17 weeks = 5 months????

smclean891 · April 2015

Am i 5 months pregnant at 17 weeks or 18 weeks??? Ive read things that say both!

nsaid4u · April 2015

For me i would count 4 weeks as a month.. i am 16 weeks now, next week at 17 weeks i would consider myself starting the fifth month.

smlowe9311 · April 2015

I usually go by something like this since we are pregnant for 40 weeks (using 4 weeks would mean we are actually pregnant 10 months not 9). I don't think there really is a right or wrong answer though.

naka92 · April 2015

I count backwards. I know my pregnancy is calculated from the 13th of January, so I add a month every 13th of the month

nsaid4u · April 2015

smlowe9311 said:
I usually go by something like this since we are pregnant for 40 weeks (using 4 weeks would mean we are actually pregnant 10 months not 9). I don't think there really is a right or wrong answer though.

I like chart, that makes sense :-)

rhiannonbaca · April 2015

This is the chart I use to calculate. There are typically 30-31 days in each month. 4 weeks is only 28 days. I feel like I'm lying to myself if I go by every 4 weeks! Lol

myronmyers · June 2015

my mom argues that at 17 weeks im only 4 months but i say im starting my fifth month since weeks 17-20 are month 5. whose right?????

McRad · June 2015

I go back from my due date. Due October 6th, so on June 6th (22w 4d) I considered myself 5 months.
So on July 6th I'll be 6 months and so on.
If you go by 4 weeks I feel like you'll be saying your 10 months pregnant by the end.

The logic I've come to is that your EDD is based on the first day of your last period, therefore taking into account the week you were on your period, the week after when you weren't pregnant, then the week you ovulated and get present and we all know you weren't pregnant when you were on your period or the week after. Therefore you're already two weeks ahead. Then you had to ovulate before baby started his/her journey. So that's three weeks before you were ever pregnant, putting you three weeks ahead before baby ever was concieved.
I don't know if this makes any sense but in short, I just count backwards from baby's due date.

amberrmariee20 · June 2015

myronmyers said:
my mom argues that at 17 weeks im only 4 months but i say im starting my fifth month since weeks 17-20 are month 5. whose right?????

I go by the 15th of every month, I'm due October 15th, so June 15th I was 5 months... JULY 15th I'll be 6 months, August 15th, 7 months, September 15th 8 months and October 15, 9 months. Someone posted a chart above but I don't like to use that one because it goes by 42 weeks and where I'm from they won't let us go past 11 days overdue, and the Dr won't let me go over due, due to the size of my previous baby.

karlimeliss · June 2015

You are starting your 5th month but you have been pregnant for 4 complete months.

dchiapella · June 2015

20 weeks = 4 months/ the half way mark.

Only one month in the year has an even 4 weeks or 28 days... Your OB will also look at 20 weeks as 4 months. You don't count a month by weeks, you count them by days. If I were counting weeks then I'd be nearly 6 months along and I'm not due until October 26th... I've been marking the calendar every 30 or 31 days to count a month off and whenever I go in for a check up I'm right on pace with my doc.

LiveNLove44 · June 2015

It varies by source. "Months" in pregnancy appear to be layman's term while "weeks" are more precise medically. That's why I think the "months" conversion is so different depending on the source. I like this image:

BBaires · June 2015

@LiveNLove44 well I do feel like an elephant so I can roll with that chart

amberrmariee20 · June 2015

@LiveNLove44 I like that chart, I'm 23 weeks so in my sixth month.
@BrooklynBroussard I usually just go by the 15th of each month cause I'm due October 15th. So JULY 15th I'll be 6 months or starting my 7th month !

LiveNLove44 · June 2015

BBaires said:

@LiveNLove44 well I do feel like an elephant so I can roll with that chart

@BBaires, haha! I didn't even realize that! Thinking about how I felt in the final months of pregnancy with DD, I can see where the lion comes into play, too.

ErinLily44 · June 2015

I do four weeks every month which only rough and I never thought about using a chart!

BBaires · June 2015

@LiveNLove44 hahaha! Yes! My goal will be to channel the inner lioness next trimester.

ErinLily44 · June 2015

what does your doctor say?

