How Your Obstetrician Will Guide You Throughout Your Pregnancy Journey

When you embark on a pregnancy, your body undergoes an amazing amount of change as it accommodates and creates a new life. But more impressive is the incredible rate at which your baby develops — growing from a tiny embryo to a small child that’s ready to enter the world. So you want everything to go as smoothly as possible, for both you and your child. Having an obstetrician in your corner to help you navigate this journey can make all the difference.

At Cross Roads Hormonal Health & Wellness, our experienced, knowledgeable, and compassionate team helps women in the Cross Roads, Texas, area build the families of their dreams through expert prenatal care during pregnancy.

Here’s a look at some of the ways our obstetricians guide you through your pregnancy journey.

Your first visit

Once you receive the good news, we urge you to quickly schedule your first prenatal visit so that we can start looking after both your health and the health of your baby. This all-important first visit, which should take place within the first eight weeks of your pregnancy, allows us to collect critical information to establish a baseline, which we do through:

• A review of your medical history
• Recording your vital statistics (blood pressure, height, weight)
• A physical exam

During this visit, which will likely be your longest, we gather — and provide — key information that will guide us moving forward. From nutritional dos and don’ts to a check of the medications you’re taking, we can come up with the best plan for your early pregnancy. We also suggest any supplements that we feel are important for both your baby’s development and your own health.

This visit essentially covers everything from soup to nuts as our obstetrician provides you with the education and tools you need. For example, did you know that hot tubs and saunas present potential hazards?

This first meeting is also a great time for you to ask our obstetrician any questions that you may have. Whether it’s your first child or your third, we want to make sure that you’re well-informed.

Moving forward

After your first prenatal visit, and assuming your pregnancy is considered low risk, our obstetrician will likely set up the following schedule of visits:

• Once a month for weeks 4 through 28
• Twice a month during weeks 28 to 36
• Weekly for weeks 36 to birth

Most of these visits will be shorter than your first as we track your baby’s development and check in on your health. At each visit, we’ll record your vital statistics and check that your baby is meeting important developmental milestones.

By keeping up with these regular check-ins, we can spot potential problems and take quick action, which makes your prenatal care a powerful preventive tool.

One of the more exciting visits is during weeks 18-20 when we perform a routine ultrasound, giving you the first glimpses of your baby. We can also check on the sex of your child if you want to know beforehand.

What does “high risk” mean?

The term high-risk pregnancy is understandably alarming, but more often than not, it simply means that our obstetrician wants to monitor you more closely. There are many reasons why a pregnancy may be considered high risk, including:

• Advanced maternal age (35 and older)
• Multiple babies
• A history of recurrent miscarriage
• Pre-existing medical conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes

The goal behind this label is to mitigate any circumstance that may pose a threat to your baby’s or your health. What it means for you is that our obstetrician may want to see you more frequently to track your pregnancy.

The big day

When your pregnancy journey comes to an end and your child is ready to make their grand entrance, we provide the support and expertise you need for a smooth delivery. During your prenatal care, our obstetrician explains everything you need to know about delivery, so when the time comes, you’re as prepared as you can be.

To get started on our expert obstetric care during your pregnancy, please give us a call to schedule your first prenatal visit.