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Pregnancy Due Date - What You Should Know
When you find out you're pregnant, the first thing you'll want to know is your pregnancy due date. For the course of your pregnancy, the due date will be as important to you as your social security number. Your due date will let you know what week of pregnancy you are in. And that will help you and your doctor or midwife gauge how the baby is developing.
Due dates are calculated from the first day of your last period. Approximately 14 days after your period, you ovulate and conceive. By the time your baby is conceived you are considered to be two weeks along! It sounds strange, but doctors have determined that it's the best way to figure out due dates, especially if you don't know exactly when you conceived.
Just add forty weeks to the first day of your last menstrual period and you've got your due date. There are several online pregnancy calendars that can be used to calculate it for you as well. The benefit of using an online calendar is that most of them offer information every week during your pregnancy. You can sign up to receive weekly updates of your baby's growth and tips for dealing with the symptoms of pregnancy. Once your baby is born some services will continue to send baby updates so you can track your child's development. The best part is most of these services are free!
Keep in mind that your due date, whether determined by a computer or by a doctor, will probably not be accurate. Only 3% of babies are actually born on their due dates. A due date will just give you a general idea of when your baby will be born. Depending on your baby's development and family history, he or she could arrive a couple of weeks early or a couple of weeks late. But knowing your due date will give you a range of time to expect your new bundle of joy.
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