Due date

[ailbhe]

My goodness, but we as a culture are hung up on that magic 40-week microwave-go-ping moment, aren't we?!

Comments

[serene]

Yep.

[clanwilliam.livejournal.com]

Oh, *that's* why hospitals have the machine that goes ping?

*ducks and hides*

[deborah_c]

... except when we decide the magic number is 37.

The girls were born at exactly 37 weeks (by Caesarian after waters breaking early and some rather boring enforced bed rest) which made them "full-term". If they'd decided to arrive one day earlier, though, they'd have been three weeks and a day premature, and everyone would have had to panic. Go figure...

[ailbhe]

Well, "full term" is 37-42 weeks - so when people say "When are you due?" I say "Oh, in about one to six weeks."

Then people go a bit mad.

(My mother delivered several of us at 37 weeks; Linnea was visibly Late at 41 weeks and Emer was visibly Early at scheduled section at 39 weeks).

[mrsflips.livejournal.com]

I was told by a male midwife when I was pregnant with my daughter ,that all women have a cycle of 28 days and my 40 day cycle must be wrong or at the least very unusual.

NHS direct used to say on their website that a woman ovulates 14 days after her period. I e- mailed them and told them it's 12 to 14 days before not after. They checked up then thanked me and corrected it.

[ailbhe]

That's *almost* funny.

But not quite.

I think my mother used to have a 21 or 23 day cycle, something like that; there's a bit of anecdata to show that women with shorter cycles have shorter gestations too but I'm not aware of any research into it.

My cycle was A Big Horrible Mess until I short-circuited it with a few years on the pill. And then pregnancy and breastfeeding. It was just beginning to get back to normal (painful, unpredictable, varying 14-40 days) when I got pregnant this time.

[trinity-gal.livejournal.com]

It was also worrying that a FEW female midwives couldn't get their head around that it due date depends on ovulation date not on LLM.

M: what's your LLM?
Me: I ovulated on 6th July - 5 weeks after the cycle has started. My cycles are pretty irregular. Does it make sense?
M: but what is your LLM? (waiting impatiently to fill form that had only LLM as question to estimate due date)

[ailbhe]

I'd a friend who hadn't had a period for two years before she conceived. They had great fun with her :)

[cherade9.livejournal.com]

This is why Adam was induced early (I suspect). They hadn't a clue when he was conceived as I hadn't had a period in months.

[mrsflips.livejournal.com]

I told him I knew when my child was conceived as I had been charting and could tell him to the day when I had ovulated. Yes that's fine but what was the date of my last period?

[mrs-redboots.livejournal.com]

Yes, nobody knows whether my daughter is due on the 18th or the 25th of next month! Her own calculations say 18th, but when they measure the baby, they think nearer the 25th.... but then again, they don't seem to quite know! Oh well, it will arrive when it's good and ready; I just hope it doesn't come on the 17th because I have an unbreakable appointment out of town on the 18th!

[tchemgrrl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a lot of people don't like my answer of "probably in November" when they ask when the baby's coming. How will they know when to start calling every day asking if that kid is out already?

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

I find it frustrating that 10/10/10 falls at 36w6d for me, and is therefore not a birth date I can hope for.

[iuil.livejournal.com]

I hadn't a period for 3 months when I got pregnant the first time. According to the first EDD a clueless secretary insisted on writing down, I had a 50 week long pregnancy.

On my second I told the person doing the intake form "I ovulated on August 19th so 14 days before that would have been the 5th" and that's what she wrote down.

[pauamma]

Acquaintance of mine had very irregular periods, which (together with a bunch of other conditions) caused her to find out she was pregnant when she went into labor.

[pne.livejournal.com]

What's an LLM? Something like "last something menstruation"?

[pauamma]

Your daughter isn't even born yet and she's already able to predict her own birthdate and let you know? Now that is precocious. :-)

[mrs-redboots.livejournal.com]

No, but she might be able to predict the birthdate of my grandchild next month!

[happydisciple.livejournal.com]

Ah, but then there's 20/10/2010...

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

Ooh, yes, you're right. I hadn't thought of that. I'm in the US, so we'd call it 10/20 here, but still pretty.

[clarahippy.livejournal.com]

Oh but life would be so much nicer if I knew for sure I was having this baby in July!

[ailbhe]

The bit that boggles my mind is that people actually *keep asking for the date* after that sort of brush-off. I have resorted to "Well, I don't think the baby has a calendar."

[ailbhe]

I got away with answering "July" until June.

[ailbhe]

It's fairly normal here for mothers out with children to talk to other mothers out with children about mother-and-child related things.

[velcro-kitten.livejournal.com]

I came to the conclusion 2nd time around that all I could do was take my child's conception date, work backwards to the Doc's favoured menstruaton date and lie thro my teeth.

[kiya]

I was at a baseball game when Very Pregnant and someone asked me, "So when are you due?" when we were leaving.

I deadpanned, "Monday."

She said, "... cutting it a little close, then?" and laughed nervously, which I failed completely to understand. It's not like she was gonna crown during the stretch without warning.

I think pregnancy makes people crazy. THe people around the pregnant people, mostly.

[kiya]

I had arguments with people about this. "I know when I ovulated, I was tracking basal temperature."

"But THE WHEEL says we go by last date of menstruation."

"THE WHEEL will be a week and a half WRONG."

"BUT THE WHEEL."

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

thank you for making the internet a better, more correct place!

[mrscosmopilite.livejournal.com]

Boggle!
I hope to god I never uttered anything so stupid

[tiggsybabes.livejournal.com]

One of my colleague's daughters gave birth 2 days ago at 41 weeks. I was pleased that she went into spontaneous labour & hadn't been co-erced into sweeps or worse.

[ailbhe]

We had a 30042004 which I rather like.

[nessbutterfly.livejournal.com]

Being an IVF pregnancy, people were happy to accept the date of conception as what I told them. I had crazy bleed when ever I take active pills stuff going on before the cycle so we couldn't actually define a LMP date that made any logical sense. Fortunately my care providers were happy to ask the date of egg collection and fudge the LMP as two weeks before hand. Apart from the one sonographer who tried to adjust my EDD after some scan measurements...

When asked when I was due I would always answer "January" Never actually got the "have you had the baby yet" phone calls as labour started spontaneously at 36 weeks exactly so we ended up with a December baby. Bit of a shame, as I wanted to get a phone call like that and answer "yes, I've had the baby, but we're keeping it a secret" and then hang up.