I Had Sex Two Weeks Ago But My Doctor Says That Im Four Weeks Pregnant How
88 things nobody tells you about being pregnantIf you have a standard 28-day period, you will likely ovulate around day 14 and are most fertile around days 12, 13 and 14when you had sex to conceive. It takes about nine days after ovulation for implantation to occur, which brings you to around day 23. It takes a few days for your pregnancy hormone levels to be detectable by a pregnancy test, bringing you to around day 28. How far along you are in your pregnancy isnt calculated from conception or implantation but from the first day of your last normal period. If you had your period four weeks ago, then ovulated and had sex two weeks ago to become pregnant, youre currently four weeks pregnant.
How Is Pregnancy Due Date Calculated
Your pregnancy due date is calculated by adding 40 weeks to the first day of your last menstrual period . This is done with an assumption that you have a 28-day menstrual cycle. The time between your menstrual period and ovulation is calculated as the first two weeks of pregnancy, as ovulation takes place two weeks after the first day of LMP. If you deliver the baby on the estimated due date, she is 38 weeks old after conception and not 40 .
If you miss your first period, you are likely to be four weeks pregnant .
How Do I Calculate How Far Along My Pregnancy Is
Knowing exactly how far along you are in your pregnancy can be confusing. Pregnancy symptoms are different for each woman and make for an unreliable guide to determine where you are in the gestational period. So exactly how does one determine their date of conception or due date?
When Was Your Last Period?
Knowing the first date of your last period is key. This is the date most commonly used to determine gestational age. For most women, this date is about two weeks before ovulation and conception occurred. Conception typically takes place between eleven and twenty-one days after the first day of your last period.
Most women dont know their exact day of ovulation, but they usually know when their last period began, so this is the most reliable way to determine how far along you are and when you would be full term.
How Do I Calculate My Due Date?
To account for the two weeks prior to conception, doctors take the first day of your last menstrual period and add 280 days todetermine the due date.
From there, you can also determine how far along you are by counting how many weeks it has been since the first day of your last period. For instance, if your last period began on August 1st, you would be eight weeks on September 26th, thirteen weeks on October 31st, and your due date would be May 8th. This example is based on a 28-day cycle. If your cycle is longer or shorter, it will change slightly.
Using Ultrasound to Determine or Verify Gestational Age
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How Accurate Is My Due Date
The due date is a guesstimate of when the prospective mother will give birth. It is just an estimation and it is not necessary that the birth of your child takes place exactly on the same date as the due date. It is okay for a baby to arrive between 37 weeks and 42 weeks of pregnancy.
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What If I Have Irregular Periods Or Long Cycles
Some women have cycles that are consistently longer than the average 28-day cycle. In these cases, a pregnancy wheel can still be used, but some simple calculations are necessary.
The second half of a womans menstrual cycle always lasts for 14 days. This is the time from ovulation to the next menstrual period. If your cycle is 35 days long, for example, then you probably ovulated on day 21.
Once you have a general idea of when you ovulated, you can use an adjusted LMP to find your due date with a pregnancy wheel.
For example, if your menstrual cycle is usually 35 days long and the first day of your LMP was November 1:
After you calculate your adjusted LMP date, simply mark it on the pregnancy wheel and then look at the date where the line crosses. That is your estimated due date.
Some pregnancy wheels may allow you to enter the date of conception which occurs within 72 hours of ovulation instead of the date of your LMP.
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Can You Tell Gender At 10 Weeks
If you have a prenatal blood test , you may be able to find out your babys sex as early as 11 weeks of pregnancy. Ultrasounds may reveal sex organs by 14 weeks, but they arent considered fully accurate until 18 weeks. If you have CVS at 10 weeks, the results will reveal your babys sex by 12 weeks.
What Are The Risks Of Labor Induction If Im Not Post
Induction is often the safest option for post-term pregnancies, but it may not make sense to discuss induction until you are confident that you are truly post-term. This is because the drugs used for labor induction do carry some risks. They can cause abnormal contractions, which can adversely affect the babys oxygen intake and heart rate, and can increase the likelihood of post-birth hemorrhage and infection. Also, theres always the chance that the induction fails, in which case a c-section will likely be the next step.
In the case of true post-term cases, the benefits generally outweigh risks, but its important to be aware of this cost-benefit assessment.
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How Is A Dating Scan Performed
A dating scan is carried out by ultrasound. A sonographer, who is usually a radiographer or a midwife trained in ultrasound, will complete your scan.
If the scan is after 10 weeks, ultrasound recordings are usually made through your abdomen. The sonographer will put gel on your abdomen and move a hand-held device called a transducer, back and forward over your skin.
In some situations, such as when the scan is completed before 10 weeks of gestation or you are overweight, you may also need a vaginal scan. Your sonographer will let you know if this is needed.
Why Pregnancy Is Counted From The Last Menstrual Period
Pregnancy is counted from a women’s last menstrual period because the start of a period is easily observable and usually known to a woman whereas the date of conception is much less likely to be known.
Historically, the first day of the last menstrual period became the date from which pregnancy is counted even though conception occurs about two weeks later.
The LMP formula is good for working out an initial age of pregnancy but ultrasound is more accurate. The age of pregnancy may be revised following your ultrasound scan.
