What Is Gestational Age Can It Be Different Than What The Calculator Shows
Gestational age is the term used to describe how far along the pregnancy is and how long baby has been gestating .
If you get an ultrasound you may notice a GA on the image with a number of weeks and days. This figure is based on how the baby is measuring, not on your LMP, which the due date calculator uses.
Its normal for these dates to not match up perfectly. If there are significant differences in the dates, your doctor may want to dig deeper to determine conception date. As a result, your midwife or doctor may change your due date based on the ultrasound gestational age.
Early ultrasounds are very accurate when dating a pregnancy and can be helpful if you dont know your LMP or your periods are irregular.
Note that you dont have to have an early ultrasound, especially if you are fairly certain of your cycle length and conception window. This study shows that early dating ultrasounds dont change the incidence of induction.
What To Expect During The First Month Of Pregnancy
- Spotting can happen when the fertilized egg implants, and is often mistaken for a period. It Is typically a little earlier than the expected period, much lighter, and lasts only a few hours to a couple of days. It’s a sign that the fertilized egg attached itself to your uterus wall.
- Cramps in the front or lower back can also accompany spotting.
- Inside your body, a fluid-filled cushion that’s known as the amniotic sac is developing. The yolk sac is attached to it and will feed your baby during these early weeks.
- Your baby is smaller than a grain of rice!
Basically during the first month, if you have any symptoms, they are likely very similar to what youd experience before a normal period.
When Do You Start Showing
You ll probably start to show in pregnancy at 12 to 16 weeks. You re more likely to show early if you re short, carrying multiple babies, or you ve been pregnant before. By week 20, your doctor will start measuring your fundal length, the distance between the pubic bone and the top of the uterus.
Recommended Reading: Can You Get Lasik While Pregnant
Using Last Menstrual Period
To figure out your due date, count 280 days, or 40 weeks, from the first day of your last period . The LMP method works best for women who have a consistent period with a regular cycle, says Delisa Skeete Henry, MD, an ob-gyn with Serene Health OB/GYN & Wellness in Fort Lauderdale, Floridaand by that she means a cycle ranging from 28 to 38 days. Your estimate can then be refined with what the doctor learns from your pelvic exam. Thats because a typical uterusone without fibroids or massestends to be certain sizes at certain points in pregnancy. The result is accurate plus or minus seven days, Ruiz says.
What To Expect At The End Of Your Pregnancy
- Choosing If and When to Return to Work after Maternity LeaveWhether or not you return to work after becoming a parent is a difficult challenge faced by modern women. Finances and the prospect of being parted from your newborn are key challenges to consider.
This content is accurate and true to the best of the authors knowledge and does not substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, and/or dietary advice from a licensed health professional. Drugs, supplements, and natural remedies may have dangerous side effects. If pregnant or nursing, consult with a qualified provider on an individual basis. Seek immediate help if you are experiencing a medical emergency.
Recommended Reading: Can You Donate Plasma While Pregnant
How Far Along Am I How To Work It Out
Once you have that positive pregnancy test, the next questions you probably have are: how far along am I? and when will my baby be due? Suddenly the dream becomes a reality, and theres nothing quite like working out your due date and popping it in your calendar to start the countdown!
Counting pregnancy weeks can be a confusing game, but one thats important to get right so you schedule scans, tests, and appointments for the right times. So lets answer that question. How many weeks pregnant am I? Heres how to work it out.
In this article:
- How do I know how many weeks pregnant I am?
- How to calculate how far along you are
- How to know how far along you are in pregnancy
- Do you have symptoms at 4 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
Also Check: Can I Use Vagisil Wash While Pregnant
When Can You Find Out How Many Weeks Pregnant You Are
A woman can find out how many weeks pregnant she is at any time during pregnancy. There are several ways to calculate how many weeks pregnant a woman is and the estimated due date or estimated date of delivery . Some ways are more accurate than others. It may be calculated based on the womans last menstrual period , her urine levels of the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin , fetal developmental milestones and an ultrasound. The due date is just an estimate and only about four percent of women give birth on their due date. Most women either deliver a little earlier or a little later than their estimated due date, which is normal because childbirth depends on several factors related to the mother and her fetus.
