I'm really confused and still don't understand how this works.?

Question

Why do they measure pregnancy by the day of your last period. Someone help me please.. my b/f and I decided to try to become pregnant. He ejaculated in me on the 11'th of April and 2 weeks later I got a posititve pregnancy test. I have not gone to the doc yet cause I need my insurance first. Can someone please tell he how many wks pregnant I actually am.

Answer 1

I would say the first day of your last period, but it's really up to your doctor to give you a due date because for me it's customary for my body to skip a period before I get pregnant.

Answer 2

They measure from the last day of your period because they go by your cycle, not the actual day of conception. There are a number of reasons, one being that most women don't know the day they conceived but DO know the day they had their last period. Another is if you go from the first day of the last period, gestation is exactly 40 weeks, whereas if you go from conception, it can vary, but it will be somewhere around 38 weeks that you're actually with child. I guess doctors like the even numbers! Yet another is that the baby is not actually conceived on the day you had sex, in most cases, since sperm can live inside you for up to 5 days before fertilizing an egg, so even if you only had sex once that month, you still may not have conceived on that date, so you can't go by date of sex.

The main point is that's just how doctors do it. If you don't know your last period, when you go to the doctor, they'll do an ultrasound and tell you how far along you are, in terms of from approximately the first day of your last period. You can also get a rough estimate this way: it's most likely that you conceived about 2 weeks after your last period, since that is generally the most fertile time for most women, so if you had sex 26 days ago...we add another 14 days onto that...and you're about 40 days pregnant. Divide that by 7...and you're almost 6 weeks along! Congratulations! I know it's confusing, but just go with the flow, and you'll have a happy healthy pregnancy! Don't stress too much!

Answer 3

I hate to break it to you, but your new insurance probably wont cover the pregnancy because they will go by the date the doctor puts as the date of conception. I work in insurance and I know that any PRE EXISTING conditions are excluded and even if you did get new insurance, there is usually a waiting period for pregnancy coverage. Some companies are even like 6 months or more. So if you currently dont have insurance in effect, I dont see your new policy covering it. The only program that might cover it is if you qualify for state help.

Answer 4

They measure based on the first day of your last menstrual period because most women don't write down all the dates of when they actually had sex, or know when they ovulated. But, they usually know when the first day of their last menstrual period is. Plus, it's just an easy way to calculate. Women ovulate differently.

You are probably about 5 weeks LMP.

Here is a calculator to help you.

http://pregnancy.about.com/cs/pregnancycalendar/l/blpregcalc.htm

If you can't get in to see the doctor right away, call and ask them to send in a prescription for prenatal vitamins to your pharmacy.

Answer 5

The first day of your last period should be the date that you start counting from. Ex: first day of your last period was March 26, you would be 6 weeks pregnant today.

Answer 6

Doctors go by your last menstural period. If you know you conceived on April 11th. You are 5 weeks pregnant. Your due date would be Jan 1, 2008. Make sure you start taking prenantal vitamins found at your drug store. And start taking care of yourself. Call your doctor as soon as possible

Answer 7

Yes, you start counting from the first day of your last menstrual period.

Answer 8

yep its true, its from your last period.