Anbody See This...

sschwege · October 2014

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/22/estimating-due-date_n_5862754.html

I think I would decline, because I chart and it's always been pretty clear when I ovulated. It's funny because I thought a first tri u/s was already pretty standard, though my office doesn't do them routinely. Thoughts on this recommendation?

JCWhitey · November 2014

For someone who doesn't know when they ovulated I think it would be a good thing to be standard. If they keep going based on LMP you're going to have a lot of babies delivered by c-section because the mother is "overdue" when really she ovulated late. Or mothers being concerned their child is too big because they actually ovulated earlier in their cycle and the child's not big at all, just further along. I can see it being helpful.

misterdonut · November 2014

interesting!

I'm just operating under the bradley method's you're due when you're due philosophy. it's kept me from going nuts (cause I'm almost 40 weeks and no baby yet :P )

honkytonk_kid · November 2014

I think it's great for someone who doesn't know when they ovulated. While I don't think that every woman needs tons of u/s, I think a reliable gestational age can prevent some otherwise unnecessary interventions- inductions, etc.

ST3WD · November 2014

I love this! Unfortunately irregular menstruation is VERY common in my family. I was told it would get better as I got older, but the only thing that came close to evening things out was the BC pill/patch.

I keep up with my cycles, and if I notice any ovulation indicators, I would mark those as well. I would try to average out my cycle length using the last 12 calendar months, but I'd have anywhere from 12-14 days between periods to 65-70 days.

I don't know how I ended up so lucky as to have ovulated "normally" during the cycle I got pregnant. My dr did a first tri u/s to find a more accurate EDD, and everything was sized as if I were going to have a 28/29 day cycle that month based on my LMP.

Go figure, right? haha

soulcupcake · November 2014

The majority of women don't chart their cycles, so early dating ultrasounds as routine practice makes sense. I know when I ovulated with all of my babies, and early u/s has been spot on with date of ovulation. With all of my babies I actually fudged LMP to reflect my actual cycle and date of ovulation. I had longer cycles with later ovulation with babies 1-4, and this cycle I O'd on cd12.

Every practice/clinic I have been seen at early dating u/s is standard/routine practice. They've all occurred <9 weeks.

MitoRachel · November 2014

I think this would be great for women who don't chart! My SIL had a bad experience with LMP dating. With her first she was charting and knew she ovulated on day 21. They didn't change her due date or give her an ultrasound when she told them that. She had a very long induction that probably could have been avoided if she had been allowed to go that extra week. This time she insisted on an ultrasound and they changed her due date.

2junebabies · November 2014

I really wish that in our culture we would take a different approach to teaching girls about their menstrual cycles. I wish we would teach them about the entire picture so that it would include the fertile mucus cycle, and then they could get used to charting early on and identifying the patterns in their own cycle.

Since that most likely will not happen, I do think the dating ultrasounds would be helpful. I hardly know any women with a perfect 28-day cycle and it drives me crazy that that's how due dates are estimated. As a person who ovulates late, the LMP due date method doesn't do me any favors.

Does anyone know how long a dating ultrasound lasts? Is it very quick? I'm just curious.

honkytonk_kid · November 2014

ST3WD said:

I love this! Unfortunately irregular menstruation is VERY common in my family. I was told it would get better as I got older, but the only thing that came close to evening things out was the BC pill/patch.

I keep up with my cycles, and if I notice any ovulation indicators, I would mark those as well. I would try to average out my cycle length using the last 12 calendar months, but I'd have anywhere from 12-14 days between periods to 65-70 days.

I don't know how I ended up so lucky as to have ovulated "normally" during the cycle I got pregnant. My dr did a first tri u/s to find a more accurate EDD, and everything was sized as if I were going to have a 28/29 day cycle that month based on my LMP.

Go figure, right? haha

Haha, YES! We TTC for 2 years with not a single 28 day cycle, didn't ovulate on the perfect day 14 once- until the month we finally conceived. I was all ready to explain my irregular cycles, luteal phase length, blah blah blah, but didn't need to.

jennypolkadots · November 2014

The OB I was going to early in my pregnancy requires one at 6 weeks for "confirmation of pregnancy" and dating. Her reasoning is that the margin of error at this point is a few days at most instead of later in pregnancy. Then she also does another at your first prenatal appointment at 13 weeks, and the 20 week scan.

I should have opted out of these scans but it was my first rodeo and I didn't know what was going on. We were just excited to see a little heart beat! I know my exact ovulation and conception dates as my periods are super regular and we used NFP. I see how they would be very helpful for women who don't know their ovulation date though.

jennypolkadots · November 2014

Another thought - a more reliable method would be to ask all women who are ttc to take their basal body temp each morning. Even if they have irregular periods, you should see a pattern and a spike during ovulation. This would be the cheapest and easiest options. I think most women would do this if they knew about it.

tacosandtums · November 2014

This would have been helpful! I was all but forced into being induced at 41+2 and at the hospital visit my pediatrician said my 7 pound baby "showed no signs of being past due and it's good she didn't come any earlier" I'm convinced I had my dates wrong (didn't chart and guessed my LMP) and could have avoided my induction if I had just a few more days....

I had a dating scan at 7 weeks it took maybe 15 minutes.

