Calculating Due Date by "Quickening"

[EchoSoul]

So if any of you reading this now have read my other thread, my fiance and I have been having a stand-off with our OB on the due date for our first-born. I was sitting here, bored out of my mind, and thought to pass some time I'd again look into the inaccuracy of ultrasound dating. So I came across this page:

http://www.transitiontoparenthood.com/ttp/birthed/duedatespaper.htm

And half-way down I read something interesting. Women typically feel the fetus first move between 16-20 weeks, and some believe that the baby will arrive 5 months after that. Sometime in November was when I felt him move, and if I count 5 months after that, we wind up in April. According to our calculations, our son will most likely arrive at any point early-late April anyway. Real early May if he passes 42 weeks.

Obviously, he hasn't arrived yet. But I was wondering for those of you who have given birth, if you think back to when you felt your precious one move, does this calculation fit in with when he/she/they arrived?

[Peony]

It is worked for some of my kiddos. I felt DD1 at 20 weeks, DD2 at 16 maybe, DS was 13-14 weeks, and this one was really early, 10 weeks. 

[etsdtm99]

only for my 1st

[lamamaloca]

I wouldn't consider this reliable. With my first, I had an anterior placenta and a not very active baby, and didn't feel regular movement until at least 22 weeks, and my husband could rarely feel the movement through my belly. With my subsequent pregnancies, I felt baby much earlier. This one, I'm not quite 22 weeks, but I've felt small movements since around 14 weeks, and the kicks are now large enough to be felt externally.

Edited by lamamaloca - 3/5/11 at 10:56am

[EchoSoul]

Oh, I know everyone's pregnancy is different, I just thought it was a neat kind of prediction, given that this method puts our baby's due date where we've been putting it anyway, and the OB refuses to listen. Thanks everyone's who's responded so far, :)

[jcregan]

That would be about the time range for me as well.   Especially if you know your placenta placement.  I would call that pretty typical given most people I know.    I felt maybe around 20 weeks with my first (anterior placenta), and I think in the low end around 15-16 weeks with this one (again anterior placenta, but a bit higher this time and I felt some little movements really really low at first.

If the dates the OB keeps thinking end up making those first movement feelings end up at a week that seems extremely late or extremely early than I can see that being some support for your case (well for you at least,  sounds like OB might not be convinced).

[Ola_]

I think it would be really neat if someone were to conduct a study on this and account for the different variables.  Like the location of the placenta as already mentioned, whether it's a first or subsequent baby, level of padding that the mama has at the time (since I've heard this can make a difference?).  If this data could be put into a table then you could choose which ones apply to your particular circumstances and average them out or something like that.  It would be neat to try it anyway!

Or how about using the first time that the heartbeat was picked up with a doppler?  Would only work for mamas who are ok with doppler exposure obviously.

[EchoSoul]

Agreed. I think the primary source of the "evidence" relying on the ultrasound is too dangerous. Using sound waves to diagnose something so crucial as when a baby should arrive can be downright scary - just think of dolphins - Dolphins use echolocation to get an estimate of approximately how far away the school of fish are, but it's never 100%. Ultrasounds can give an estimate of approximately how big the baby is, and then tie that in with gestational averages, that were ALSO estimated. I'm not saying anyone should rely soley on this method of calculating, and I very much agree it should be further critiqued and studied to find what variables can account for what. I believe myself to have been at 18 weeks when I first felt our baby move. According to how far along the OB thinks I am, I would have been 23 weeks along instead, when I first felt him move.