When Did I Conceive My Baby?
Finding out you are pregnant is one of the a unique moments. In the next 9 months of pregnancy, your life will be filled with lots of unexpected moments. Various questions like “When did I conceive my baby?” will most likely pop up in your mind.
Normally, you would think that an online conception calculator would probably be able to offer the answer you want, but these things aren`t as reliable as you may hope.
The gestational age is calculated starting with the first day of your menstrual period. Because most of the times the conception date isn`t exactly known, it`s better if you`ll use the first day of the last menstrual period as a reference point.
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When Did I Conceive My Baby?
When did I conceive based on last period? If you have a regular period and you know when it was the first day of your last menstrual period, questions like “What day did I conceive?” should not remain unanswered because you`ll be able to use this information to calculate the age of your pregnancy. Thus, the calculation isn`t made by using the date of ovulation. This will mean that although you might not have been pregnant at that moment, the first 2 weeks of the last menstrual period are taken into consideration.
When did I get pregnant based on ultrasound? The age of the fetus can be measured by ultrasound starting with the 5 or 6 week since the first day of the mother`s last period. This measurement can be even more exact with less time passed from the conception date and becomes less precise as the pregnancy evolves. The best period to determine the age of the pregnancy using ultrasound is between weeks 8 and 18. The most exact calculation method is by using the first date of the last period and confirming this date using the measurements obtained from ultrasound.
When Did I Conceive my Baby Based on Due Date? To calculate this date, the doctor will add 40 weeks or 280 days since the first day of the last menstrual cycle, or will add 7 days since that date minus 3 months. This is only an estimation – only 5% from all babies are born at the exact estimated due date.
Calculating your Pregnancy Weeks
How does the doctor calculate your pregnancy weeks? The usual 40 weeks of pregnancy start with the first day of your last period. Even though you may not have been pregnant, most doctors start the calculation of your pregnancy weeks with the beginning of the month and most probably with the 14th day from your last menstrual cycle. Still, the age of the pregnancy and the age of the embryo are 2 different things. The age of the pregnancy is usually 2 weeks bigger than the embryo`s age.
Talk to your doctor if you don`t know the first day of your last period. It`s important to know when was your first pregnancy week and the probable conception date, and your doctor can help you on this matter. Also, besides attempting to calculate a week of pregnancy mathematically, your doctor can use laboratory tests and tools to measure your hormones and find out in how many weeks you are pregnant or when you have conceived.
A doctor can evaluate and measure the uterus. Your doctor will be able to measure the distance between the pelvic bone and the top part of the uterus. Usually, the number of the centimeters will be the same as the number of the actual pregnancy weeks. For instance, in case your uterus measures 12cm, you are in the 12 weeks pregnant. – Read more!
The heartbeats of the fetus. The first beats of his heart will be heard between the 9th and 12th weeks of pregnancy with a fetal Doppler monitor that will help assess the baby`s health. With it, the doctor can measure blood flow in various parts of his body, like brain, heart or umbilical cord.
When Did I Get Pregnant Exactly?
Last Menstrual Cycle: Women with an irregular period will find it rather difficult to estimate the age of the pregnancy with this method, and it will be the same with women who cannot remember the first day of their last period. In such cases, the age of the pregnancy is calculated by ultrasound.
The Development of the Fetus: In some situations it`s difficult to determine the age of the pregnancy because the fetus is either too small or too big for his gestational age. Also, sometimes the size of the uterus in early pregnancy or its height in late pregnancy don`t correspond with the first day of the last menstruation. In such cases, it`s pretty hard to calculate the age of the pregnancy precisely. – More related info!
Normal Pregnancy: For women with a regular menstrual cycle, the conception takes place usually between the 11 and 21 day since the first day of the last period. Most women aren`t exactly aware of the date of ovulation and therefore, the conception date is simply estimated this way.
Special Cases: Women who practiced special procedures of fertilization, such as artificial insemination or IVF (in vitro fertilization), are aware of the exact date of the conception.
When There`s a Period over Pregnancy?
If the period still appears even you are sure you`re pregnant, then it`s more difficult to calculate the gestational age based on the menstrual cycles and, in this case, you should take into account the pregnancy`s age established by ultrasound. Depending on the device and the experience of the doctor, some small differences of appreciation of around 2 weeks may exist. – More like this!
It`s important to determine the dynamic ultrasound assessment if you want to establish the gestational age in such a case. This offers data even in cases of menstruation during pregnancy.
Talk to the doctor if you have any concern regarding the difference between the gestational, chronological or biometrical age, if they exist.
How Many Weeks Does a Normal Pregnancy Have?
Normally, a pregnancy has 40 weeks. However, the pregnancy is at term between the 38 and 42 weeks. A birth that takes takes place before the 38th week is considered a premature birth, and one that takes place after the 42nd week is considered a postterm pregnancy.
Premature Birth
A newborn is considered to be born prematurely when the birth takes place between weeks 24 and 38. Chances of survival before the week 24 are very little, but they increase with the age of the pregnancy. The risk in such situations is for the baby not to be fully developed so he is able to survive life outside the womb, reason for which doctors take special measures.
The vital signs of premature babies are monitored and the little ones are kept in incubators. They are fed artificially, intravenously and they are helped to breath by connecting them to medical devices.
Postterm Birth
The newborn is considered postmature if the birth takes place after 42 weeks of pregnancy. Still, there are a lot of doctors who want to eliminate any kind of risk and after 41 weeks they recommend Caesarean birth.
In case of a postterm pregnancy, the risk of death is higher. The lesions that occur in the placenta in this case decrease the blood supply to the fetus and may appear fetal hypoxia, meaning lack of oxygen in the brain.
Due Date Calculator
If the above information doesn`t offer you the answers you need, the best way to find answers to questions like “When did I conceive my baby?” is to contact your doctor. He`ll be the only one who can tell you 100% if you are pregnant or not.
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