How Far Along, Really?

[queendom lady]

So this is the dilemna.... Say I'm 24 weeks. I tell people I'm 24 weeks and they say "oh, you're 6 months" I say "well, 5 1/2." Then they look at me like I don't know how to add. Dh and my dad both say it doesn't make any sense- it's like being 1 and 2 years old at the same time. But to me a pregnancy is 40 weeks, give or take, which would be 10 months according to them. According to me it would be 9 1/2.

So how do you explain how far along you are? Months or weeks? Do you go by the 10 mo. pg or the 9 1/2? Am I figuring this all wrong?

[ani'smommy]

I always say how many weeks I am. If they say "oh, five months then" I just let them think that. It's too confusing (and tiring) to explain every time. :lol

[yeahwhat]

Since everyone thinks pregnancy is 9 months long, I tend to subtract the number of months from my edd and say that I'm that far along. Eg. 4 months from my edd would be 5 months pregnant.

With other women who've had children more recently, I tend to go by weeks since they'll understand that.

[Jenns_3_babies]

I go by calendar months as well. I"m currently 37 1/2 weeks, but I say I'm 8 1/2 months. I only have 2 1/2 more weeks to go. If I tell people i'm 9 months, then they're like 'oh, you're due now?!" So, I do what the other person said...go by my EDD for how many months. Sometimes I'd say how many weeks, then you get people who are like, um, how many weeks are in a pregnancy? :dizzy:

It just depends how you look at it...lunar versus calendar months. My OB goes by lunar, I go by calendar. I ain't gonna be pg for 10 months!

[stacey0402]

I always say how many weeks I am. If they say "oh, five months then" I just let them think that. It's too confusing (and tiring) to explain every time. :lol


I'm the same way!

[Aliviasmom]

I learned quickly to just say months. If I said weeks, so many people were like "So....how long is that? How much time do you have left?" So I just said x months, or I'm due ____.

[Therese's Mommy]

I also have a problem with this. I have a friend who is pg and she does the old 4wks=1 month. I really drives me crazy. I always say how far along I am in terms of weeks. If I am close to the first of the month I will say it in terms of months though (as I am due June 1).

[becoming]

I say, "I have 3 months left to go."

[GenomicsGirl]

I just say # of weeks too, and let them do the math! It's hard because there aren't exactly 4 weeks in each month - only 1 month has 28 days, the rest are 30 or 31 :dizzy: But the weeks are consistently 7 days long. So I go by weeks. Right now, I'm 32 weeks, or 7.5 months, or I have 2 months left. It gets confusing, for sure!

[Belle]

I just say X-weeks. They can do the math themselves. In my first pregnancy one time though I did say I was 9 months pregnant at 36 weeks. I was annoyed at the whole 9 months is how long a pregnancy is. He was confused and I explained that a pregnancy doesn't last "9 months" it lasts 40 weeks (or so).

[hergrace]

Ah, the joys of simplifying.

I have to say I wish I were thinking about weeks or months. With triplets, people worry about days - because in the 24-32 week period of pregnancy, days of gestation can make a difference.

I never understand how people calculate my due date, but I think it must not be straight weeks, because my OB and I disagree on my due date by 3 days despite the fact that we are started from the same datum - the first day of my last period.

[trmpetplaya]

I say (currently) that I'm 28 weeks along and have about 2.5 months to go since I'm due on July 1st. Then folks can figure out how many months along I am on their own because I'm not going to do it for them! So I guess I keep track of weeks and when I'm due. The month thing just gets too confusing and yet that's what everyone seems to want to know... by telling them how many months I have left they at least get SOMETHING in months which seems to satisfy most :thumb

love and peace. :love

[sanguine_speed]

I like the idea of subtracting months from due date. I'm due September 1, so that would mean I'm ... 5 months?