JaqiDec04 · June 2015

McRad said:

I go back from my due date. Due October 6th, so on June 6th (22w 4d) I considered myself 5 months. So on July 6th I'll be 6 months and so on. If you go by 4 weeks I feel like you'll be saying your 10 months pregnant by the end. The logic I've come to is that your EDD is based on the first day of your last period, therefore taking into account the week you were on your period, the week after when you weren't pregnant, then the week you ovulated and get present and we all know you weren't pregnant when you were on your period or the week after. Therefore you're already two weeks ahead. Then you had to ovulate before baby started his/her journey. So that's three weeks before you were ever pregnant, putting you three weeks ahead before baby ever was concieved. I don't know if this makes any sense but in short, I just count backwards from baby's due date.

This.

I'm due October 31st. So at the end of June I'll have 4 months left, making me 5 months pregnant, I'll be like 22 weeks along.

rms924 · June 2015

I really like the chart that tells me I am in my 6th month hahaa. Anything to make the time go by faster!

carmv01 · June 2015

Woohoo, this chart tells me I've been in my 6th month since last week! This whole weekend I've been telling people I was 5.5 months haha

Sballerina · June 2015

At this point I gotta laugh, haha. Maybe we should all count in days so we don't have to deal with week to month and vice versa conversions!

I think a lot of the confusion comes from whether the month number used is the one you have finished/completed, or the one you are starting/in the middle of/ending. If we talk in terms of trimesters, we all agree we are in the second one, right? We don't say we are "one trimester pregnant/in the first trimester", as in the one we have finished. We say we are in the second, because that's the one in progress, even though we haven't finished it. So in the same way, one method of talking about the months is to use the number of the month that you have started/are in the middle of. Using that way of thinking, most of us are 6 months because we have started the sixth 30/31 day period out of nine such periods of being pregnant. But many other people think in months in terms of simply how many months you have finished, in which case most of us are "five months along".

Personally I talk in half months. If someone asks me how many months along I am, I say however many months I have completed, up to the half month, counting from my first day of last period, Jan 17. So I have completed 5 months. Come July 2 that will be about another 15 days/half month, so at that point I will say I'm 5.5 months.

Hoping that makes sense to at least one person, lol!

bishopgn · June 2015

You are pregnant 10 months. Technically. Remember a true calendar month is not 4 weeks people, some have more days than others. You are not 5 months at 17 or 18 weeks. Starting your 5th month maybe but it's not how you'll call your kids, they'll be 6 months old, you won't say starting their 6 month. I.e. My kid turns 24 months next week (2 years), but I would not say he started his 24 month june 1st. Lol I'd say he's 23 months.

basdenjn6 · June 2015

I just count backwards from the due date, due in October so I'm 5 months at 22 wks

jenn2132 · June 2015

I go off the charts posted on this thread. Even the baby books like what to expect follow this timeline. I'm 25w 5d so I tell people I'm 6 months. Once I hit 27 weeks I will consider myself starting my 7th month. The chart breakdown is gestational months not calendar months is how it was explained to me and some of the gestational months have 5 full weeks and others 4. I don't know who decided to break it down to 9 months gestation instead of 10 but they did so I'll continue following the chart

MamaOwl15 · June 2015

I just go by how many weeks I am at . . . I'm 25 weeks today. According to the chart, I'm in my 6th month, so I have a little over 3 months left? But I have 15 weeks till my due date, which is closer to 4 months . . . I prefer weeks because math hurts my pregnant brain.

dchiapella · June 2015

See, my thing is that it's yeah, 10 months based on weeks which is just inaccurate. I know too many people who count by weeks and think they're a month ahead of where they are so in that last extremely uncomfortable month of pregnancy they think they've been pregnant forever and a day and they obsess over it when really it's just the normal length of pregnancy. I feel like yeah, maybe leading up to delivery it makes it feel like it goes by faster but by the end it can just make you feel discouraged and anxious.

I just go at the same rate with my doc. I know I mentioned it earlier but it's the EASIEST way to be accurate... count 30 days and mark the calendar, count 30 days and mark the calendar. Took me about 5 minutes at the start of my pregnancy and now I'm never confused about the matter, especially at my checkups when the doctors count is very different from those charts.

