Pre-pregnancy Checkup

My hubby and I both feel that it's time for us to go to another stage, having a baby. We planned to conceive some time around June this year. As I remember that I have never been vaccinated against the rubella virus which is a very important immunity for a pregnant lady, we decided to consult a gynae and find out what other checkup we should do. I'm worried about it because if one is not immune to rubella, and the fetus happens to be exposed to the rubella virus during pregnancy, it can cause disabilities to the baby. 

So, after deciding on which gynae, we went for the checkup few weeks ago. Questions that the gynae asked include "Have you had the rubella vaccine?", "Did you have chicken pox before?”. Chicken pox is another concern. I never had chicken pox! If you catch chicken pox during your pregnancy, there're risks including chicken pox syndrome, to the baby.

My checkup includes breasts check, pap smear test, ultrasound on uterus, urine test and a blood test to detect my antibodies while hubby only need to do a urine and blood tests. The gynae said I probably need to get the rubella and chicken pox vaccines if I'm really not vaccinated against rubella and I never had chicken pox like I told him. However, he needs to see my blood test report before he gives me the vaccines. We're asked to go back in June for the blood test results. Also, we're told that we should wait for at least three months after those vaccines are taken before we try to conceive. Our initial plan to get conceived in June obviously have to be postponed to September or October, the earliest, as we only get the blood test reports end of June and then counting 3 months from June. :'( I can't wait to have a baby!

So, what is a pap smear test? It's a test where the gynae inserts a speculum to your vagina to help access to the cervix, and then a small brush is inserted to collect the cells. The gynae then put those cells on a glass slide to send for examination under the microscope. The whole procedure didn't cause any pain or discomfort to me. However, I felt a mild cramping afterward.