How Weeks Pregnant Am I

Role Of Fundal Height

Am I Pregnant? How Many Weeks Pregnant Am I?

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.

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

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.

Also Check: What Should You Not Eat When You Are Pregnant

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.

Why Your Due Date Is Important

How Many Weeks Pregnant Am I? An Explanation of Due Date ...

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 women 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.

Don’t Miss: What To Do After Ovulation To Increase Chances Of Pregnancy

What Happens During Each Week Of Pregnancy

Our pregnancy week by week emails will keep you updated about whats happening every week of your pregnancy!

Simply enter in your estimated due date, and well send you emails based on what week of pregnancy youre currently at no need for calculations!

All the best for a wonderful pregnancy and be sure to bookmark BellyBelly for all your pregnancy questions and answers.

Sex At Week 4 Of Pregnancy

Unless a doctor advises you otherwise, your sex life can continue as normal throughout pregnancy.

Heres a quick run-down of your week 4 pregnancy checklist:

  • If youre still not sure, nows the time to get a pregnancy test.
  • Even if you did your pregnancy test at home, get down to the clinic anyway to see your doctor.
  • Ask your doctor about scheduling an ultrasound scan.

Also Check: Does Sprouts Sell Pregnancy Tests

Why Is Pregnancy Calculated From Your Last Period

Why start the clock on pregnancy before sperm even meets egg ? The LMP is simply a more reliable day to date a pregnancy from. Even if youre a master of cervical mucus and are sure about the day you ovulated as well as the day you had sex, you probably cant pinpoint the exact moment of conception.

From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When You’re Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

  • What to Expect When You’re Expecting, 5th edition, Heidi Murkoff.
  • What to Expect Before You’re Expecting, 2nd edition, Heidi Murkoff.

How Late Is Too Late After My Due Date

Pregnancy Week 31: How Many Months Pregnant Am I?

This is why the question of how many weeks pregnant am I? is important to address. Basing due dates on LMP increases the risk of categorizing mothers as late or post-term. In these cases, your doctor will talk to you about inducing labor.

For truly post-term pregnancies, labor induction can be a safe and reasonable option. The primary cause for concern for the infant is neonatal mortality, as the risk for stillbirth sharply increases after week 42 of pregnancy. For mothers, risk of chorioamnionitis , obstetric complications, and maternal mortality increase after week 42.

Recommended Reading: When Can You Find Out You Are Pregnant

How Many Months Pregnant Are You

Women who are planning to have a child expect their pregnancy to last about nine months. But many expectant fathers and mothers wonder how many weeks there are in nine months. The average pregnancy lasts forty weeks from the first day of the last normal menstrual period.

To get a more specific prediction of pregnancy duration, most physicians and midwives use a gestation calculation like the one below to provide a personalized estimate. You can use the first date of your last period or the date of conception if you know it.

What If I Dont Know When My Last Period Was

If you dont have a regular 28 day cycle or if you cant remember when your last period arrived, you can book an early pregnancy ultrasound to estimate how many weeks pregnant you are.

Bear in mind, the due date based on your own, unique cycle is most accurate, followed by early ultrasound, then late ultrasound.

The reason for this is when a baby first forms, they follow a predictable growth pattern, as they develop all the initial building blocks.

But as your baby gets bigger, he or she will develop at their own rate genetics come into play.

Ultimately, its best to avoid ultrasounds if you can, because ultrasound heats tissue. Especially early ultrasounds , which are often internal. Your developing baby will have the internal ultrasound wand placed very close to their brain.

Have an ultrasound if you must, but try to keep the time to a minimum and avoid any that are unnecessary.

Don’t Miss: What Year Will I Get Pregnant

First Day Of Last Period

Most pregnancies last around 40 weeks , so typically the best way to estimate your due date is to count 40 weeks, or 280 days, from the first day of your last menstrual period .

Another way to do it is to subtract three months from the first day of your last period and add seven days. So if your last period started on April 11, you’d count back three months to January 11 and then add seven days, which means your due date would be January 18.

This is how your doctor will estimate your due date and its a pretty solid target. But remember: Its just as normal to deliver a week or two before or after.

How Do I Know What Week I Am Currently In My Pregnancy

How pregnant am I? Pregnancy by weeks, months, and trimesters

Your doctor says you’re 15 weeks pregnant, but youre also being told that youre in week 16. Which is right? Short answer: both. In both cases, your due date is the same its the language referring to it thats different.

Turns out how many weeks into pregnancy you are is a little different than how many weeks pregnant you are. If youre in week 16, youre actually 15 weeks and some days pregnant. Fifteen full weeks have gone by, but not 16 weeks, so people say that you’re both 15 weeks pregnant and in week 16 of pregnancy.

To clear things up, think about birthdays. When you were born, you werent even a day old but you were in your first week of life. When you turned 1 year old, you had lived through your first year and were starting on your second. In other words, on your first birthday you were in day one of your second year. But no one said you were 2 years old until you’d finished that second year and had begun your third.

The same rules apply when talking about your weeks of pregnancy: You are x weeks pregnant, but in your x+1 week of pregnancy.

Recommended Reading: How Early In Pregnancy Can You Get Heartburn

Pregnancy Calculator: How Is Your Due Date Calculated

While itâs true that most pregnancies last 40 weeks, there are other factors at play which will determine your due date. Most expectant mothers donât realize that both menstrual and ovulation periods count as the first two weeks of pregnancy. Many wonât be aware of their pregnancy until their first missed period, and by that time they could be up to five weeks in. That means that simply estimating nine months from the day you take a pregnancy test isnât going to calculate your due date, and, even so, factoring in a few weeks here and there for ovulation wonât either.

