How do you count the weeks?

[DoulaClara]

How is everyone counting where they are in their pregnancy?

For example, when I became pregnant, Fertility Friend gave me a due date of July 15th. That's a nice round number, so that's the one I'm using.

But, when I plugged that into Ticker Factory, it places me today at 5 weeks and some days. I O'ed on October 22nd and by using BD dates, I think it was fertilized pretty shortly after, so I'm using my O date as day one. In my mind, that places my baby developmentally around 22 days gestation (yay! His/Her little heart is starting to beat!) or 3+ weeks.

I am totally taking this too seriously, but some slight OCD is making this hard for me to just deal with and move past! What is everyone else counting as their "Day One?" I know my baby didn't start on the first day of my last period (Oct 8th).

[bbrandonsmom]

Ha ha, this constanty irritated me last time too. One day my dr would be going by my lkp and then they'd date the preg by ultrasound/bloodwork and go by gestation of the baby, then witch back again. And I had no idea when I o'd approx, so I couldn't go by that.
This time, ff puts me a 7/15 I think, lkp puts me at 7/19 and then my mw is going by both lkp and o date at 7/16. The little chart she uses has the lkp and then right under it the three poss concieve dates. So I'm counting like her from those poss dates of concep, and figure we'll be having a baby some time that week.
i wish I could hear that heartbeat already too! It makes me feel better. This time I'm going to get one of those home listening things so ds can listen-I think he'll like it and I'm getting it more for him than us.

[DoulaClara]

I want to get a fetoscope so I can hear the heart (I think my MW said it can be heard with a fetoscope at around 10-12 weeks?) I haven't heard it yet, but I'm tracing milestones on a Human Development website.

[tripmom+]

My cynical self thinks that adding that two weeks or starting from the LMP date is some man thing whereby they figure women can't really know when they conceived, so we better just adjust accordingly! Maybe not, though. Although, since I have 60 day cycles, when I went in for my appointment, they asked my LMP date, and I said, "September 3rd, but I know I ovulated 10/16." They really didn't believe me. They just said that they'd have to watch the dating. So, maybe that is the theory behind adding the two weeks.

[Shelsi]

Yeah all those pregnancy things assume you have the mythical 28 days cycle with ovulation at day 14. Also the day you ovulate, if you conceive, according to the way they count you are now 2 weeks pregnant. So from your o date that is 2 weeks along.

I'm not worried about my midwife not understanding my long cycles but I have to go to the clinic on base to confirm the pregnancy and they don't care at all when I o'd, they just want to hear LMP. So I will tell them exactly 14 days before my o date. With ds I told them my LMP and they tried to tell me I was 7 months prego LOL (I was 3.5 weeks btw). Doctor's can be really irrational if you ask me.

[jee'smom]

You go by LMP, and all of the charts are according to this. So, if you go to look up info. on a "3 wk. embryo" it'll say that you conceived 1 wk. ago. I HATED this with my first, but got used to it with second. I also know when I conceived with all 3 of my kids, but have 26 day cycles, so I lied and told them my LMP was 14 days before ovulation.: On a lighter note, it makes it seem like we're further along then we are!
By the way, I agree with you guys... doctors can be so irrational. However, by the time I got to the second baby, the doctor asked me my LMP (b/c the paper said to) but then turned to me and asked "when do you think you conceived this baby, b/c you have a pretty good track record; you know better then we do!"

[wheatie]

this is bothering me too. i got pregnant on a 37 day cycle, and o'ed on approximately day 20. puts my due date 7/22 according to date of conception, but by lmp is 7/13.

a doctor would want to induce me for sure, especially since my son was late and 9 lbs 10 oz. trying to find a more natural doctor who takes my insurance(grrr) and agrees along these lines of thinking.

[jee'smom]

wheatie: I'm due 7-22 also! Just lie to the docs about when you're LMP was, that's what I did, with both pg.

[Shelsi]

Yeah just count back 14 days from conception and tell the docs that's when your LMP was. That way you don't have to deal with ignorant docs. I have 37 day cycles as well.

[~Demeter~]

I have no idea how many weeks I am.. based off my LMP I am due July 15 but I don't know how correct that is. I found a site that let you change the length of days in your cycle and seeing as I avg a 34 day cycle it claimed I was due the 21st of July. I suppose I will just have to wait and see and when the baby is ready the baby will come. lol Right now I am assuming I am between 4 and 5 weeks.

[2much2luv]

I'm lucky that I have a 28 day cycle and ovulate right in the middle, so all the due date calculators work for me. I do add a week on the end in my mind, giving me a 41 week gestation, because that's what my others were.

[DoulaClara]

Ok- good. So now I can say I'm 5-ish weeks, instead of before when I was saying 3 weeks, and getting weird looks. My friend asked- "How do you know already?" and my mom was totally confused.

Weird. Us helpless preggos and our uselessness in telling time. : Why'd they make it so complex?

Clara

[~Demeter~]

Clara you could just play like me and plan for August.. seriously when people start asking me when I am due I am just gonna say sometime in August. I am always late and that last month of constant calls and when you gonna pop drove me nuts with my last pregnancies. Although, I would really like to know for my piece of mind.. but I guess that's what my first appointment is for.