[kkar]

I say weeks because once I tried to explain to an aunt that a normal pregnancy was 40 weeks and she came back saying, "That's 10 months!" and wouldn't believe me at all. It was a frustrating experience so I don't even bother anymore. People are less likely to figure out months and ask questions if you just tell them weeks.

[Mumof3Nic]

I go by weeks and when asked in terms of months I just reply with a typical pregnancy is 40 weeks.. sometimes even longer. I explain that I don't go by months because it makes things seem so much longer. I will also tell them I have such and such weeks left if they ask me how much longer to go. I hate going by the due date because when that day comes and goes it's frustrating to hear from people.. you still haven't popped yet?

[OtherMother'n'Madre]

Oy vey! This is the reason I've stopped counting (see sig :lol). People bug me with it. Pregnancy is 40 weeks (ideally). Even when I've called and talked to dr.'s most no longer go by months. I had a post about this a long time ago because honestly 40 weeks SHOULD equal out to 10 months but if you consider how many "half" weeks there are etc. it does turn out to be 9 months.

Now when people ask me I tell them late August. They are more than welcome to sit and figure it out themselves. :lol

[roadfamily6now]

i dont bother really.

[queen_anne78]

yep I just tell them how many weeks and they can figure it out on their own. A lot of times I'll also add that 38-42 is the "window"....I get so tired of explaining that I could go 2 weeks before OR after my "due date". For those of you who don't disclose your due dates...I think you're on to something!!

[Mel L]

I just tell them when I am due or how many months I have left. Last one came early though so I just tell people that I am due in July, but the baby may come in June.

[Daisie125]

I do the 4 weeks to a month (this is if I'm talking to a stranger or grandmother) otherwise I go by weeks.

4weeks = 1 month
8weeks = 2 months
12weeks = 3 months
16weeks = 4 months
20weeks = 5 months
24weeks = 6 months
28weeks = 7 months
32weeks = 8 months
36weeks = 9 months

[koru]

i always say weeks & i can't resist going into the whole "40 week" explanation with anyone who questions my math. like a pp said, there are lunar months & calendar months & i go by lunar so a pregnancy lasts 10 moons. it confuses the heck outta most people but if they want to question me i usually give them more of an answer than they probably wanted.....

[AugustLia23]

I go by weeks sometimes and months sometimes, depending on who's asking. I think that pregnancy is 10 months if you are pregnant in February(I was). Most people do well with weeks.

[HeatherB]

All the dating for pregnancies is really wacky, if you ask me! :lol 4 weeks does NOT equal a calendar month - it's more like 4.5wks/month. And I didn't get pregnant 15 weeks ago - it was 13 weeks ago! But of course we count from LMP, which for some of us isn't a real LMP, just a supposed LMP based on actual conception.. And then we get into this same debate of how long a pregnancy is and how many weeks equals a month... and I think it's all pretty crazy. :wink

I tend to say weeks at this point 'cause even I can't decide how many months I am. :lol At 15 weeks most people say, "oh, almost 4 months." But I think I'm more like 3 months from when I conceived, so maybe 3.5 months in "pregnancy." :dizzy:

[IamPink]

I just tell everyone that I will have the baby by August 1st.
I am "due" June 29 or July 2nd. This way I won't have any one calling asking if I have had the baby yet.
I better have a baby by August 1st!!!
This just seems the easiest to me.

(but I also go by the 10 month thing... I'm a Doula and I can't help it! :lol )

[Tattiana]

I go by weeks for most people, but for those who don't get it, I average it out to "about X months". I am 14 weeks now, and was asked the other day by someone I know doesn't "get" weeks and just said "about 3 months". I figure that was safe to say since that is about the start of the second trimester (of course, that is a whole other debate... when these "trimesters" begin and end!).

I have said after I have reached 36 weeks that "I'm in my 9th month", but I think it is just better at that point to say, "just a couple of weeks left" or they think you just may drop the baby right there. LOL

I do agree with those who give a general time they are due rather than an actual date. People say the stupidest things to an already tortured, hugely PG woman who already wants the baby out NOW if they think you are close or "overdue".