Unless you can pinpoint exactly what point of your ovulation cycle you were in at the time of fertilization, itâs difficult to know how far along you are and what date youâll meet your baby. Luckily, our due date calculator can help.

Using both the date of your last period and the length of your regular cycle, or exact date of conception, our due date calculator will quickly work out your estimated due date, tailoring it accordingly for longer, shorter, and average cycle lengths.

How Do I Calculate My Due Date

Still havent checked in with the doc about your estimated due date? Its calculated counting from the first day of your last menstrual period instead of the day you conceived. So try to remember the first day of your LMP and add 40 weeks to that.

If you like math, you can also calculate your due date with the following formula:

  • Subtract three months from the first day of your LMP
  • Add seven days
  • Add one year

For example, if the first day of your LMP was 6/2/2020, subtract three months to get 3/2/2020. Add seven days and you’ll get 3/9/2020. Finally, add one year to find your estimated due date of 3/9/2021.

Don’t Miss: What Can I Not Eat While Pregnant

Whats In Store For Me Until My Due Date

Now that you know how far along you are, it might be helpful to know that pregnancies are often referred to in weeks and trimesters. Take a look at this pregnancy timeline for a breakdown of the weeks, months, and trimesters of pregnancy:

Here are some of the things you can expect in each trimester of pregnancy:

First trimester : You might notice some early signs of pregnancy, such as morning sickness and food cravings. Your provider will be able to confirm your pregnancy and set up your prenatal visits to make sure you and your baby stay healthy and safe.

Second trimester : This trimester is often referred to as the honeymoon phase of pregnancy. You may feel as if you have some extra energy to get things done, like baby-proofing your home, going to prenatal classes, and doing some gentle pregnancy exercise.

If you aren’t already, this may also be a good time to start doing Kegel exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. You can do these simple muscle clenches anywhere, and they’re beneficial not only during pregnancy and labor, but afterwards as well.

Third trimester : You’re nearly there! As you get closer to the birth of your baby, you’ll want to get prepared by making sure you have all the right baby gear. But remember to take the opportunity to slow down and rest whenever you can.

Review this article:

# 22 And 23 Weeks Pregnant

36 weeks pregnancy update | HOW I AM FEELING?!! I’m so over being pregnant

At the beginning of your sixth month, your baby weighs almost a pound and is almost 11 inches long. Her lips are becoming more developed, and her eyelids and eyebrows have formed.

The beginnings of her first teeth are forming under the gum line.

Your baby is the size of an eggplant and weighs over a pound. She is almost a food long .

His blood vessels and lungs are developing strength for breathing.

Your baby is starting to hear sounds outside of the mommas body. Keep talking to for your little one, as you want.

Read Also: What To Do If You Are Not Getting Pregnant

Pregnancy Term & Due Date

Pregnancy is a term used to describe a woman’s state over a time period during which one or more offspring develops inside of a woman. Childbirth usually occurs approximately 38 weeks after conception, or about 40 weeks after the last menstrual period. The World Health Organization defines a normal pregnancy term to last between 37 and 42 weeks. During a person’s first OB-GYN visit, the doctor will usually provide an estimated date at which the child will be born, or due date. Alternatively, the due date can also be estimated based on a person’s last menstrual period.

While the due date can be estimated, the actual length of pregnancy depends on various factors, including age, length of previous pregnancies, and weight of the mother at birth.1 However, there are still more factors affecting natural variation in pregnancy terms that are not well understood. Studies have shown that fewer than 4% of births occur on the exact due date, 60% occur within a week of the due date, and almost 90% occur within two weeks of the due date.2 As such, while it is possible to be fairly confident that a person’s child will be born within about two weeks of the due date, it is currently not possible to predict the exact day of birth with certainty.

How Long Are Women Actually Pregnant For

A study from 1990 of over 1000 women found that the median gestation length for first-time mothers was 277 288 days since LMP. For second-time mothers, median gestation length was slightly shorter and about 275 287 days since LMP.

Interestingly, one study of a small population of 125 Caucasian women found that gestation lasted on average 268 days from ovulation, and that despite no labor or preterm complications in the sample pool, gestation length varied by 37 days across the sample. Progesterone may explain the variability because a slower rise in progesterone after implantation correlated with a longer pregnancy. But, keep in mind, this is a small sample size with one racial background.

Although research doesnt understand why yet, racial background does affect gestation length. A study of over 100,000 women in London found that women of African or Asian backgrounds had a median gestation length of 273 days, which is about a week shorter than Caucasian women.

Bottom line: how many weeks pregnant the average woman is when she gives birth does vary considerably, but about 282 days from LMP seems to be more accurate although whether thats true for women of all ethnic backgrounds definitely requires more research.

Read Also: How To Get Pregnant After Iud Removal

Pregnancy By Week Calculator

Pregnancy period usually lasts from 37 to 42 weeks from the first day of your last menstrual period. The number of weeks depends on the date of last menstrual period. This online calculator is used to find how many weeks you are pregnant. Additionally you can also find your due date and the number of weeks until your due date.

Check out exactly how many weeks you are pregnant with this online calculator.

Beginning Your Pregnancy Journey

How pregnant am I? Pregnancy by weeks, months, and ...

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.

Also Check: How Long After Removal Of Nexplanon Can You Get Pregnant

Related Posts

Recent Stories