How Can I Know How Many Weeks Im Pregnant

Why Your Due Date Is Important

Your due date is likely one of the first bits of information youll seek out after you find out youre pregnant. Friends and family will want to know so they can look forward to greeting your new baby .

Doctors, midwives, and nurses will want to know so they can track important health milestones and make decisions about interventions and prenatal testing.

Your due date is less of a deadline and more like a time marker. Your due date indicates the 40th week since your last menstrual period or the 38th week from ovulation.

Once your due date is calculated, you’re likely to give birth within a four-week period that surrounds your due date. In other words, sometime during the two weeks prior to and two weeks after your assigned due date, you’ll likely meet your baby.

Around 70 out of every 100 pregnant people will have their baby within 10 days of their due date. Assuming there are no complications, others will deliver either a little earlier or a little later than that.

The due date is valuable for many reasons, including the preparation of your home and family for the new arrival. There are also several other reasons it’s helpful to know your due date.

How Many Weeks Pregnant Am I

Its common to hear a pregnancy is 40 weeks long. When in fact, the length of pregnancy is more of a range.

• Early term is from 37 weeks of pregnancy, through to 38 completed weeks of pregnancy
• Full term is from 39 weeks of pregnancy, through to 40 completed weeks of pregnancy
• Late term is from 41 weeks of pregnancy, through 41 completed weeks of pregnancy
• Post term is from 42 weeks of pregnancy and beyond.

As little as 3-5% of babies are born on the estimated due date, with roughly 40% born in the two weeks prior, and 40% in the two weeks after.

So, once youve worked out the estimated due date, you might like to announce that your pregnancy due date is sometime in October, for example, instead of the 4th of October.

Why? So your friends and family dont jump all over you and hound you with calls, text messages, Facebook messages and emails all day on the 4th of October!

It might sound fun now, but ask anyone who is about to have a baby, and theyll wish no-one knew of their estimated due date!

Pregnancy Symptoms Week 4

If your menstrual cycle is regular, then the first and most reliable indication that youre pregnant is likely to be missing your period after youve been having unprotected sex . However, there are many other reasons for a delayed or missed period and the only way to know for sure is to take a pregnancy test. These are cheap and accessible at your local drugstore, but you may prefer the discretion of your clinic instead.

You may also notice any one of the following general symptoms of early pregnancy:

• nausea or vomiting

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Pros Of Blood Testing

• Blood tests can detect pregnancy earlier than a home pregnancy test, about 6 to 8 days after ovulation, or about 7 – 12 days after possible conception .
• This could mean that you get a result as early as 9 days after possible conception, or 5 days earlier than a home pregnancy test would be able to detect .

For most women, it makes more sense to wait and do a pregnancy test at home because of its convenience and low cost, as well as the fact that you’d only find out a day or two earlier with a blood test .

For others, especially those with a high risk for miscarriage or other pregnancy complications, their doctor may recommend getting a blood test.

Pregnancy Testing For An Early And Accurate Result

A pregnancy test measures levels of human chorionic gonadotropin in your blood or urine. hCG starts to be produced after implantation in the walls of the uterus.

Implantation can occur as early as 7 days after conception.

The placenta begins to develop and produces increasing amounts of hCG.

There are no dierences between ethnicities with regard to urinary hCG increase. However, levels of serum hCG in early pregnancy following assisted reproductive technology have been seen to be slightly lower in women with a higher pre-pregnancy body mass index.

If you need early detection of pregnancy, a blood pregnancy test done at the doctors oice can detect low levels of hCG and measure the actual quantity of hCG in the body.

A blood pregnancy test can be accurate six to eight days after ovulation. A urine test is usually accurate about 14-21 days after ovulation.

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Your Body At Week 4 Of Pregnancy

You may not notice any differences in your body or feel any symptoms at 4 weeks pregnant. For most women, particularly those with a regular menstrual cycle, the first sign of pregnancy will be a missed period. The best way to confirm conception is with a pregnancy test, either at home or at a clinic.

Some women may notice very slight bleeding, or spotting, around the time that implantation occurs. Although you wont be able to tell, inside your womb the amniotic sac and placenta will be developing and will later provide oxygen and nourishment to your embryo.

Once you know that youre pregnant, you can start the clock! Your pregnancy is considered to have begun from the start of your last period and a normal term is 40 weeks from this point. Note that your healthcare provider may modify this start date after completing an ultrasound scan later on in your pregnancy this provides a more reliable and consistent way to track your dates.

