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You should always go to the doctor before you plan to conceive. It's a lot easier for your doctor to give you advice on how to have a healthy pregnancy BEFORE you get pregnant, as opposed to you come in 8 weeks pregnant and didn't realize you shouldn't have done this or taken that medicine or eaten that, etc.

Pre-conception planning is very important. Your doctor can discuss risk factors you or your boyfriend may have (that you may not even realize), make sure you're healthy and give you tips on how to conceive.

I work for a hospital, and just talked to a doctor today about how he thinks it's so important for women and their partners to talk with an OB/Gyn BEFORE they conceive. It can help prevent so many problems and make your pregnancy a lot easier.

Like Harry said, do your research before trying to get pregnant as opposed to after. That research does not just include going to the doctor. You could be reading up on signs and symptoms of early pregnancy. You could start researching fetal development. You could be researching fertility. You could research the female cycle. I am kind of a stickler about pregnancy. I think people should be as prepared as possible. Prepared might mean slightly different things to different people, but there should always be some basic similarities because all babies need and deserve the same basic things.

If you know more about your cycle and fetal development, you will know when developmental psychologists think babies can start hearing their parents (they can't know for sure since they can't ask them) and the like. You would also know when during the month you will be the most fertile. You would also know that women are only at peak fertility a couple of days out of the month, so having unprotected sex for four or five months and not being pregnant yet is nothing. Unprotected sex does not lead to pregnancy every time. There are doctors that specialize in fertility problems. Those doctors would not talk to you at this point because you have not even been trying long enough. After one year of unprotected sex every time, only about 85% couples end up pregnant.

Go to an ob-gyn, get a regular check-up, tell her that you want to try to have a baby, and see if she has any advice for you. Start keeping track of your cycle and researching the female cycle in general. If you are still not pregnant after a year of trying, then I might start to wonder about fertility issues.

In my opinion, I really can't see someone having a baby responsibly without knowing anything about fertility, their cycle, and fetal development beforehand. That does not mean having a Master's in Child Psychology, it just means if you are really ready for a baby, you should at least be able to talk to your ob-gyn and read some books first. Now, I don't mean to sound harsh with you, even though this might have sounded a little harsh. I do take babies and pregnancy very seriously, however, and I would like to see your baby get everything that it deserves. 3nodding

Are those expensive? I never took them ^^; I didn't know about them...

Thanks guys that helps. I've read some books that break down week by week of the pregnancy and such I just need to find a female ob-gyn that I'm comfortable with because I just have a regular doctor right now.

Your regular doc will refer you to an OB/Gyn. You can ask specifically for females, or even ask to see who's in your insurance network and try to shop around a little, but you are limited by who your insurance covers. Also, if you ARE pregnant, get a doctor now, and then shop around if you don't like them. Better to start care now with someone you don't like than wait months to find one you do. The earlier prenatal care is started, the better.

Also, seriously, if you don't even know about prenatal vitamins... well, I don't know how to say this without sounding bitchy... if you didn't even know about those, you should try to do a LOT of research and classes before you even think about becoming pregnant, if you're not already. There are a million things you need to know about pregnancy, birth, and infants that take time and lots of reading to learn, and some are life or death... I'm with Lorien about being educated BEFORE you get pregnant. It can make all the difference in the world... you don't want to find out when your 7 month old is in the hospital that you can't give them honey. That's one of the millions of things you NEED to know beforehand.

However, I'm glad you got a book. "What to Expect When You're Expecting" is a really fantastic book. It's huge, so don't let it indimidate you, but it breaks everything down very easily, and even has specific chapters outside of month-to-month talking about different things regarding diet, exercise, the birthing process and lots of other things. It's like the pregnant woman's bible.

Yeah, the hospital I work for (and most others for that matter) offer free or low cost (less than $30) classes for mothers and fathers to take and learn more about childcare. They have them for before you conceive, while you're pregnant and all the other stages of life too. They even have classes for sibling preparation. You learn what to expect, basic first aid for infants and children (and sometimes depending on the class, CPR.) Many hospitals and community centers offer them. I'd reccommend you take one if you prefer hands-on stuff to reading a book or even if you just want more info. I've never taken one of them, but I write the class descriptions for them and they sound interesting and are taught by nurses and professional healthcare workers!