JCWhitey · November 2014

jennypolkadots said:

Another thought - a more reliable method would be to ask all women who are ttc to take their basal body temp each morning. Even if they have irregular periods, you should see a pattern and a spike during ovulation. This would be the cheapest and easiest options. I think most women would do this if they knew about it.

But you're going off of the assumption that all women who get pregnant are TTC. I wasn't when I got pg the first time. Also that all women are dedicated enough to take their temps at the same time every day and can do that reliably. Plus there are other things that can cause a spike that isn't ovulation related. Charting women generally know how to interpret charts because they've spent the time/energy to learn. The rest of the population it wouldn't be a surefire way to track anything.

ST3WD · November 2014

honkytonk_kid said:

ST3WD said:

I love this! Unfortunately irregular menstruation is VERY common in my family. I was told it would get better as I got older, but the only thing that came close to evening things out was the BC pill/patch.

I keep up with my cycles, and if I notice any ovulation indicators, I would mark those as well. I would try to average out my cycle length using the last 12 calendar months, but I'd have anywhere from 12-14 days between periods to 65-70 days.

I don't know how I ended up so lucky as to have ovulated "normally" during the cycle I got pregnant. My dr did a first tri u/s to find a more accurate EDD, and everything was sized as if I were going to have a 28/29 day cycle that month based on my LMP.

Go figure, right? haha

Haha, YES! We TTC for 2 years with not a single 28 day cycle, didn't ovulate on the perfect day 14 once- until the month we finally conceived. I was all ready to explain my irregular cycles, luteal phase length, blah blah blah, but didn't need to.

It's a conspiracy. Our uteri have united against us!

)

ktupiak · November 2014

I just wish my doctors would have listened to me because I as well knew exactly when I ovulated. We were going through fertility treatments but with an OB not RE so I kept track of everything not them. They put me due on March 1st which is 2 weeks sooner than we believe, im hoping they dont force me to be induced!!!

hlm184 · November 2014

I plan about lying about my LMP next time, assuming I know when I ovulated. I knew this time, and while the Drs think I delivered 5/6 days late, I know I went into labor right at 40w and delivered at 40+1.

Amber6486 · November 2014

Hello all, I'm usually on the TTC board but came to lurk here bc I feel as though I will want a natural birth given my current lifestyle choices. I'm glad I read this.... I just began charting to have good practice before we TTC (starting in January) and I wish I had been charting and wish this was something my mother had taught me about... Would have been useful! My question to you all is this, now after reading this article: I am a 33 day cycle... Will the doctors take that into consideration when I do get pg and when they assign due date... Or do they just basically not care and roll with the '28 day' cycle... Bc in that case I feel as though I will be destined for induction & that freaks me out a bit....? MH and I are currently having the 'home birth' option talk bc I am so terrified of induction after witnessing what my sister in law recently went through, so... Talk me off the ledge... Is there hope of a doctor that listens to the 33 day cycle bit or is it unrealistic of me to think they will go along with what I know about my body... I'm too anti doctor for my own good I think, so I'm look for devils advocate to keep me somewhat normal

sschwege · November 2014

Amber6486 said:

Hello all, I'm usually on the TTC board but came to lurk here bc I feel as though I will want a natural birth given my current lifestyle choices. I'm glad I read this.... I just began charting to have good practice before we TTC (starting in January) and I wish I had been charting and wish this was something my mother had taught me about... Would have been useful! My question to you all is this, now after reading this article: I am a 33 day cycle... Will the doctors take that into consideration when I do get pg and when they assign due date... Or do they just basically not care and roll with the '28 day' cycle... Bc in that case I feel as though I will be destined for induction & that freaks me out a bit....? MH and I are currently having the 'home birth' option talk bc I am so terrified of induction after witnessing what my sister in law recently went through, so... Talk me off the ledge... Is there hope of a doctor that listens to the 33 day cycle bit or is it unrealistic of me to think they will go along with what I know about my body... I'm too anti doctor for my own good I think, so I'm look for devils advocate to keep me somewhat normal

I think it would depend on the doctor. If your cycles were really long, they would take it into account, a difference of 5 days might not be cause for adjustment in their minds. I know typically when they do dating u/s they only adjust if the difference from LMP to u/s is more than 5-7 days. Some people may not see 5 days as much, though of course it can make all the difference in the end.

You could bring in your chart when you get your BFP and ask them to adjust accordingly. I did that both times. First time they looked at my chart, agreed that I ovulated on CD 21, which gave me an extra 7 days. Second time I ovulated on CD 22, brought in my chart and my MW basically discounted it since I was BFing and wanted a dating u/s instead. I had actually gone to the ER for bleeding and the u/s confirmed what I was saying, so they went by that date. Next time, I'm just adjusting my LMP date to reflect late ovulation. I don't advocate lying, but in this case they were being ridiculous, it was disheartening to have them not believe me when my charts so clearly show ovulation! So I guess that gives you a couple of options

Amber6486 · November 2014

Thanks for that! Very helpful, I will bring the chart when BFP, or lie. After I meet the doc I'm sure I'll know which I need to do & have both prepared.

Wish I could pick the doc... But my insurance is "group" and basically you just get one in the group and it isn't "up to me" ... Saving for Out of pocket HB MW in the mean while, but not sure how much we will be able to come up with.

Thank you OP for posting article, wouldn't have even seen this as a potential problem had I not read that article.

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