How Long Does Morning Sickness Last
What might not be so exciting is that around six or seven weeks along, youll likely start to feel morning sickness at full force. The good news about this is that it most likely wont last the entire pregnancy! The majority of women who experience morning sickness in early pregnancy report that they feel relief after the first trimester. If you are feeling sick, hang in there!
Read Also: Can I Use Vagisil Wash While Pregnant
What Is Happening To My Body
Pregnancyit’s one of the most glorious and tiresome rollercoaster rides of emotions a woman will experience in her entire life!
Chances are, you are here because you are pregnant or think you may be pregnant. Here, I will go over many of the symptoms, both pleasant and not-so-pleasant, that a woman may experience during her pregnancy.
When Will My Baby Be Born
This pregnancy calculator uses one of two methods to work out when your baby might be born. If you fill in the start date of your last period, it takes that date and adds 40 weeks . If you’ve chosen a different cycle, it will add or subtract days based upon that. If you choose to calculate by ultrasound date, the calculator will work out your due date based upon how far along you are on that date. This will likely yield a more accurate result.
The 280 day figure is based upon Naegeles Rule and is the most common method of calculating due dates. German obstetrician Franz Naegele created his formula in 1812 and it has been referenced ever since.
Read Also: Can You Donate Plasma While Pregnant
How An Ultrasound Can Estimate Your Conception Date
Hope Clinic Services, ultrasound
One question many women have about their pregnancy is, When did I conceive? In many cases its very difficult to tell exactly when you became pregnant. However, one simple tool can tell you with a high degree of accuracy when you became pregnant: an obstetric ultrasound.
How Do Your Due Date Charts Work
The due date charts show possible due dates based upon data from a birth survey carried out by Spacefem.com. The survey relied upon correct information being input by each of the 9,000+ Mums who took part it was not a scientific study. It’s important to remember that your birth date probability will vary based upon many factors, including your age, health, ethnic origin and whether you’ve given birth before.
If you have any problems using this pregnancy calculator, please contact me.
Recommended Reading: Can I Donate Plasma While Pregnant
Month : Weeks 18 To 21
If this is not your first rodeo with pregnancy, then youve most likely been able to feel the babys first kicks! If this is your first pregnancy, you might still have a few weeks before youll feel anything. The first movements are often described as a fluttery feeling, like gas bubbles. Do note that it could very well be gas and not the baby!
Is This Pregnancy Weeks Calculator Reliable
Like any other Online Calculator, the Pregnancy Weeks Calculator is simply a Pregnancy Calculator designed to help you and provide guidance for your first few weeks of pregnancy. If you are pregnant and you want to be 100% certain on the exact number of days that you have been pregnant, we recommend that you go directly to your doctor.
Recommended Reading: Can You Get Lasik Eye Surgery While Pregnant
How To Know When You Conceived
In general, there are a few ways to determine your conception date. No method is 100% accurate, but some are more reliable than others.
Ovulation
The first way to find out your conception date is to determine when you were last ovulating. In general, women can only conceive when they are ovulating that is, when their ovaries release a new egg into their fallopian tubes for fertilization. That means you can use your ovulation dates to try to determine when you became pregnant.
Ovulation usually occurs about two weeks after your menstrual period and lasts for two or three days. This means you can sometimes determine when you conceived based on your ovulation cycles simply determine when your last menstrual period was and add approximately two weeks.
However, this method isnt always accurate. Not all women have the same cycles of menstruation and ovulation, some womens menstrual cycles are irregular, others have ovulation periods closer to or further from their menstrual period and some women simply arent sure when their last period was. In other words, calculating conception based only on your body cycles can be difficult.
Intercourse
Another way to learn your conception date is to try to determine the last time you had sexual intercourse. Unfortunately, this method isnt totally accurate either. Conception is a process that takes time and a mans sperm can actually stay alive inside your body for up to a week after sex.
Ultrasound
What Does It Mean If My Doctor Changes My Due Date
Your doctor may change your due date if your fetus is significantly smaller or larger than the average fetus at your particular stage of pregnancy.
Generally, your doctor orders an ultrasound to determine the gestational age of your baby when theres a history of irregular periods, when the date of your LMP is uncertain, or when conception occurred despite oral contraceptive use.