Estimated Date Of Delivery

The estimated date of delivery, also known as expected date of confinement, and estimated due date or simply due date, is a term describing the estimated delivery date for a pregnantwoman. Normal pregnancies last between 38 and 42 weeks.Children are delivered on their expected due date about 4% of the time.

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First Response Pregnancy Test Accuracy Vs Date

As you can see above, roughly one in four pregnant women who take this test will get a false negative when they take it six days before the day of their missed period. Five days before the day of the missed period, however, it will be accurate for 96% of women, and 99% of women will get the correct result if they take it four days or less before the day of the missed period.

In general, the accuracy of home pregnancy tests gets better the longer you wait to take them. If you take a test and it comes out negative and you still think you might be pregnant, wait three days and test again. If you test and it’s positive, you’re pregnant.

Other pregnancy tests are also very reliableâthey just can’t be used as early as First Response. Most brands of pregnancy test are accurate from the day of the missed period.

Be sure to follow the testing instructions of the pregnancy test brand that you bought very closely. Different brands have different instructions.

Role Of Fundal Height

Your midwife or doctor may measure your fundal height at your pregnancy well-checks. The fundal height is the measurement in centimeters from your pubic bone to the top of your uterus. It should grow at a predictable rate as your pregnancy continues.

After 20 weeks, your fundal height in centimeters will typically be the same as the number of weeks you are pregnant. In other words, at 21 weeks pregnant, your fundal height should be around 21 centimeters .

Sometimes, the fundal height won’t match perfectly. Slight variations are normal, but if you are measuring much smaller or larger than expected, your primary care provider may want to investigate with another ultrasound.

While useful, the fundal height is not an accurate measurement of gestational age and would not affect the estimated due date in any way.

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How Soon Can You Tell If Youre Pregnant 24 Really Early Signs

So you think you may be pregnant? But how early can you tell if you really are?

Honestly, its hard to pinpoint exactly how soon you can tell if youre pregnant because each one of us is unique.

Some women get a 6th sense about it straight away , while others dont know until months down the line.

Most of us will fall somewhere in the middle of these two extremes and well start to get an inkling we may be pregnant within 2-4 weeks of conception.

Pregnancy symptoms are usually very mild in the first couple of weeks making them hard to detect without a blood or urine test. Usually, the first sign is a late period. But what other early signs and symptoms will give you a clue to whether youre pregnant or not?

And how early can you take a pregnancy test to find out for sure?

How reliable are urine pregnancy tests, what can you do to make sure you get an accurate result and what might cause a false positive?

What about super early symptoms, like before implantation? Is that even possible?

We answer all your questions below.

What Do I Need To Know About Using A Pregnancy Due Date Calculator

A due date calculator may not be completely accurate. This is especially true if you arent exactly sure when you had your last period, you have irregular periods or you dont know when you conceived. You should see your provider for a more precise test, such as an ultrasound, to confirm your due date.

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How Does The Pregnancy Due Date Calculator Work

• Add 280 days to the first day of your last menstrual period .

• Your menstrual period and ovulation are counted as the first two weeks of pregnancy. This is why a pregnancy ovulation calculator is helpful to pinpoint the exact ovulation cycle.
• If you deliver on your due date, your baby is actually only 38 weeks old, not 40.

Calculate Using A Dating Ultrasound

A dating ultrasound, which measures the length of the fetus from crown to rump, is an accurate way to estimate your due date or how far along you are if completed within the first trimester . Most women have a pretty good idea of when their last period was, within a day or two, says Scurfield. If a woman has no idea, youll want to try to get her as early as you can. Once you get past 13 weeks, the variability of the growth is such that an ultrasound can be off by a week or so.

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Beginning Your Pregnancy Journey

Once youâve calculated your due date, you can get a better idea of when to expect your little one â and start to plan accordingly.

If you havenât done so already, one of the first steps you should take is to schedule an appointment with your doctor, who can confirm that you’re pregnant with a blood test and physical exam, and also help you establish a more precise due date.

At each following prenatal care appointment, you’ll be examined to determine the size of your uterus, and to monitor your little one’s development. Pregnancy milestones such as hearing your babyâs first heartbeat and seeing your baby via ultrasound will be a thrilling part of these checkups. Along the way, depending on what is observed, your pregnancy due date may be adjusted.

While your doctor will be able to advise you best, there are still plenty of things you can do as soon as you discover youâre pregnant. Explore the rest of our site to find out more.