[pookel]

Don't people know there are more than 4 weeks in a month? It's 4 1/2 weeks, not 4.

[2bluefish]

I go by calendar month - so I'm 2 months even though I'm almost in the second trimester. Last time I went by Daisie's method and I was ready to have the baby at 36 weeks! LOL.

[LilMomma83]

:lol it seams like people go with all sorts of things!

I count 4wk mos - so I am 9 1/2mos right now (at 38wks); and may be 10 1/2mos by the time he is born! However..my professor asked how far along I was and I replied "9mos today!" so now he is always totally shocked to see me show up to class - he must think the babe is already overdue!

I count wks myself, and use wks when talking to most women (at least that have had babies recently).

Now that I am close to EDD I also just reply to the "how far along" question with "he should be here with in the next 2-4wks" or "he should be born sometime within a month" ...everyone can understand that -- :lol but I would not have been wanting to do the backwards count until recently - my EDD seamed so far away until like a week ago.

[stacey2061]

i go with 4.3 weeks in a month, so months go 4.3 weeks, 8.6, 12.9 (or 13), 16.2, 20.5, 24.8, 29.1, 33.4, 36.7, 40

.3 weeks might seem like splitting hairs but it makes perfect sense, and takes away all confusion for me

13 weeks or 3 months in a season ~ 52 weeks, 12 months or 4 seasons a year

[dantesmama]

When strangers ask I just tell them months (lunar months, as in 4weeks per month, since that's what they'll assume anyway). With people I know, I go by weeks.

[pookel]

Oh, and I use weeks with other people who have kids, because they're all familiar with it. With people who don't, or whose kids are grown, I tend to estimate to months.

[Krystal323]

this can be a funny topic with some people :p

around here the Q tends to be phrased "when are you due?" more often than "how far along are you" so I just say "May-ish!" and leave it at that.

or I'll say the number of weeks and follow it up immediately with "May-ish!" to clarify and spare us both the insane calculations :lol

[klg47]

So this is the dilemna.... Say I'm 24 weeks. I tell people I'm 24 weeks and they say "oh, you're 6 months" I say "well, 5 1/2." Then they look at me like I don't know how to add.

Just look at them smugly and think in your mind how you CAN add and they can't, lol. There are 4.33 weeks per month, so 24 weeks divided by 4.33 = 5.54 months. So you're exactly right by saying 5-1/2!

I'm an engineer, so if questions of math come up, I usually am smugly thinking that I'm right anyway, lol.

I usually take 9 months minus how long I have left and say that's how many months along I am.

[cholderby]

Bad things happen when you give people a due date. I was ready to slug everyone who said "Haven't you had that baby yet?" to me last time. This time, I have no idea when I conceived, no idea how far along I am (LMP was in the spring of '04) and it works out rather well.
Its best to think in teerms of months or even seasons when babies are involved.

[crunchy_mama]

I give weeks usually. HOwever, this far along I am just very vague that yes the baby could come sometime soon, or it could be a little bit.

[AbbieB]

I feel so lucky this time around. Baby was conceived at the end of December (yes, Santa brought him/her :lol ) and is Due the end of September which is the 9th month. So I just add a month as the new month changes (It's April so I'm 4 months).

For my momma friends that are more in the know I tell them the week.

And for you mommas counting, yes I know my EDD is a little earlier than late September, I just cook 'em longer :wink .

[brendag]

I just say how many weeks and let them figure out the months if they want. Everyone knows I'm having twins anyway so our due date isn't the same as a singleton anyway.

[GearGirl]

I usually go by weeks as well, or the correct month, not the 4 week month, but sometimes I threw the four week month out there with my first two just so I didn't seem so freakin huge, I just seemed a little farther along :lol .

[Sunflower223]

This drives me crazy. Most of the time I just say tell them my edd or give them a month (subtracting from the EDD). The weeks seem to confuse people way too much.