Feel like your doctor is wrong?

RavenandJosh · April 2011

My OB makes me so mad every time I go for an appointment because I feel like he is WAY off on the due date. At the beginning when they asked my for my missed period i told them when I should have had it and I also told them about a little one day super lite spotting that I had 3 weeks later. All of the nurses said that this was implantation bleeding. My doctor says that I am only 33 weeks 3 days pregnant, but according to the ultrasound tech, my measurements say that I am 36 weeks 6 days pregnant. That is a 3 week difference! And i know that all OBs and ultrasound can be up to 2 weeks off, but 3 weeks is a bit much. My OB seems to totally ignore this and every time I ask him about it, he just says that they are wrong and wont give me a reason. Both me and BD think that the ultrasound tech is right because it fits more with the timing of conception that we have. Does anybody else think that the OB is right or could he possibly be wrong?

schmoodle · April 2011

So your doctor is calculating that light spotting as your last period, and therefore placing your due date 3 weeks later? Did you have any early ultrasounds, as a 3 week difference would have been VERY obvious then?

Assuming you go into labor on your own and on time this probably wouldn't be an issue, but I would be worried about being more than 41-42 weeks overdue (by your measurements) and having your doctor not think that is the case and think you are only 38-39 weeks, which would be dangerous to remain pregnant thereafter if you are truly 41-42 (albeit extremely unlikely, I think).

RavenandJosh · April 2011

I have had 3 ultrasounds and everyone of them the ultrasound tech calculated 3 weeks further along than the OB. The chance of being more than 41-42 weeks is also another reason why i have been so nervous about his calculations.

darmca · April 2011

I am convinced my midwife is wrong. I was on BC so I wasn't tracking my periods, so I don't know the LMP to go off of. My due date from the midwife (May 27 originally, now bumped to May 20 because I kept bugging them about it) is based on a dating ultrasound I had a 7? weeks. The tech told me I was further along than the midwife because they take the average of the placenta size/estimated age and the baby size/estimated age. The midwife based it only off the baby. After that I had ultrasounds at 12 weeks (measured 14) 20 weeks (measured 22) 30 (measured 33) and 34 (measured 37). The entire time they've been monitoring my fundal height it has been 2-3 week ahead of their EDD too.

I was on antibiotics so I have a good idea when conception happened and based on my estimate I am due on May 14 which is what I base my ticker off of. My little boy is already approx 6.5lbs (as of Sunday) so I really doubt I will make it to May 20. I wouldn't care what they think, but I was planning a home birth and can't have it if I deliver before 37 weeks (which to them is April 29) and they may even end up referring me to an OB if I go into labour the 29th as my 6.5lb baby would be a preemie.

IU_baby · April 2011

How far along were you at your first ultrasound? Early ultrasounds are most accurate in dating a pregnancy.

I've been measuring 4 weeks ahead by fundal height since 23w, but I had an ultrasound at 7w that was right on track. So I know my dates were right, I'm just measuring ahead.

ElatedMom2B · April 2011

I have been measuring about a week and some change ahead the entire time but my doc, just for record keeping sake, won't change my due date because they always go from LMP - usually not u/s unless it is more than a month different. I had been basically charting for about four or five months and the u/s dates match what my charting dates are (more like June 14-18). Hang in there - either baby will come when doc thinks or baby will prove doc wrong - either way - s/he will come!!

flutenewt · April 2011

I've been having similar issues with dating, but reversed. I was still nursing DS last summer and AF was really irregular when I got pregnant. I had some light bleeding one day, then a regular period that started a week later, and some spotting about 5 weeks after that. I didn't get an early ultrasound.

My first OB used the first day with light bleeding as my LMP date, but ultrasound and fundal height consistently measured 2-3 weeks smaller. Instead of adjusting the LMP date by a week to match up with the first day of the actual period, that OB said she didn't want "a story about a period" and would just use the ultrasound date as the EDD. At the same time though, she kept ordering ultrasounds and basing the growth percentiles on the original, early due date, and ended up diagnosing me with IUGR because LO was measuring small.

