How far along AM I?

[dshields]

ok...here's what may seem like a weird question.
I hit the 4 week mark (from lmp) on wednesday and my online calender counts me as 5 weeks along. I consider it 4 weeks, but i guess this is the 5th week. Does anyone else keep track this way? What should i tell them when i call the m/w for my first appt.? Oh i'm SO new to this!! Help me wise and sage mamas!

[provocativa]

I'm right there with you. LMP started 8/10- but it only lasted 2 days, and I felt preggo before AF- my milk supply dropped. So that AF was implantation bleeding? Interesting, it was the same with dd. Really, your due date is just a guesstimate.

[Mamabeakley]

I would just tell the m/w your LMP and discuss an appropriate due date with her when you meet. You're not required to know your due date, even though you do have online calculators.

[susannella]

I think you'll be asked when your last period started- that tends to be the norm. For me, that was 7/31, a Sunday, which would put me at the start of my 6th week this Sunday.

However, that presumes a 28 day cycle, ovulating on day 14. I have Never had a 28 day cycle! I expect that I O'd on day 20 or 21, putting me at only 5 weeks this Sunday.

This is pretty important to me to get right, as with my last pregnancy, I got a lot of pressure to induce when I was only a week 'late'- no one would listen to me about how wrong my due date was!

Hopefully you'll have a provider who won't be a freak about dates. It's really annoying, and disappointing when that big arbitrary 'due date' goes by.

[Naughty Dingo]

Susanne just pointed out why it is so important to get the due date right. I have either had an ultrasound to date the pregnancy, or knew my ovulation date. Depending on when in your cycle you ovulate, you may or may not be able to go from the date of your lmp. I know what you are talking about though with the calender being a week ahead, I think some of those online things just give you info for the upcoming week, I am not sure why, it's confusing........

[happeeevraftr]

Doctors count the 2 weeks before you even conceived as the first two weeks of pregnancy. And for those of us who have MORE than two week between the first day of LMP and ovulation, that makes the doctor's "due date" even more wrong. So what I'm going to do is count back 2 weeks from my O date and say that's the day of my LMP. That way the doctor will put that date in their little pregnancy wheel and come up with the due date that corresponds with my actual ovulation--not with my last period.

I find it really obnoxious that dr's don't pay any attention to anything besides the lmp. What happens for the girl who has extremely long cycles, or who had major stress or traveling or something and didn't ovulate for 2 months from her period? (Trust me, it happens!) She'd go in and say her last period was 3 months ago and the doctor tell her she's 4 months pregnant!

Sorry for the rant. It's just something that really urks me. I'm not weird. Promise.

[gabry]

So what I'm going to do is count back 2 weeks from my O date and say that's the day of my LMP.
That is exactly what I did yesterday, and guess what? They got the due date right! :wink Of course, that only works if you know your approximate O date.
The thing about the weeks, when you hit 4 weeks the online trackers say 'you're in the 5th week'. I usually just say 'Im 4 weeks 3 days' or whatever the case may be (that's also how most ob/mw do it).

[kathteach]

What online calculators are all of you using?
What I don't get is how can they include the weeks before ovulation and conception as part of the pregnancy? That seems so odd to me.

[gabry]

It is odd, but I guess due dates have been traditionally calculated from last menstrual period, because that's the only thing most women are certain of (if that).

[susannella]

I just found one at amazing pregnancy http://www.amazingpregnancy.com/duedate/
I like it because you can use lmp or conception date. It gave me the same date I figured out for myself.

[busybusymomma]

What I love is, when for example, someone asks me how far along I am and I saw "X" weeks. They get a baffled look on their face, so then I round off.... 20 weeks= 5 months. :LOL

EDD= Estimated Due Date (too bad more people aren't will to remember the estimated part :eyesroll)

[dshields]

Thank you ladies for understanding what I meant! I was too tired to come back and clarify...You've been a huge help!