How Do You Figure Out When Your Baby Is Due?

Whether you've been trying to get pregnant for years, or if it happened on the first try, the first thing you'll want to know … and indeed, the first question everyone will be asking … is: “When is my baby due?” Just like the way everyone asks to see the engagement ring when you announce you're getting married, when you tell people you're pregnant, it's like they don't believe it until you tell them an actual date that they can look forward to. It's all part of the fun and excitement of an impending arrival. There are always jokes that go around about televisions being on the blink and power outages happening. Or, friends and family will joke light heartedly about that last weekend you and your partner went away together or the time everyone had a few too many glasses of wine at a cards night. Now despite the fact that your doctor wasn't there when your baby was conceived (unless of course your baby was conceived using IVF), he is usually the person who can tell you most accurately your due date! When you visit your doctor for the first time to confirm your pregnancy, he will write down the letters “LMP” on your records. This refers to Last Menstrual Period and he will calculate your delivery date based on this. Ovulation (the release of the ovum) typically occurs 14 days after menstruation began, and a full-term baby is carried in the mother's uterus for around 266 days. When you attend this appointment, your doctor will ask you the date of your first day of bleeding in your last menstrual period. He will add 14 days to this date to obtain the date you ovulated and conceived. Then he will add those 266 days to that date and voila! You have the date when you can expect to meet your new son or daughter! Naturally some babies will be born premature and some will linger a little longer in their Mommy's belly but the due date is calculated in text book style, you could say. Anyway, if you are absolutely positive about the date you conceived (keeping in mind that conception coincides with ovulation, not when you had your period), you can simply add 266 days to that and determine the date yourself. If your menstrual periods are irregular, and many women's are, it may not be as simple to determine the date by using the LMP method. But once you have your first trimester ultrasound, the technician will be able to paint a much clearer picture by measuring the size of your baby and calculating his or her gestational age. In any case, by the end of the first trimester, you will have a pretty accurate indication of when you can expect to hear the pitter patter of little feet around your house … but wait; considering that babies don't walk until around one year of age, you'd better add another 365 days to the due date of birth!

Each pregnancy, expectant mother, and unborn child is different. Your pregnancy may not progress the same as the information found here. The information here is based on the average pregnancy. It's not meant to be a replacement for any advice your may receive from your doctor. If you have any concerns about your pregnancy, we advise you to contact your doctor.

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