Due Date Confusion? Question for Second Time Mom's

indigoheightsblog

Hey ladies! Question about due dates - for STM+.... have your due dates ever shifted around during pregnancy? My LMP was May 21st but because I have longer cycles my doctor "made up" that my LMP was May 27th with a conception date of June 10th which seems pretty accurate. That would make my due date March 3rd. After my Ultrasound on Friday, baby measured 7 weeks 2 days (when I should have been 7 weeks 5 days). Not a huge difference, but different nonetheless. Today, the doctors office calls me to tell me that after reviewing the results of my ultrasound, they are changing my due date to March 9th.

Even with longer cycles.... Doesn't March 9th seem excessive? 

I'm a little annoyed because I want these 12 weeks to be overwith so that I can stop hiding (LOL) - Also, when I change my due date in all of my apps it tells me I'm 7 weeks and 1 day today. If baby measured at 7 weeks 2 days on Friday... How the heck am I only 7 weeks 1 day?! I called the office back to confirm that date because it didn't seem right but they insist.......... 

becausescience

Just so we're clear, you are complaining about your due being changed by 3 days compared to your dating u/s. I'm guessing that once the radiologist reviewed the u/s they made adjustments. Dating u/s are pretty reliable that early, but there is still a margin of error. 

Due dates don't mean much, baby will arrive when they are ready. They help estimate when certain tests should be run, when it might be early for baby to stop labor, etc but 3 days won't make a difference.

Announce your pregnancy whenever you want. 11w4d, 12w, today, never, etc.

indigoheightsblog

@becausescience, I'm not complaining, I'm confused as this is my first pregnancy but thank you for your curt response. As I said, my LMP was May 21st. They are making up dates. With a May 21st period, I should be due end of feburary so March 3rd was already a push. Now we're talking March 9th, so I'm not sure where you're getting three days from.... we're talking another additional week. The dates have been wacky from the get-go, and I'm asking if anyone has experienced similar. 

becausescience

@indigoheightsblog If you weren't tracking ovulation with BBT and/or OPKs you need to trust the dating ultrasound. Your Dr made an initial due date guess based on your history, then made an adjustment once data was gathered.

indigoheightsblog

@becausescience My OPK said any time between June 8-10th which is why Doctor has been going by June 10th conception which would be March 3rd EDD. Now we're pushed another week. I don't buy it. We'll certainly see when baby comes! 

lin0442

@indigoheightsblog Due dates move around a little bit sometimes due to theway ovulation and conception work, and the changes made are reasonable. Also, 12 weeks isn’t the be-all-end -all of ‘safe’- announce when you are comfortable and when you want to, but don’t hold one date as a magic bullet. 

indigoheightsblog

@lin0442 Yeah, you're right! I think I'll likely announce sometime between the "new" 11 to 11.5 week range, as I'll be leaving for Italy right on my "new" 12 week mark. I'm a lifestyle blogger by trade, and travel is big for my brand, so I'd really rather not hide or pretend while on the trip. Thank you for your helpful response! 

becausescience

@indigoheightsblog OPKs alone are not reliable to confirm ovulation. You can have multiple LH surges in a cycle, especially if you usually have longer cycles. Did you continue using after the initial surge?

indigoheightsblog

@becausescience - I didn't know that! I used it for an extra day or two just to see if it dipped again (and it did) but then I stopped. Good to know. 

mermaidca

OP, your "due date" may change every single time you go for an scan.  And even then when the baby comes out it can - and will - be a different size than the last ultrasound said.  Things fluctuate, techs measure differently, machines measure differently.  A few days isn't anything to worry over.  Tell people when you feel comfortable to.  

indigoheightsblog

@mermaidca thanks! that seems like the general consensus. i never thought it would fluctuate more than a day or two, so i got a little bummed.

lovesclimbing

I posted a second response in your thread over on March '19. Based on my calculation, this does not seem that unusual. 

And I think your "making up dates" thing is just semantics. I have long cycles as well, and with my last pregnancy (and I expect it will happen with this one), my midwives adjusted my due date later to account for that. I could say that they "made up" a new period start date, or I can say the adjusted my due date because of a longer cycle. Tomato, tomahto. 

harpseal135

Due dates are NOT an exact science. It's an estimated time frame.  A couple of days is not that big of a deal.  It's an estimated time frame.

indigoheightsblog

@lovesclimbing - i replied to your march '19! 

@harpseal135 i wouldn't fret if it were only a couple of days but this is more than a week potentially even 2 weeks. i guess we'll see what happens! 

lovesclimbing

indigoheightsblog said:

@lovesclimbing - i replied to your march '19! 

@harpseal135 i wouldn't fret if it were only a couple of days but this is more than a week potentially even 2 weeks. i guess we'll see what happens! 

But your periods are a week longer than normal! That means your due date should be a week later than the average calculation based on a 28-day cycle before taking into account anything else such as the dating scan. 

Jyoung327

With my 1st baby there was a time that his body size measured 2 weeks behind his gestational age based on dating. He was born fine. Currently pregnant with fraternal twins, one measures a few days around "schedule" and the other measures a week and a half ahead because of the combination of his head, belly, femur, and arm length averages. Both are fine. None of my due dates changed. If based on your babys measurements they are suddenly very ahead or behind, instead of progressing at an expected pace within the averages for those ages, then there may be cause for concern but that isn't what you were describing was happening. 

Eta: my fertility clinic gave me a due date of 9/11. My ob office gave me a due date of 9/10. I'm being induced by 8/20. So when people ask when I'm "due" I just say "end of august." The due date itself is always just an estimate. 

delujm0

An early dating ultrasound is the absolute most accurate way to date a pregnancy.  If your date was changed after a dating ultrasound, I'd think that's the most accurate date.

Not that it matters, baby could come early or late no matter what your due date is.

DanyTargaryen

With my first my LMP based due date was 9/7. My ovulation based due date per Fertility Friend was 9/11 because I have slightly longer cycles than the 28-day average. U/S around 7 weeks had me measuring at a 9/9 due date but it wasn't moved because it was only 2 days different.

DS was born 9/13. Just 2 days past my ovulation based date. I would have preferred a later due date because we started talking induction for going overdue. Thankfully DS made his arrival on his own. It can be hard mentally to have to "repeat" some days, but in the end a due date is just an estimate and they're making their best guess based on the information available.

indigoheightsblog

@DanyTargaryen thank you! That's super helpful, and a great way to look at it actually... Never thought about going "overdue" so maybe it's better in the long run to have an EDD that's a little on the late side. I appreciate everyone's help on this thread as I made sense of it!  

himarcy

With my first, I had a dating ultrasound at 9 weeks but he was measuring 10 weeks so they moved up my due date. He ended up being born closer to my original due date, I was 8 days late. Either way, he's here and babies will come when they want to. 

SpongeWorthy

With DS I was temping so I knew my ovulation date.  My due date based on ovulation was 7/24 (due date based on LMP was 7/23).  My first dating ultrasound at 8 weeks, he measured 5 days smaller than he should have, but they kept my due date the same.  The next dating ultrasound at 12 weeks, he measured a full 7 days behind.  At that point they changed my due date to 7/30.  My doctors assumed that I had my dates wrong and actually ovulated later than I said I did.  We now know that my dates were accurate, but he measured small because of a genetic disorder.

All this to say, due dates can certainly fluctuate early on in pregnancy.  If your LO does not grow appropriately between ultrasounds, that is when there is more cause for concern.