An ultrasound allows your doctor to measure the crown-rump length the length of the fetus from one end to the other.
During the first trimester, this measurement provides the most accurate estimation for the age of the baby. Your doctor may change your due date based on the ultrasound measurement.
This is most likely to occur in the first trimester, especially if the date estimated by the ultrasound differs by more than one week from the date estimated by your doctor based on your LMP.
In the second trimester, an ultrasound is less accurate and your doctor probably wont adjust your date unless the estimates vary by more than two weeks.
The third trimester is the least accurate time to date a pregnancy. Estimates based on an ultrasound can be off by as much as three weeks, so doctors rarely adjust dates during the third trimester.
However, its not uncommon for a doctor to perform an ultrasound in the third trimester if theyre thinking about changing your date.
Recommended Reading: Lasik And Pregnancy
Assisted Reproductive Technology And Gestational Age
In cases where assisted reproductive technology is used to conceive, the ART-derived gestational age is used to calculate the estimated date of delivery or due date. For example, with in-vitro fertilization, doctors would use the age of the embryo and the date of the transfer along with ultrasounds to determine how far along the pregnancy is.
How Can I Ensure The Most Accurate Due Date Possible
Start tracking your periods before you get pregnant so that you can easily tell how far along you are. You can use a calendar or period tracker app, such as Period Calendar, Flo and Clue, all of which are free on iPhone and Android.
Then, if you get pregnantwhether its planned or a surpriseyoull know the start of your last period and can accurately assess how far along you are. At that point, you can sign up for Todays Parents free week-by-week pregnancy newsletter to learn about your babys development, how youll be feeling and what to expect.
Free pregnancy apps like The Bump, What to Expect and Pregnancy Tracker include pregnancy calendar calculatorsto estimate your due date, as well as functions to help track the size of your baby, anticipate pregnancy symptoms and plan for doctors appointments and other key dates .
Read more:
Don’t Miss: Braces While Pregnant
How Far Along Am I Four Ways To Figure Out How Pregnant You Are
Youre itching to know when your little one will arrive. Heres how to calculate how far you are in your pregnancy.
Its a question youll hear over and over until youre holding a baby in your arms: When are you due? Everyone wants to know that magic date, and youre probably more than a little curious about how far along you are, too. Your due date may become a beacon or a deadline , but its important to remember that your due date will only ever be an estimate of the week youll give birth .
That said, theres one big reason why an accurate estimate is important: in case of complications. If a woman goes into labour early, then we really want to know how far along she is, as best as we can tell, says Carol Scurfield, medical director of the Womens Health Clinic in Winnipeg. A week can make a big difference as far as the health of the baby is concerned.
Do your best to calculate your due date as soon as you discover youre pregnant. Heres how to do it.
Where To Get An Ultrasound
You can get an ultrasound at almost every OB-GYN office, but if you dont already have a doctor it can be difficult to make a timely appointment. Thats why we offer free limited ultrasounds at our clinic. If you schedule a free pregnancy test at our clinic and it comes back positive, youre automatically qualified to get a free ultrasound as well.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of getting an ultrasound and other ways of keeping yourself safe and healthy during pregnancy, call Hope Clinic today. We can help you through every step of your pregnancy and answer any questions or concerns you have. Call or text 669-500-TEST today to make an appointment and get help.
-
One of the most important things you can do when you become pregnant is get an ultrasound. A Limited…
- +
What do you do when she tells you she could be pregnant? Every man reacts differently to this news…
- +
When you become pregnant unexpectedly, getting help should be your first priority. But where do you get help when…
- +
Also Check: Can You Donate Plasma When Pregnant
How Accurate Is This Pregnancy Calculator
It is important to remember that this pregnancy calculator is meant to be a bit of fun and the results contain guesswork . Assuming it will be born naturally, there’s obviously no way of knowing for certain when your baby will arrive. It is worth noting that only 5-7% of babies arrive on their due date. The vast majority are born two weeks either side. This calculator, as with all due date calculators, should be used only as a guide, to give you a little help with planning for your baby’s arrival.
At the point of 42 weeks, births are commonly considered ‘post-term’. If you reach this point, your hospital will likely induce labour for the safety of the baby. You can learn more about this and about due dates in this article by the Essential Parent website .
