Aa
July mums
My LPM and scan date at 5+5 have me at the same due date does this mean because they both tally up To when I conceived
July mums when are you due and when did yous conceive
July mums when are you due and when did yous conceive
COMMUNITY LEADER
You're asking about your "GA" count, which stands for gestational age. But it's a misleading term. In fact, all of the "weeks pregnant" stuff is pretty easy to get wrapped around the wheel on. So, attend please while Auntie AnnieBrooke explains in too much detail the confusing way doctors count pregnancy time spans.
The time span assigned to pregnancy is 40 weeks. But pregnancy, from conception to full-term birth, is only 38 weeks long. The "pregnancy" weeks count begins on day 1 of your last period, it does NOT "tally up to when you conceived." It tallies up to when your last period begin, and in fact you weren't really pregnant yet. The weeks "pregnant" are counted this way by:
- all doctors
- all nurses
- all ultrasound techs and ultrasound machines
- all medical books
- all books written for new moms, like "What to Expect When You're Expecting"
and you yourself will begin to count it out this way too, and it will feel natural after a short time.
As you can see, a pregnancy start date of the first day of the last period means that for at least a couple of weeks at the front end, you weren't pregnant. If you were to ask your doctor, "Oh, day 1 of my period was January 1, are you saying I conceived then?" He or she would say "Ha! ha! Very amusing! Of course not, you were having a period!" But that's the way doctors begin the count of the pregnancy time span, even so. They're so used to it, they sometimes forget to explain it.
Example: If your period began on January 1, and your menstrual month was as usual and you went along and around the 14th [an average amount of time for an average woman] you had an egg pop out of your ovary and go visit your uterus, and guess what there was sperm waiting, you might conceive on around the 14th. Time passing, you go in for an ultrasound. The ultrasound machine measures the real baby's actual crown-to-rump measurement and says to itself, "Hmm. This baby is exactly the right size to be conceived on the 14th of January. Therefore, the GA count begins on January 1." Even ultrasound machines are calibrated to back up two weeks in time to start the count. Your due date will also be computed by the ultrasound's computer, and it takes all of this into account.
History: The reason for this is because in older days, there were no ultrasounds. A woman (my grandma, for example, didn't benefit from ultrasound technology) suspects she is pregnant, and goes to her doctor and asks, "How far along am I?" The doctor of that era has few ways to tell, but one of them is the woman's periods have stopped. So his question would be, "When was you last period?" and they would begin the count there. (They also did a lot of fumbling with measuring tapes, which is about as useful as nothing.) The medical world didn't mind using a 40-week count for pregnancy, either, because it wasn't hard to divide into trimesters.
Backing up the count to the first day of the last period has continued to this day, despite ultrasounds now being available that give a much better idea of when conception actually was. If a doctor says that the GA count begins on January 1, he means that conception would have been January 14. So, on the day your doctor said your GA was 5 weeks 5 days, you conceived 3 weeks 5 days ago.
Counting this way is confusing for women who have not been with their husbands (I once had to explain to an angry husband who was in the army that his wife's GA count did NOT mean she had sex with someone else two weeks prior to his coming home on leave). It's also difficult and stressful for women who had sex with one guy, then a period, and sex with another guy after that, because if the GA seems to point to the first day of her last period, she can begin to fear that the earlier sex produced the baby. For these reasons, I wish the medical profession would knock it off and count from presumed conception instead of from day 1 of the last period. This is also true because a lot of women have irregular cycles. The first day of the last period can mean nothing at all about when ovulation came again.
But in your case, it sounds like your menstrual months are pretty straightforward, and your period came and ovulation happened about 14 days apart, which is the average.
You said your doctor gave you an estimated due date in July? Does this mean you've been worrying about this for two months? Poor girl, you should have written in! Anyway, if you're worried, go to one of the online conception-date calculators (Mama Natural has a good one) and plunk your EDD into the calculator and it will tell you when you likely conceived.
You can also run all of this by your doctor. They aren't used to having to explain why the GA begins with a period and there is two weeks at the front end, but probably if the doc gave you an EDD that lines up with what I'm saying, you won't have too much trouble asking what that means for when conception was. Just be sure to ask using the actual word, "conception." Don't say vague things like "How far along am I" or "How many weeks 'pregnant' am I?" or you'll just get wrapped around the wheel again because the doc will answer you in weeks. You are way better off to stick with your due date and do your calculating from there.
The time span assigned to pregnancy is 40 weeks. But pregnancy, from conception to full-term birth, is only 38 weeks long. The "pregnancy" weeks count begins on day 1 of your last period, it does NOT "tally up to when you conceived." It tallies up to when your last period begin, and in fact you weren't really pregnant yet. The weeks "pregnant" are counted this way by:
- all doctors
- all nurses
- all ultrasound techs and ultrasound machines
- all medical books
- all books written for new moms, like "What to Expect When You're Expecting"
and you yourself will begin to count it out this way too, and it will feel natural after a short time.
