Confused about how to count months in pregnancy

[nova22]

You'd think I know this by now, I have five kids.

I know how many weeks I am - 36w2d

I have no idea how many months I am. I use the Just Mommies pregnancy calendar every once in a while to check out what week I'm on, but they count in months too. According to them, I'm in my 10th month. 

My brain is kind of  from being sick and overtired, can someone explain this to me like I'm 5 years old? I feel a little dopey when someone says "how many months are you" and I say "eightish...or nine...I don't know". :)

[WifeofAnt]

Well there are like a million ways to count.  Calendar months, lunar months, months of 4 exact weeks, starting at LMP, starting at conception, ect.

9 Calendar months varies based on which months (38w6d starting Jan 1st)

10 Calendar months varies based on months too (43w3d starting Jan 1st)

9 Lunar months is 265.7 days (37.95 weeks)

10 Lunar months is 295.3 days (42.18 weeks)

Splitting it up into 4 week increments is relatively easy but you'll be 10 months pregnant by the time you get to or pass 40 weeks.

Then you have to decide whether to say you are 'X months pregnant' or if you're IN your Xth month (ex: 6 months completed or in your 7th?).

I just throw my hands up in the air and round it.  At 36w2d I'd say you are 8 months.  Around 38.5 or 39 weeks I'd start saying 9 months (except to family who would stalk me about having the baby, then I'd tell them how many weeks I was).  Most people assume pregnancy is about 9 months anyway and that would be the equivalent of telling them its just about over.

[bella99]

I used to differentiate between how many weeks I was and how many months I was, as in, not using the same tools to determine my answer.

Obviously by weeks it was more exact, based on date of ovulation and an early ultrasound.

But if people ask how many months, I just calculate that based on my LMP.

My daughter was born at 39 weeks, which also happened to be 9 months exactly since my LMP (although I ovulated on CD 12), so not really exact.

I am 30w4d, right now, and 7 months as of 11/17.

[Weevil]

I've been counting based on my LMP (even though I didn't ovulate exactly on day 14, it's close enough).  From LMP to EDD is almost exactly 9 months.  A lot of people seem to take how many weeks they are and divide by 4, which will give you a 10 month pregnancy in the end (40 weeks).  Seeing as most people consider a pregnancy to be 9 months, it seems more accurate to actually measure the number of months from LMP.  So today I am exactly 7 months from LMP and also exactly 31 weeks.  So I've just completed 7 months (starting 8th month) but if I divided my weeks by 4 I would be almost 8 months (even though I still have 2 full months left before I get to 40 weeks).

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by Weevil 

I've been counting based on my LMP (even though I didn't ovulate exactly on day 14, it's close enough).  From LMP to EDD is almost exactly 9 months.  A lot of people seem to take how many weeks they are and divide by 4, which will give you a 10 month pregnancy in the end (40 weeks).  Seeing as most people consider a pregnancy to be 9 months, it seems more accurate to actually measure the number of months from LMP.  So today I am exactly 7 months from LMP and also exactly 31 weeks.  So I've just completed 7 months (starting 8th month) but if I divided my weeks by 4 I would be almost 8 months (even though I still have 2 full months left before I get to 40 weeks).

Yep, my thoughts are pretty much exactly the same, except I count months backwards from my EDD ... so, since I'm due January 5, I'll be eight months on December 5.  I can't help myself -- I get unreasonably irked when people start saying that they're eight months at 32 weeks, but still want to say that pregnancy is nine months long.

[~Adorkable~]

Yeah it funny, I'm so used to talking here or to medically trained folks that weeks are always used, but my mom and such have a hard time translating those into something that she finds familiar, so keeps asking me months.
To me no 4 week period is without huge change these days, so it seems silly to clump so much growth into one chunk of time. The start if 7months and the end of 7months are night and day for me. And yeah most folks seem to think that you pop open the moment you hit 9months, and in fact it is at the end of 9months so kinda 10 based on how you count.
Since they don't get that, if you say 8months you could be nearly 8weeks away from birth, but folks will think you can go any day!

[Sunnirayne]

I just use weeks because if I tried to count in months I would just confuse myself also ha ha.

[Virginia884]

I know my dates down to weeks&days and share that number with people who I know will understand. For everyone else I have started counting backwards from the end in months. I'm due March 15, but planning to go at the end of March, so that's about 4 months away, so I tell people I'm 5 months. It would be so much easier if we could just divide by 4 and have a 10 month pregnancy!

[MyFullHouse]

I don't bother with the month thing, since it gets so confusing.

When people have asked, my answers have usually been along the lines of "I'm due at the end of the year", "I'm about half-way done", "Three months or so left", and, more recently, "Just a few more weeks, hopefully!"

[Smokering]

Simpler just to refuse to accept the paradigm. :) Say "I'm 36 weeks", or "I'm due at the end of December", or whatever, and let them figure it out! The months thing is very confusing.

[Liora]

Originally Posted by Smokering 

Simpler just to refuse to accept the paradigm. :) Say "I'm 36 weeks", or "I'm due at the end of December", or whatever, and let them figure it out! The months thing is very confusing.

Agree!!  The months and even trimesters are so arbitrary and completely unrelated to actual development.  I say "I'm 18 weeks" and if they say "so how many months?"  I say "no idea but 40 weeks is term so..."  I don't know maybe I'm a little bitchy about it?  lol