What happens after you “graduate” from your fertility clinic?

Question

Hey Ladies,
I am very early on in my 1st pregnancy through IVF. I am currently 5W5D. I am waiting for my 1st ultrasound, sometime next week. 
I’m just wondering what can I expect if we “graduate” from our fertility clinic? What happens afterwards? 
From what I know, if the 1st ultrasound goes well, then you will graduate and the fertility doctor will send you to an OB/GYN. But what happens there? When do I get my next ultrasound? What check-ups are expected? 
It’s our first pregnancy so I am not sure what to expect. Please share your experiences!
Thank you,
Anna

Answer

It’s so weird! You go from constant monitoring to very little. Definitely a hard transition. 
I heard the heartbeat and got blood drawn around 9.5 weeks which is early. They almost couldn’t hear the heart because my placenta was in the front and I was crying while she looked for it. Ugh. 
NT scan (ultrasound) is around 12 weeks to look for any abnormalities. If all that is normal (along with blood work), you probably won’t have another ultrasound until about 20 weeks. The anatomy scan. If that is normal, you might not have another one (I didn’t). 
Depends on your OB/midwife, though. Some do more scans later on to more accurately estimate the size. And it all depends on your risk factors. 
Congratulations and good luck! This first trimester is a lot after all you’ve been through to get pregnant. But take it one step at a time and soon enough you’ll have a screaming baby and sleepless nights to worry about 😂

Answer

Congrats! The hardest adjustment for me was going from constant visits and scans with my fertility doctor to barley any with my OB. I had a 5 and 7 week scan with the fertility doctor and we heard the heartbeat at the 7, was released to my ob, and didn’t hear her heartbeat again until the NT at 12 weeks, it was hard! Not related to scans, the other positive adjustment was weaning off the fertility drugs. I was on a progesterone suppository until week 14, and after that I was so paranoid pregnancy hormones would have me even more emotional, but everything finally evened out! It’s so nice to feel “back to normal” after 3 years of fertility treatments 😅

Answer

Congratulations! After you “graduate”, it’s treated like any normal pregnancy. Monthly appointments for most of the pregnancy, twice a month in the 3rd trimester, and then weekly at the end. 
The depth of care varies by OBGYN practice, by what insurance will approve for coverage, and also based on any risk factors you or your baby have. For example, I have friends who only got 3 ultrasounds during their pregnancies. I had 9 or 10, I think, with my last pregnancy—3 with IVF clinic before graduating, 1 or 2 extras simply because of my age (40 at the time), and a few more because there was a suspected mass on my placenta and later concern about low amniotic fluid (both of which turned out to be non-issues). I was reassured, though, Jay they listened to the fetal heartbeat at every OBGYN visit, even if there was no ultrasound that day.
It’s true that it’s hard to go from constant monitoring to less monitoring. Getting a home fetal Doppler really helped me with that!

Answer

Congrats

What happens after you “graduate” from your fertility clinic?

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