LiveNLove44 · June 2015

@BrooklynBroussard

hill3399 · June 2015

NuNever of weeks divided by 4.33.

hill3399 · June 2015

hill3399 said:
NuNever of weeks divided by 4.33.

Number**

LaurenBee24 · June 2015

17 x 7 = 119 days... the average month has 30 days in a non leap year.... 119/30 = 3.97.... so if you called that four months i wouldn't judge you.
I'm 22 weeks.... 22 x7 =154 days.....
154/30= 5.13 months. So, i tell people that I am just now five months.

Also, pregnancy calculated from LMP is 9 and 1/3 months.

LaurenBee24 · June 2015

@BrooklynBroussard 40 weeks is 9 and 1/3 months. It is the standard convention to refer to pregnancy as 40 weeks as you do earlier in the conversation .... but it is actually only 38 weeks. Everyone counts from LMP including doctors and midwives in the US.... I just wanted to be clear for moms in other countries where the count is sometimes 38 weeks that I was using 40.

LaurenBee24 · June 2015

Yes your dating scan also counts back to your LMP and not to the date of conception. The point is that 40 weeks is not exactly 9 months but rather 9 and 1/3 so that is where the confusion comes from. I say that I am 22 weeks because my OB does but the egg actually became fertilized 20 weeks ago. We are not actually pregnant for 40 weeks but 38. When you said you would be pregnant longer if you counted from before you became pregant it seemed clear that you had some confusion on how this was calculated.

LaurenBee24 · June 2015

Yes, size based on weeks since LMP average measurement. I would have said that, but I thought it was common sense.

LiveNLove44 · June 2015

@LaurenBee24, coming from a woman who has extremely long cycles with different phases than the traditional 28 days, I beg to differ. The correlation between the two can vary widely (e.g., my LMP and dating u/s were different by almost 3 weeks with both of my pregnancies). The dating ultrasound and LMP uses for EDD can differ significantly (as they do for me). Consider:

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that ultrasound-established dates should take preference over menstrual dates when the discrepancy between ultrasound dating and LMP is

Greater than 5 days before 9 0/7 weeks of gestation
Greater than 7 days from 9 0/7 weeks to 15 6/7 weeks
Greater than 10 days from 16 0/7 weeks to 21 6/7 weeks
Greater than 14 days from 22 0/7 weeks to 27 6/7 weeks
Greater than 21 days after 28 0/7 weeks.

I don't think that either you or @BrooklynBroussard are unaware of the facts of life. It seems that you mean to imply that @BrooklynBroussard was being ignorant to an important fact about pregnancy, which is simply not the case.

LaurenBee24 · June 2015

No I simply thought the original comment she made was erroneous and wanted to be clear for the others here as gestation is always considered 40 weeks here (USA) but conception is accepted to occur at 2 weeks when using the 40 week system. I will glady link to the information when I am home if anyone needs it.

LiveNLove44 · June 2015

I guess I'm not sure where everyone else is at with this, but the splitting hairs with what month people are starting/in/ending/etc. doesn't mean much to me. By the time we get to the end, the babies make an appearance at some point, and I figure that's the goal. @LaurenBee24, from the looks of the other posts here, it seems that people thus far are quite comfortable finding their own sources for the "month" reference; however, since we have all posted what we like to consider as our month guide (for whatever it's worth), you are more than welcome to post your sources.

LaurenBee24 · June 2015

@laurenBee24 Yes, your pregnancy will obviously be longer if you count the time before conception. I would have said that, but I thought it was common sense

This implies something that is erroneous to imply. You spoke in this topic about 10 sets of 4 weeks. So clearly you are counting gestation as 40 weeks, but then your comment implied that i was counting more time than I ought to be.

LiveNLove44 · June 2015

jenn2132 · June 2015

I don't find this topic to be so serious and I'm too lazy to do the math. I go off the chart and if it makes me seem further along than I may be that's cool too, then I don't get so many glares for being so big already

zaclina · June 2015

I think I read something about "lunar" months versus our calendar months, so that is where everyone is right in the 9 or 10 month debate. And personally, this whole pregnancy has made me come to the conclusion that lunar months make more sense, they are easier to think and conceptualize and that I hate math. I tell people how many weeks I am when they ask and if they ask what month I just smile and say "you tell me." I also threw out my due date. Baby gonna come when baby gonna come!

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