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What To Ask Your Doctor
Once youve confirmed that youre pregnant with a test, your next priority is to check in with your doctor. Although youre only at the start of your journey towards becoming a mother, your healthcare provider will be able to offer you expert advice and counsel you on the best way to take care of yourself and your baby for the whole duration of your pregnancy.
Using An Online Calculator
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What Are The Chances Of Delivering On My Due Date
Just four percent. The due date isan estimate, says Scurfield. There are all sorts of factors that go into when a woman delivers. It may have to do with the size of the fetus or the health of the mother. Some women will have one baby early and the next baby late. Its nice to be able to predict and plan, but babies come when theyre ready.
How Many Weeks Months And Trimesters Are In A Pregnancy
When you break the news about the pregnancy, the most common question you will hear will be: How many weeks are you pregnant? And, even though it may seem complicated to count how many weeks there are until the due date, its not!
Today were going to talk about the pregnancy math. We know that it can be hard to track down how many weeks there are until the due date. So, for those that are eager to master the pregnancy math, weve pieced together this article thats going to provide you with relevant answers.
In order to figure out where you fall in, what week and trimester, its important to know what you should be counting. And, were going to shed some light on everything there is to know about how many weeks, trimesters and months there are in one pregnancy. After reading this, youll know for sure at what stage you are!
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Can An Ultrasound Determine A More Accurate Due Date
Your doctor may adjust your due date during a dating ultrasound, which typically occurs during one of your first appointments. Since healthy embryos grow at a highly predictable rate during the first trimester, measuring the length of the embryo can provide a more accurate estimation of how many weeks pregnant you are.
If your dating ultrasound does not match the due date based on your LMP, your doctor may adjust your due date according to the ultrasound, as this is typically considered more accurate.
Your Body At Week 3 Of Pregnancy
Its very early days in your pregnancy, so dont expect to feel too different. Remember that at week 3 you may not have missed your period yet and may have little idea that youre pregnant. Even if youve been trying to conceive with your partner, you wont find any physical signs of pregnancy to reveal that youve got a little person growing inside.
If youve been trying for a baby, or even if you havent but think you might be pregnant nonetheless, why not take a pregnancy test to make sure? Nowadays, home testing kits are as accurate as a urine or blood test at the clinic and a lot more convenient. Just be sure to carefully follow all the instructions for doing the test and reading it afterwards. If the result is negative, don’t assume you’re not pregnant you may have just tested too early.
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What If You Dont Know Your Lmp Or Your Periods Are Irregular
In the case where you do not know the exact date of your last menstrual period or if you have not had a regular menstrual cycle, the doctor estimates the foetal age through ultrasound imaging. Parameters like the crown-rump length and the foetal sac measurements give an idea about the rough age of the foetus. Based on the foetal age, the expected delivery date is given by the doctor.
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
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Why Is Dating From Last Menstrual Period Or Lmp Inaccurate
Say you have a 28-day cycle, and after the two-week wait to take a pregnancy test, you got a positive pregnancy test on the day you missed your period. Your last period was 28 days ago, so even though implantation happened within the past few days, youre already considered four weeks pregnant.
The problem with this method, aside from the fact that it considers pregnancy as beginning from several weeks before you are actually pregnant, is that it is inaccurate for any woman who does not ovulate on day 14. If you ovulated later than day 14, your due date will be set too early. And if you ovulated earlier than day 14, your due date will be set too late. The further away from day 14 you ovulate, the less accurate your due date will be.
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How Many Weeks Pregnant Are You
There are about 40 weeks in a pregnancy, starting from the first day of the prospective mothers last menstrual period. Pregnancy is usually calculated as per the date of the Last Menstrual Period . To calculate how many weeks pregnant the prospective mother is, ask her when she last had her period. The first day of her LMP is counted as the first day of the pregnancy.
Calculate Using A Pregnancy Test With Weeks Indicator
All pregnancy tests are designed to detect the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin in urine, but some pricier tests offer a weeks indicator that promises to tell how far along you are. Unfortunately, these tests are pretty vague, stating only one to two weeks, two to three weeks or three-plus weeks pregnant. In addition, the tests measure from implantation, not from your LMP. A test might say that youre one to two weeks pregnant but youre actually four weeks pregnant, according to standard pregnancy calculations.
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What Is My Due Date
Your due date, also known as your estimated date of delivery, is the approximate date your labor might begin. Your estimated due date is commonly calculated by adding 280 days to the date of the first day of your last period, using Naegeles rule.1This may vary if you have irregular periods.
It’s worth noting that although predicted due dates are commonly calculated at 280 days, a baby is born on its predicted due date just 5% of the time.2 A 2020 study published in the International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology suggests a number of factors that can influence the length of your pregnancy, including ethnicity, height, variations in the menstrual cycle, the timing of ovulation, parity and maternal weight. It is for this reason that calculations using Naegeles rule can be considered as an estimate and not a definitive date.3
When Exactly Does Pregnancy Begin
Most people think that pregnancy starts at conception. Politics aside, thats not entirely accurate. Recent research indicates that conception itself is not a rare event, but only a small portion of fertilized eggs are fit enough to implant. By that logic, the most accurate way of dating pregnancy would be beginning from implantation.
The standard method of dating pregnancies does not start from conception or from implantation. Rather, it starts from the first day of your last menstrual period. Thats rightyour doctor considers day one of your pregnancy as the first day of your period, when you could not have been pregnant!
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