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1st Trimester
How many weeks pregnant??
I know how to calculate my weeks but I wanted to see what you all thought...my LMP was 11/25 but I was charting and according to FF I ovulated on Dec. 17? So If I go by my LMP I am 6 weeks 2 days but I go by FF and when I ovulated I would be a week behind that at 5 weeks 2 days. I know I will get a better idea when I go to the doc in 2 weeks but I just wanted to see how you all would calculate!
Thanks
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Re: How many weeks pregnant??
This isn't true. The way doctors calculate a pregnancy based on LMP is with the assumption that you ovulated/conceived on day 14 of your cycle. If you have longer cycles (like I do) and you don't ovulate on day 14 but on day 18 or 21 or even day 28 (heck, once I ovulated on day 41!) - then you are better off calculating your due date based on your ovulation date. According the LMP dating method, you are 2 weeks pregnant on the day of ovulation/conception. Therefore, if you actually ovulated on day 28 but still use your LMP (and thus day 14) method to date it, you're going to measure 2 weeks small and be freaked out if you have an early ultrasound and you don't see anything but a yolk sac without a heartbeat. If you are already calculating using your actual O date, then you won't be so freaked out and will understand that your baby is measuring right where he/she should be.
And on another note, since many doctors like to induce a woman no later than at 42 weeks, it helps to know your O date because then if you were one of those day 28 ovulators (as I often was - the earliest I've ever ovulated was day 19 and day 24 was more common for me), you know that in actuality you're only 40 weeks and unless there's a mitigating circumstance such as pre eclampsia, there's no reason to induce and you can let that baby bake a little longer.
When I had my first son, according to my LMP (and the date my doctor went by even though the dating u/s confirmed the O date I knew from charting) he was born at over 41 weeks gestation. According to my ovulation date, he was born just one day past his due date. Knowing your O date is empowering. I knew I didn't need to be induced even though my doctor was beginning to talk about it (I had no other medical issues indicating a need for induction besides the supposed "overdue-ness") and I was able to let my son come when he was ready.
If you want to use my day 41 ovulation (I have PCOS and it can often take a looooong time for my body to actually manage ovulation) as an example for comparison (even though that wasn't a cycle I conceived on) here is what it would be:
According to the LMP/day 14 ovulation method doctors use, I would have been 5 weeks and 6 days pregnant on the day I ovulated. Which is ridiculous because I wouldn't have even been able to get a positive pregnancy test until possibly 14 days later on my cycle day 55 when the LMP dating method would say I was 7 weeks and 6 days pregnant. At 7 weeks and 6 days pregnant, the books tell you your baby should have a heartbeat, arms, legs, a well developed placenta and umbilical chord, etc. Had I gone in for an ultrasound/first appointment at the typical "10 week" mark, I would have only been 4 weeks and 1 day past my actual ovulation and the baby would have measured just 6 weeks and 1 day. And it is possible that baby might not have had a heartbeat, or if he/she did it could have only just begun and been pretty slow. If I didn't understand how pregnancy dating actually worked and that the LMP method ASSUMES a 14 day ovulation, then I would have freaked out and my doctor may have emotionally prepared me for a miscarriage.
Now, a day 41 ovulation is obviously extreme and I imagine most women don't deal with that possibility. But I do and many women with PCOS do. So yes, use your O date. It is much much MUCH more accurate
I understand what you are saying. I don't O on day 14 either, and my cycles aren't 28 days. This cycle I Od a week late, but when I went in for my 1st appt and u/s my doc didn't adjust my due date based on ovulation. My response to her was based on her ovulating a week late like myself.
Anyway, she'll find out when they do her u/s I guess.
Right, my doctor didn't adjust my son's EDD either even though my u/s confirmed my late O date (and I told the doctor that I charted and that my O date and the u/s correlated with each other). But either way, it was important for me to know my actual O date and my EDD based on that date because when my doctor started talking induction for no other reason than I was a week overdue (again, I had no other medically mitigating circumstances to indicate a need for induction), I could counter with "actually, I'm only just at my due date and I'm quite comfortable letting this baby bake longer." And thus, I avoided an unnecessary induction and the dreaded pitocin.
Thank you all! You are right...I would love to be a week ahead but I kinda figured my O date was more accurate! When I called to make my appt they wanted to see me last week thinking I was 6 weeks (based on my LMP) and I said I rather wait since I know when I O'd! I didn't want to have an u/s and get freaked out when there was no hb or anything!
Thanks ladies! GL to you all!