Can a doctor be wrong about a birth date?

Question

OK...this is a little crazy. I think my doctor is wrong about my birthdate. He says that I am 32 weeks and I think I am 34-35. My doctor is on me all the time about my weight (32 Lbs gained to date) and always coments on how big the baby is. My cervix is thinning rapidly and I have this rubber ring place around my cervix to keep it from facing....but it keeps falling down. I feel rediculace and wonder if I should just be allowed to have the baby.

guess on conception date: May 15th 2006 Last period: April 28 2006 Spotted: May 26 2006 ( am guessing it was spotting because I was suppose to start my period and only bled one day and it was light at that)

Answer 1

of course your doctor could be wrong. the due date is just an estimate really. rarely does a baby come into this world on his/her given due date. my daughter came two days after her's.
i would try to not focus on the due date thing although i know it's hard. i thought i would lose my mind towards the end of my pregnancy. i was SO ready for our baby's arrival and SO over being pregnant.
however, your baby needs to spend as much time in your womb as he/she can in order to develop properly. it's the safest and most comfortable place for them to be. PLUS it's a chance for you to relax and enjoy this quiet time. Trust me, when your baby is born, you can say good-bye to sleep and relaxation. unless of course you have a baby that sleeps a lot which means that you may get a couple of cat naps here and there.
also, don't worry about the weight so much. just eat healthy and drink lots of water. once the baby comes it is very hard to get that baby weight off, so try not to go to nuts when it comes to eating.
i gained 29 pounds and my doctor said this wasn't ENOUGH! my sister-in-law gained 36 pounds and her doctor told her that was way too much. every doctor will tell you something different.
her doctor also told her that it was OKAY to eat shellfish and fish during her pregnancy and my doctor forbode it.
good luck to you and enjoy the last couple of weeks of your pregnancy! i wish i were pregnant again. it was an amazing time in my life:)

Answer 2

Go to college, then medical school, and then question the doctor! There are many different things they base this on! If you had an ultrasound early on, as in before 12 weeks, it is very likely to be correct. There are certain embryonic markers that can tell them to an amazing deal of accuracy the exact age of the pregnancy. As the pregnancy progresses, there are other markers, as well. One of them is your fundal height. Different women FEEL things at different times. This has much more to do with the woman than it does the fetus! Even if the due date was off by two weeks, you would still be considered full term two weeks before the due date. If you have a question, ask, but I would not presume to think you know more than the doctor, particularly about things that you do not have the medical training to back up. In reality, you get a due month, as most babies are born between 37-42 weeks. People do not have a baby on exactly the day of the fortieth week, because everyone is different, and each baby is different. It is the same for animals. Even if you knew the exact date of conception, you are not going to have the baby in exactly forty weeks. The baby will come when it is ready. Try not to stress yourself out unless there is a good reason. Relax and let the doctor take you into their capable hands. This is what they do. They would likely not presume to tell the farmer how to run a chicken farm.

Answer 3

It sounds like you have a normal 28 day cycle which would put your conception date around 5/12/06. Sure it's possible that it could be earlier or later. When I do the math for conception on 5/12/06 (add 266 days), that puts you at 36 weeks. Where is your doctor coming up with 32 weeks?? Is he using 5/26/06 as the date of your last period? That sounds more like implantation bleeding!

Also from the sound of your question, it seems like your doctor is stuck to the 25 to 35 lbs weight gain. The reality is that some women gain more than others. I gained 1 lb per week no matter what I did or ate. I had a healthy baby that weighed just about as much as I did at birth. My friend gain much more and had a smaller baby, still healthy. It seems that a lot of docs seem to be stuck to the numbers and fail to look at the woman's lifestyle - is she healthy and active? My midwife concerned herself only that I was gaining consistently.

I would ask your doctor to explain where he came up with the 32 weeks...

Answer 4

Doctors are never 100 percent right. You can pretty well give or take two weeks from the doctors opinion. But don't forget, just because you had sex on the 15th, doesn't mean you got pregnant on the 15th. There is a 7-14 day time period after unprotected sex in which you could conceive from. I've had two kids and both times the doctor was pretty well on track. My daughters due date was june 2nd, she was born june 12th and my son's due date was july 17 and he was born on July 17th. I wish youall the best for a speedy delivery and a healthy baby.
Good Luck and Take Care

Answer 5

Dr's don't really give you anything but a "best guess" they can be wrong about the conception date. But if they did an early ultrasound, they probably have a pretty good idea about the age of the baby. The ultrasounds are much more exact because they know exactly how much the baby should grow at what age.

If you are 32 weeks, you really don't want to have that baby until 36 weeks at least. So I would try to hold on as long as possible before giving birth. Really, your Dr. knows best about why you should wait to give birth, you should trust him/her.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Even if you are 34-35 weeks you aren't full term. You need to prevent delivery either way.

It is possible you are either measuring small or you were off on the date of your last period (or you ovulated late). It happens. With my youngest son I had a pos pregnancy test about 2 weeks before my doctor said I could have conceived. Then when my son was delivered via c-section which would have been 39 weeks by my doctor's calculations (41 by mine) his lungs were immature as if he was preemie.

My advice is to hold it off as long as possible. Seeing your infant gasping for air is something no mother wants to go through- no matter how uncomfortable a little ring gets.

Answer 7

First day of last menstrual period: April 28, 2006
Estimated date of conception: Friday, May 12, 2006
End of 1st trimester (12 weeks): Friday, July 21, 2006
End of 2nd trimester (27 weeks): Friday, November 3, 2006
Estimated Due Date: Febuary 2, 2007

http://www.mybirthcare.com/calculator
Good luck and Congrats!

Answer 8

The doctors think that I am almost 8 weeks and I think I am almost 12. I feel my baby move and I have a pregnancy line on my belly. I will find out on the 25th if this is true or not, but I know what it feels like to feel a baby move and I am pretty sure this is it. I think it is very possible and don't worry, your baby will come when he/she is ready. Congrats and best of luck.

Answer 9

Most doctors still go by the last menstrual period because babies can be 37-42 weeks gestation and be considered normal. So being off even 2 weeks can be normal.

Answer 10

doctors can deffinatly be wrong! You can go 2 weeks before your due-date or 2 weeks after your due-date. They were wrong with me!

If your thinning out, it's not your fault? There is no way that YOU, yourself can stop it, especially if you have a rubber ring that is not working.

Good luck!