Hi everyone! So excited! I just have to share! We found out this weekend that we are pregnant! Not quite 5 weeks along, so we are kind of keeping the big news a secret from friends and family (which is very difficult to do) for a few more weeks. I could just burst though - so happy!

I have question though. The Dr.s here in Canada seem to not want to make prenatal appts until the mom is 12 weeks along! I think this is ridiculous and very callous! What if there is something that needed to be addressed before this point and it wasnt noticed because the doctor has this policy??? I have a few questions and not, i'm stuck waiting almost two months to get into the doctor - that seems a bit nuts to me. Has anyone else felt the same way?

I'm only a bit concerned because a couple days after i ovulated (i had taken an ovulation test to know for sure) - i was super sick - vomiting and hada fever. I ended up taking ibuprofen (1 pill every 4 or 5 hours - 3 times total) during this time. Does anyone know if i have anything to worry about? Would the fever or Ibu. have any affect on the dividing cells of the fertilized egg. I know i sound paranoid but I had to ask!

Also i strained my back yesterday lifting a bag of dirt (doing yard work). I work out 5 days a week and wouldnt have expected this to happen since i'm in decent shape, but does anyone have any suggestion on treating this or know if this will hurt the baby?

Thanks for all you comments ladies - it means a lot.

The reason they don't want to see you before 12 weeks is, sadly, because there is not much they could do to help your fetus before then. Most fetus' that are lost happen before the 12 week mark, and if that is going to happen at that stage, there is no help for it (most of the time).

As for the back pain, go see your regular doctor, just inform him you are pregnant and he will take that into consideration when he treats you. You can even see a chiropractor as long as he KNOWS you are pregnant.

I thought there was prescreening that could be done for down syndrome, etc. And that would need to be booked before the 12 week prenatal appt, since it needs to take place by 11 weeks... I guess i just think, that an appt should be possible earlier. There are some people to get pregnant unexpectedly and have no clue about things like prenatal vitamins, precautions to take etc. And had people had that type of care in the beginning i think that could be beneficial to a lot of moms and babies...

I really think that waiting until 12 weeks is pretty ridiculous. granted, there isn't much they could do before then, but just being able to hear baby's heart beat or see a little kidney bean looking thing on an ultra sound screen does wonders for an expectant mama! And I believe that having proof like that helps women realize that there really is someone growing inside them. It makes it much more "real" then and they will want to take better care of themselves. And like you were saying, some women really don't have any clue about prenatal vitamins or what medicines to take or not take.

Speaking of medicines, the reason doctors advise against taking ibuprofen during pregnancy is because it has never been proven safe for a developing fetus. Conversely, it has never been proven UNSAFE either before week 32. After week 32 though is when the problem comes in. Ibuprofen (or anything containing aspirin) can cause the ductus arteriosis to close too soon. The ductus arteriosis is supposed to stay open until birth, then close within 24 hours after birth. The circulation of the unborn baby can be compromised if the DA closes too early. I didn't realize that I wasn't supposed to take ibuprofen and I took it until I was 14 weeks. I freaked out too until I did some research on it. And since you took it so early on in the pregnancy then there shouldn't be any complications. But I'm not a dr, so, as with any concern during pregnancy, if you're worried then you should consult your dr for the final answer on this.

Congratulations and good luck to you