doctor does this? When I lived in PA, I had an OB/GYN for all my lady-parts appointments, but here my PCP takes care of PAPs, would prescribe BC if I wanted it, etc. Obviously I will transfer to an OB/GYN if and when I actually get pregnant, but in the meantime I'm confused about how I'm supposed to approach pre-TTC stuff. I also have the issue that I cannot be vaccinated for pertussis because it's only given together with tetanus, which I'm deathly allergic to, so that's also something I need to discuss with someone. My PCP said she'd refer me to an allergist if I wanted, but I'm not quite sure what that would accomplish (maybe to figure out if my allergy has subsided a bit? ). Anyway, if anyone has had to deal with the when-and-how-to-switch-providers issue, I'd love to hear how you handled it.

Not sure I have an answer -- I'm in PA and my OB/GYN did the pre-conception testing but I had to go to my PCP to get the MMR vaccine. The TDaP will be given after delivery in the hospital. I don't know what they can do for vaccine allergies -- maybe some of the docs/nurses on here have some ideas. I would also think that an immunologist/infectious disease specialist might have more info on this than an allergist...but I'm not in the medical field. Alternatively, you may be able to determine that it isn't tetanus itself but something in the vaccine (like a preservative?) that caused a previous allergic reaction -- the current vaccine that includes pertussis is relatively new and might not have the same recipe.

I've heard of OB/GYNs being authorized as PCPs under various health plans but never of PCPs doind PAPs or prescribing BCPs. If your PCP isn't doing annual internal exams in addition to the PAPs (are they even trained for that?) I would think you could/should be seeing an OB/GYN as well -- my recollection is that even under the HMO I could see the OB/GYN annually without a referral. That said, your PCP should be able to run a full blood panel, but not sure if it will correspond to what an OB would do as they seem to have standard panels that they run at various points during pregnancy. I know it was like 8-10 vials and included everything from STDs to thyroid to white blood cell counts to checking immunities. If you've had a full physical your PCP may have done some/all of this already. Good luck!!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I forgot to add that I got all of my vaccinations up-to-date before we TTC. Amc mentioned that she found her OB before trying to TTC and that reminded me--mine suggested I just get boosters of everything before we started trying.

 

[aviastar]

I've heard of OB/GYNs being authorized as PCPs under various health plans but never of PCPs doind PAPs or prescribing BCPs. If your PCP isn't doing annual internal exams in addition to the PAPs (are they even trained for that?) I would think you could/should be seeing an OB/GYN as well -- my recollection is that even under the HMO I could see the OB/GYN annually without a referral. That said, your PCP should be able to run a full blood panel, but not sure if it will correspond to what an OB would do as they seem to have standard panels that they run at various points during pregnancy. I know it was like 8-10 vials and included everything from STDs to thyroid to white blood cell counts to checking immunities. If you've had a full physical your PCP may have done some/all of this already. Good luck!!

Yes, PCP can do your annuals! I see my NP as my primary care provider and she does an internal, PAP, and perscribes my BCP. She has run blood tests for me, and administered my HPV vaccine. She will be the first person I talk to about TTC; I've been seeing her since I was 18, she knows my whole history and all my quirks and issues. Plus, I really want her recommendation on OBs in the area. We have a practice of midwives, also, locally, that has privelages at the hospital where I would eventually deliver, so I'd like to ask her about that, too.

I do plan on making an appointment with an OB/GYN before getting pregnant; like amc said- I don't want to be searching for a doc I like who is taking new patients on a deadline. But I will start with my NP- I really trust her to point me in the right direction.

 

[Laila619]

Stacy,

DHA: http://www.enfamil.com/app/iwp/enf10/content.do?id=/Consumer_Home3/Prenatal3/ForMoms

I took Expecta for both pregnancies. Most diets are low in DHA so they recommend taking a supplement. It is supposed to help with fetal brain development. Expecta is a plant-based source so it's mercury free. There are other brands too.

 

[Octavia]

I've heard of OB/GYNs being authorized as PCPs under various health plans but never of PCPs doind PAPs or prescribing BCPs. If your PCP isn't doing annual internal exams in addition to the PAPs (are they even trained for that?) I would think you could/should be seeing an OB/GYN as well -- my recollection is that even under the HMO I could see the OB/GYN annually without a referral. That said, your PCP should be able to run a full blood panel, but not sure if it will correspond to what an OB would do as they seem to have standard panels that they run at various points during pregnancy. I know it was like 8-10 vials and included everything from STDs to thyroid to white blood cell counts to checking immunities. If you've had a full physical your PCP may have done some/all of this already. Good luck!!

Yes, PCP can do your annuals! I see my NP as my primary care provider and she does an internal, PAP, and perscribes my BCP. She has run blood tests for me, and administered my HPV vaccine. She will be the first person I talk to about TTC; I've been seeing her since I was 18, she knows my whole history and all my quirks and issues. Plus, I really want her recommendation on OBs in the area. We have a practice of midwives, also, locally, that has privelages at the hospital where I would eventually deliver, so I'd like to ask her about that, too.

I do plan on making an appointment with an OB/GYN before getting pregnant; like amc said- I don't want to be searching for a doc I like who is taking new patients on a deadline. But I will start with my NP- I really trust her to point me in the right direction.

Yep, of the states I've lived in, only in PA did I ever have to see a specialist for routine GYN services. Anything not involving pregnancy or abnormalities/illnesses is handled along with the normal annual physical. The exam itself is exactly the same as what I got at the GYN office. I actually love this system most of the time (one appointment and copay instead of two!) but it's just confusing at this particular stage of life. I guess I should give my PCP's office a call and ask them if they have any recommendations -- I'm not due for another physical for several months, and I'd like to figure this out before then. I haven't lived here very long, so it's still a new practice to me and I'm still figuring them out. And I agree that it's probably a good idea to get set up with an OB/GYN before getting KU!

ETA: it's definitely tetanus I'm allergic to, not other components of the vaccine. I always had to get doctor's notes when schools required the boosters, and I'm only supposed to get a shot under true emergency conditions when I can be admitted for inpatient observation. It particularly worries me because there is a lot of whooping cough in this area, but I have zero good options, as far as I can tell.