As you can see, a pregnancy start date of the first day of the last period means that for at least a couple of weeks at the front end, you weren't pregnant. If you were to ask your doctor, "Oh, day 1 of my period was January 1, are you saying I conceived then?" He or she would say "Ha! ha! Very amusing! Of course not, you were having a period!" But that's the way doctors begin the count of the pregnancy time span, even so. They're so used to it, they sometimes forget to explain it.
Example: If your period began on January 1, and your menstrual month was as usual and you went along and around the 14th [an average amount of time for an average woman] you had an egg pop out of your ovary and go visit your uterus, and guess what there was sperm waiting, you might conceive on around the 14th. Time passing, you go in for an ultrasound. The ultrasound machine measures the real baby's actual crown-to-rump measurement and says to itself, "Hmm. This baby is exactly the right size to be conceived on the 14th of January. Therefore, the GA count begins on January 1." Even ultrasound machines are calibrated to back up two weeks in time to start the count. Your due date will also be computed by the ultrasound's computer, and it takes all of this into account.
History: The reason for this is because in older days, there were no ultrasounds. A woman (my grandma, for example, didn't benefit from ultrasound technology) suspects she is pregnant, and goes to her doctor and asks, "How far along am I?" The doctor of that era has few ways to tell, but one of them is the woman's periods have stopped. So his question would be, "When was you last period?" and they would begin the count there. (They also did a lot of fumbling with measuring tapes, which is about as useful as nothing.) The medical world didn't mind using a 40-week count for pregnancy, either, because it wasn't hard to divide into trimesters.
Backing up the count to the first day of the last period has continued to this day, despite ultrasounds now being available that give a much better idea of when conception actually was. If a doctor says that the GA count begins on January 1, he means that conception would have been January 14. So, on the day your doctor said your GA was 5 weeks 5 days, you conceived 3 weeks 5 days ago.
Counting this way is confusing for women who have not been with their husbands (I once had to explain to an angry husband who was in the army that his wife's GA count did NOT mean she had sex with someone else two weeks prior to his coming home on leave). It's also difficult and stressful for women who had sex with one guy, then a period, and sex with another guy after that, because if the GA seems to point to the first day of her last period, she can begin to fear that the earlier sex produced the baby. For these reasons, I wish the medical profession would knock it off and count from presumed conception instead of from day 1 of the last period. This is also true because a lot of women have irregular cycles. The first day of the last period can mean nothing at all about when ovulation came again.
But in your case, it sounds like your menstrual months are pretty straightforward, and your period came and ovulation happened about 14 days apart, which is the average.
You said your doctor gave you an estimated due date in July? Does this mean you've been worrying about this for two months? Poor girl, you should have written in! Anyway, if you're worried, go to one of the online conception-date calculators (Mama Natural has a good one) and plunk your EDD into the calculator and it will tell you when you likely conceived.
You can also run all of this by your doctor. They aren't used to having to explain why the GA begins with a period and there is two weeks at the front end, but probably if the doc gave you an EDD that lines up with what I'm saying, you won't have too much trouble asking what that means for when conception was. Just be sure to ask using the actual word, "conception." Don't say vague things like "How far along am I" or "How many weeks 'pregnant' am I?" or you'll just get wrapped around the wheel again because the doc will answer you in weeks. You are way better off to stick with your due date and do your calculating from there.
2 Comments
Thankyou for your reply my cycles are really regular 26 days to the day there is no other man in question, I suffer with OCD anyway, and went out with my partner round about the time of conception and my intrusive thoughts have me thinking all kinds like what if I had sex with someone else and didn’t know or I got raped, even though I was with my partner all night and can remember most of the night
The kind of doubts you are indulging in are probably based on other anxieties around the pregnancy or being a parent (deep down, not actually about paternity at all). It's not uncommon for someone to transfer worries brought on by a pregnancy, to the "fake issue" of who is the father.
OCD can be successfully addressed with counseling. Given that you are going to be a mom, it's a good idea for a lot of reasons to see a therapist that specializes in OCD therapy.
OCD can be successfully addressed with counseling. Given that you are going to be a mom, it's a good idea for a lot of reasons to see a therapist that specializes in OCD therapy.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the DNA / Paternity Community
Get information and tips on how to help you choose the right place to deliver your baby.
Get the facts on how twins and multiples are formed and your chance of carrying more than one baby at a time.
Learn about the risks and benefits of circumcision.
What to expect during the first hours after delivery.
Learn about early screening and test options for your pregnancy.
Learn about testing and treatment for GBS bacterium.
