Your Due Date
Jan 07, 2011
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That’s why the medical term for “due date is EDD,or estimated date of delivery. The date your practitioner gives you is only educated estimate. It is usually calculated this way: Subtract three months from the first day of your last menstrual period (LMP), then add seven days – that’s your due date. For example, say your last period began on April 11. Count backward three months, which gets you to January, and then add seven days. your due date would be January 18.
This dating system works well for women who have a fairly regular menstrual cycle. But if your cycle is irregular, the
system may not work for you at all. Say you typically get your period every six to seven weeks and you haven’t had one in three months. On testing, you find out you’re pregnant. When did you conceive? Because a reliable EDD is important, you and your practitioner will have to try to come up with one. If you can’t pinpoint conception or aren’t show when u last ovulated. There are clues that can help.

The very first clue is the size of your uterus, which will be noted when your initial internal pregnancy examination is performed. It should conform to your suspected stage of pregnancy. The second clue will be an early ultrasound that can more accurately date the pregnancy. ?(Note that not all women get an early ultrasound. Some practitioner perform them routinely, but others will only recommend one if your periods are irregular, if you have a history of miscarriages or pregnancy complications, or if the estimated due date can’t be determined based on your LMP and physical exam).
Later on, there are other milestones that will confirm your date: the first time the fetal heartbeat is heard (at about 9 to 12 weeks with a Doppler), when the first flutter of life is felt (at about 16 to 22 weeks), and the height of the fundus (the top of the uterus) at each visit (for example, it will reach the navel at about week 20). These clues will be helpful but still not definitive. Only your baby knows for sure when his or her birth date will be… and baby’s not telling.