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I found the last apt of the day (sometimes 4:45) was best. I could skip lunch and leave early. I never had to stress about them running late for appointments. Any way you look at it you'll have to miss work.

My company is so flexible that it was never an issue, which is good because most of my appointments were 1:30-2:30. I usually worked from home afterwards if I was home in time.

Your situation sounds tough! I picked a practice that opens at 7:30 for this reason. I just take the first appointment and skip lunch to make the small amount of time I miss. I wish I could think of a better solution for you--no chance of switching practices to one that is closer and opens earlier?

@Mrs. Pen: Totally understandable, I'd never give up a doctor I loved! Saturday appointments would have been amazing.

I was salary so less of an issue, but I tried to schedule my appointments last of the day and worked through lunch, or at lunch and then worked later in the evening (or came in earlier).

Does your employer offer any flexibility in scheduling so you could leave early one day for an appointment and make up the time the next day?

My practice offered a "Centering Pregnancy" series that combines prenatal checkups with a group series, so you have facilitated discussions every month (or 2x/mo as you get closer of course) about various labor/birth/parenting topics. Those were all held in the evenings.

For ultrasounds and the GD test, I just did what I do for all necessary health appointments for myself or DD - scheduled for a Friday (when we tend not to have a lot of meetings) and put that time as "out of office" on my calendar. My city has a law that requires companies to give employees a certain number of sick days per year, and allows them to be used for preventative care as well. So that's how that goes onto my timesheet.

I preferred to try to get the first appt of the day. I found it less stressful to go in late than to have to leave early, and I could stay later at work if it was really necessary

I always took the first appointment because I felt like they ran late as the day went on. I usually slkipped lunch on appointment days to minimize sick hours I had to use.

I was a teacher and had to take a half day every time. it was a huge PITA but I enjoyed my morning off

First appointment of the day. That way the OB or MW sees me right away and there's no time spent waiting. My office is one block from work so I go in right after and usually don't need to take PTO but occasionally I can't get in early enough or had an ultrasound, which took longer. I think overall I've only taken about 5 hrs PTO total for prenatal appointments.

I was a teacher and had to take a half day off every time. I had very little PTO left once baby came.

I was a teacher, so I tried to schedule appointments either around 9am or 2pm because I could take a half day (work until 11:30 or leave at 11:30). My OB was about 30 minutes from work. Aaaand I pretty much used all my PTO

I chose a group practice that had extended hours and was a 5 minute walk from work. The convenience, to me, outweighed the somewhat overall impersonal experience. The convenience also applied to my husband, he could actually attend appointments with me.

I am having weekly appointments (BPP, NST, then OB visit) since 32w and scheduled them all for the last appointment of the day which is 3:20! So early! The OB is about 15 mins toward home. I do it without taking PTO by flexing my time which is easier since I'm salaried and never just work 40 hours... I try to do Friday afternoons since they are slower and I never have meeting requests then so no need to deal with the hassle of rescheduling, etc.

Your schedule and daily patient visits make it a lot more tricky! I'd probably try to get the latest appointment and then do charting, etc. at home afterwards. Could you move one appointment to another day (have 4-5 appointments on your OB day and then 6-7 the next day)?

Once you find the time that works. I would schedule out as far as the OB will let you so that you don't have to change your routine!

my midwives and OB were close to home and work was not, so i did the same and took end of day or beginning of day appts. I preferred beginning of day because then i could easily flex my work day by staying later which i was allowed to do. If i had to do a midday appt, i might just not come back to work that day, but then make it up later in the week by doing a 10 hour day. We were allowed to flex t hat way too. So i never had to use vacation or PTO for appts. It was still a challenge because flexing days was not always easy with an older child at home and clients at work who had schedules to work with too, but i managed. It was obviously harder in the third trimester when i had SOO many appts. It was a relief when i started mat leave 3 weeks early because i had even more prenatal stuff to deal with because i was high risk and my blood pressure was increasing at the end.

@Mrs. Pen: I hear you on 10 hour days (and more)! I'm sure you'll find a good balance between not burning yourself out and preserving as much PTO as possible.

With LO1 my practice did one day/week where they were open noon-8 so I could do evening appointments. With LO2 I had changed jobs and OBs and found one across the street from my job.

With my son, I would either schedule appointments for 1st thing in the morning, lunchtime or the last appointment of the day. Unfortunately, I almost always had a long wait time, like 45 min to an hour. My office was extremely flexible and understanding though and no one really seemed concerned if I was out for an appointment.

My schedule is pretty flexible. I would opt for the latest appointment I could get, sometimes that meant 3 pm though. I brought my work cell with me in case any one needed me. Often times I was waiting for over a hour. My OB's office was at best 22 minutes away from my closest stop, but typically I was driving 40+ min to get there.

My OB is 45 min away also, which means I have to leave an hour before. I always opt for the latest appt. of the day, and then skip lunch so I'm only using an hour PTO if possible. Of course my first 2 appointments I couldn't get in that late so I've already used 7 hours for those two.

I'll schedule out as far out as I can though so I can hopefully get the better time slots.