Estimation Of Gestational Age

According to American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the main methods to calculate gestational age are:

• Directly calculating the days since the beginning of the last menstrual period
• Early obstetric ultrasound, comparing the size of an embryo or fetus to that of a reference group of pregnancies of known gestational age , and using the mean gestational age of other embryos or fetuses of the same size. If the gestational age as calculated from an early ultrasound is contradictory to the one calculated directly from the last menstrual period, it is still the one from the early ultrasound that is used for the rest of the pregnancy.
• In case of in vitro fertilization, calculating days since oocyte retrieval or co-incubation and adding 14 days.
• Ultrasound measurement in the first trimester is generally considered to be the most accurate way to measure gestational age.

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What Changes Are Occurring With Your Body

Your period has just begun, and you may be thinking about becoming pregnant. Your ovulation time is the most important thing you need to understand when trying to conceive. Ovulation occurs when a mature egg is released from the ovary, pushed down the fallopian tube, and available to be fertilized.

The lining of the uterus has thickened to prepare for a fertilized egg. If conception does not occur, the uterine lining will be shed. The shedding of an unfertilized egg and the uterine wall occurs during menstruation.

There are also several facts that you need to know concerning ovulation:

• An egg lives 12-24 hours after leaving the ovary.
• Normally, only one egg is released each time you ovulate.
• Ovulation can be affected by stress, illness, travel, and significant changes in weight, exercise, and sleeping patterns.
• Some women may experience light spotting during ovulation. This is not considered to be an actual period, but rather an ovulatory bleeding.

Some Tips On Pregnancy Testing At Home

Because early pregnancy symptoms can be confused with other illnesses or conditions, I would always recommend buying yourself a test. These are very accurate from the point that your period is due, and will take the guesswork out of knowing if you are pregnant or not.

For those who have missed a period and got a negative pregnancy test result, follow the link to learn about the most common reasons behind this.

If you keep getting negative results but are experiencing pregnancy symptoms, listen to your body and make a doctor’s appointment!

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What Are The Different Ways To Estimate The Due Date Of A Pregnancy

The following ways help calculate how many weeks pregnant a woman is and the estimated due date.

Calculating by using the date of the last menstrual period

This is one of the most common, simple and most accurate ways to figure out how many weeks pregnant a woman is and estimate the approximate due date. The way to calculate the due date is to take the first date of the last normal period and add 280 days , which is the typical length of a normal pregnancy. The period that is to be tracked should be typical of a womans menstrual cycle. This means it should be the same number of days as a usual period, the same amount of bleeding and the same amount of discomfort. Thats because sometimes a woman may bleed after shes pregnant, but that bleeding is different from a normal period.

• The formula for calculating how many weeks pregnant a woman is the number of days since the first day of her last menstrual period divided by seven. So, the number of days since the start of LMP divided by seven equals the number of weeks pregnant
• The formula to calculate how many months pregnant a woman is the number of days since the first day of a womans last menstrual period divided by 30. This means the number of days since the start of LMP divided by 30 equals the number of months pregnant.

Calculating using a dating ultrasound

Calculating using a pregnancy test with a weeks indicator

Calculating based on fetal milestones

How Far Along Am I Gestational Age Calculator

Through ultrasound, the doctor can also determine how far along you are. Fetal and uterine measurements can accurately relay the baby’s age and estimate the delivery date.

Enter the first day of your last period below to calculate how far along you are in weeks and months, and when you can expect your baby to be born:

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How Far Along Am I

enterdue datelast period

The How Far Along Am I Calculator uses your due date or last menstrual period to calculate how many weeks, months, and days you are pregnant.

different starting dates to count pregnancy

• Conception or ovulation
• Measurements from an ultrasound
• IVF Transfer date

Pregnancy is most commonly measured gestationally from a woman’s last menstrual period to birth. This period is known as gestational aging.

If you require more options to calcuate yourdue date or how far along you are, try ourdue date calulator.

You Missed Your Period

You should take a pregnancy test. If it’s positive, you’re pregnant. If it’s negative, wait a few more days and retest. If it’s another negative, you’re still not experiencing any symptoms of pregnancy, and you’re sure you’re taking the test correctly, then you’re probably not pregnant and you’ve missed your period for another reason.

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Using Date Of Conception

The window for conception ranges from a few days before ovulation to a few days after. A typical menstrual cycle of 28 days means you ovulated around day 14. So if you know the exact date of conception, count 266 days to get your due datebut, of course, understand that baby might actually arrive a few days before or after, says Skeete Henry.

Counting from date of conception isnt always the most precise method for determining how far along you are, since its often difficult to know, with absolute certainty, when you actually conceived. Were not just talking about the day you had sex sperm can live inside your fallopian tubes for up to five days, so its possible to conceive up to five days after intercourse.