How Far Along Am I By Due Date?

To understand exactly the answer to the question “How far along am I by due date?” can sometimes be something which may mislead you. Find out answer to the most frequent questions about your pregnancy by following the information below.

How Far Along Am I by Due Date?

Most of the times the conception date isn`t known, so if you want to calculate the age of your child, you need to use the first day of your last menstruation. Therefore, the gestation age is calculated starting with the first day of your last period, and not the date of fertilization. This means that, although you weren`t pregnant at that time, the first 2 weeks from the last menstrual cycle are also taken into account.

Week 1 of pregnancy starts from the first day of your last menstruation. Strange, isn`t it! But this is an exact date that doctors take into consideration, except the case when we talk about fertilization and you know exactly when the egg was fertilized.

If the exact moment of a normal ovulation is unknown, there`s another ways of calculating, but there are a few issues with this method. It`s assumed that you have a menstrual cycle of 28 days and your ovulation is in the 14^th day. As you know, every woman has a unique menstruation if we are to talk into consideration time and breaks between menstrual periods.  It`s possible to have a shorter or longer menstruation than of 28 days, and it`s possible to been ovulating any time in between. But for the sake of taking a date into account, you`re placed into the “average” category. Therefore, when you don`t have a period, it might mean that you are 4 weeks pregnant.

How Do You Know How Far Along You Are?

To find out how far along you are and calculate the due date, the doctor will add 40 weeks or 280 days from the first day of the last menstruation or will add 7 days to that date and will subtract 3 months. – Read this!

This is only an estimate because only 5% of children will be born exactly at the due date, but most women will give birth 1 – 2 weeks before or after that day. Almost 1/8 of women will give birth prematurely (3 or more weeks before the due date).

What Month of Pregnancy Am I In?

How Many Weeks Are You on Your Due Date?

• 1-4 weeks= 1 month.
• 5-8 weeks= 2 months.
• 9-12 weeks= 3 months.
• 13-17 weeks= 4 months.
• 18-22 weeks= 5 months.
• 23-27 weeks= 6 months.
• 28-32 weeks= 7 months.
• 33-36 weeks = 8 months.
• 36-40 weeks= 9 months.

How Much Does a Pregnancy Trimester Last?

There isn`t an official definition, but it`s generally considered that trimesters have almost 3 months each. It`s estimated that the second trimester of pregnancy starts the first day after the week 14, and the third trimester in the first day of the week 28 of pregnancy. – Click here!

Does Pregnancy Really Last 9 Months?

In fact, it`s not really exactly so. For example, if the first day of the last menstruation was January 1<sup>st</sup>, the due date may be December 8<sup>th</sup>, or 7<sup>th</sup> if it`s a leap year. And it may be longer if you pass over the due date.

Does a Month Last 4 Weeks?

Actually, the only month which has exactly 4 weeks is February – when it`s not a leap year. All the other months are of 30 or 31 days, so the average is of 30.4 or 4.3 weeks.

What If I Don`t Know when I Had My Last Period?

In case you don`t remember when you had your last menstruation, if you didn`t had one for a while due to a specific treatment or if you breastfed, you can make a ultrasound and you can find out in what pregnancy week you are. The date resulted by taking into consideration your last period is the best way to find out how long you are pregnant, followed by the ultrasound method. This happens because when the fetus forms, while he`s developing there`re certain uniform patterns of evolution. But while the fetus gets bigger, he starts to develop in a unique way because the genes intervene. – Check for more info!

It would be best to avoid ultrasounds as much as possible, especially the ones during the first few weeks, which are normally intravaginal ones. This means the doctor will get very close to your baby. If you must, make a ultrasound, but as a general rule of thumb – avoiding the unnecessary ones.