Just before the IUGR diagnosis I started seeing the practice's midwife, who was wonderfully reassuring, but since I'm now officially high-risk I can't see her anymore and have been bouncing around to various other OBs because I refuse to go back to the first one. I was scared that they'd try to induce me early because of the IUGR, but managed to convince one of the other OBs to consider the possibility that I'm simply less far along than they thought. I still have to go in for all the extra monitoring, but so far LO's doing great and there's been no further talk of an early induction.

mcginnie86 · April 2011

At my first U/S, it showed his due date based on growth as 5 days later, but at my most recent one, it shows him due a week earlier. As they explained to me, your last period is a much more accurate indicator of your due date than the baby's growth is. They all grow at different rates, and just like the fact that I look like I'm 18 years old doesn't actually make me 18, your baby's growth does not change the day that (s)he was conceived.

rjveldman · April 2011

My due date is really off by 2 weeks. My husband had surgery right around that time, so I am certain of the date of conception (give or take a couple of days). I'm not going to fight a later due date though. I'm actually really glad of it! This way I won't have to worry about being on some stupid timeline for induction and can just let my baby come when he's ready. If you were measuring under, I think they'd be more concerned.

AuburnTiger11 · April 2011

I think my OB is wrong and outdated ALL the time. Which is why I don't trust him AT ALL to do what is best for me and baby. There comes a point when some realize that the OB sees soooooo many patients.. and they have to "manage" all of them in some way........... Even if it doesn't apply to you and baby.

I just found out they gave me a dangerous injection a few weeks ago that was 100% unnecessary....

brittanyrea · April 2011

I feel that my doctor is wrong too! I am currently 36 weeks pregnant and at my appointment on tuesday he didn't even check to see if I had started to dilate. Now he is going on vacation and I will not be back to see him till week 38. I wouldn't be so upset but I delivered my daughter at 37 weeks! ughh so mad!

GreenBride624 · April 2011

brittanyrea:
I feel that my doctor is wrong too! I am currently 36 weeks pregnant and at my appointment on tuesday he didn't even check to see if I had started to dilate. Now he is going on vacation and I will not be back to see him till week 38. I wouldn't be so upset but I delivered my daughter at 37 weeks! ughh so mad!

If you were so concerned, you should have asked. You have to take responsibility for your own healthcare... you can't count on a Dr. to remember everything about every patient. There are things that I keep reiterating at every appointment... I feel like a broken record but ultimately it is my responsibility!

Couldn't you make an appointment with someone else for 37 weeks?

biblionerd · April 2011

mcginnie86:
At my first U/S, it showed his due date based on growth as 5 days later, but at my most recent one, it shows him due a week earlier. As they explained to me, your last period is a much more accurate indicator of your due date than the baby's growth is. They all grow at different rates, and just like the fact that I look like I'm 18 years old doesn't actually make me 18, your baby's growth does not change the day that (s)he was conceived.

That's absolutely not correct. Women do not all ovulate on the same day in their cycle, which is what measuring by your LMP does. Hell, if that's the case I should have been due months ago... EARLY u/s are extremely accurate. Later u/s are not. Comparing a 7 day old fetus to an 18 year old person's measurements is ridiculous.

biblionerd · April 2011

brittanyrea:
I feel that my doctor is wrong too! I am currently 36 weeks pregnant and at my appointment on tuesday he didn't even check to see if I had started to dilate. Now he is going on vacation and I will not be back to see him till week 38. I wouldn't be so upset but I delivered my daughter at 37 weeks! ughh so mad!

Many Dr.s do not check your cervix at all. It does not tell you when you are going to go into labor. My Dr. said it's useless except for in certain cases, which I'm assuming don't apply to you since your Dr. didn't feel it's necessary. I feel like I post this at least 5 times a day... your cervix can be completely closed and you can go into labor the same day. Or you can be 4cm and walk around like that for weeks. Your Dr. telling you where you're at wouldn't have made some magical difference because he's going out of town. Whether he's here or not, either you'll deliver or you won't. I'm not sure what him checking your cervix has to do with it. What would it have changed? Like pp said, it's up to YOU to talk to the Dr. and question. If you felt it was so important why didn't you say anything?!

brittanyrea · April 2011

I did ask him to check, he just told me he didn't want to put me through that just yet. I did end up scheduling an appointment with another doctor in his practice for next week just in case. He seems to believe I will make it all the way to week 40, guess I'm just anxious!

brittanyrea · April 2011

I did say something! But he told me that I just didn't need to yet. I was just so curious, but like you said I've been thinking about it all week. What difference does it make, it's not like it would help determine if I will go into labor any sooner.

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