Betas: what would you do?

OK, so apparently to get my betas done with the OB, I have to first have an appointment with her. That's scheduled for Monday (9/10). I'm so tempted to just go to the RE today and get my betas done, though. So I'm asking you all, what would you do? Is there any real need to rush to get the betas done? Will 6 days really make that much of a difference? (Answer: it might only be 6 days, but I want to know now!!) Should I just be satisfied with my HPTs until I can see my OB? What do most women do? I've never had to think this far ahead before!

Also, for those of you who are/have been pregnant, what do they typically do at your first appointment? I'll only be about 4 weeks 2 days along on Monday, so it's too early for an ultrasound and there won't be any heartbeat to hear! Do they just palpate your pelvis or something? I really thought OBs didn't see you until 8-10 weeks, so I'm pretty surprised that I'll be seeing her so soon.

Research

I've been reading up about what the next steps may be in our journey, and it sounds as though we'll have to get a reproductive endocrinologist (RE). When I go to my appointment on Monday, the OBGYN might order some blood work for me (to be done on CD3 of my next cycle) but if what I've read is correct, that's about as much as they're likely to do. Of course, it could go differently - I guess people have different experiences depending on the doctor they see. I was really hoping the gynecologist could schedule a HSG and do an ultrasound, but it sounds as though that may not be the case. It may have to be a RE who does those things. I've heard of people waiting months for an appointment with REs, so I hope that won't be the case for us if we need to see one.

I guess it's a good thing that we're getting the ball rolling now: if we'd left it another 6 months or so, as I'd originally planned on doing, we could be in a far worse position time-wise. I was 27 and a half when we started trying, now I'm 28 and a half and if we do have to see an RE it could be months before we even get an initial consultation, let alone get all the testing done and start treatments etc. I could feasibly be 30 before I even get pregnant (assuming I do at all). I know that's still "young" but we'd like to have 2 or 3 kids and we're no closer to having one now than we were a year ago. I can't help but feel depressed about it, even though there's nothing I can do to change things.

The only thing we could easily try that we haven't tried yet is OPKs - maybe I'll get some of those and see how we do with them. I doubt that OPKs would make a whole lot of difference though, because we always time DTD well anyway. Also, they can be wrong so we could end up missing ovulation altogether. I check my cervix daily and when I start getting fertile CM we're sure to have lots of sex. I don't think using OPKs would make our timing any more accurate, but maybe it'd be worth a shot. If we do get some I'd rather get the digital ones, they're a lot easier to read. They're also expensive: 20 tests for $55. I guess I'd have to start testing around CD14, and could end up testing through CD23 or even later... I don't know, maybe it's worth a try at least. A box would hopefully last me for 2 cycles, so maybe it's not too expensive after all (unless I end up using them for 30 cycles, LOL).
Edited to add: I just read up on those OPKs - you apparently have to start testing on CD5! Ugh. Might not bother, since I ovulate late.