Due Date Questions??????

Sarah - posted on 05/24/2010

I would say that it all depends on the time you actually fell pregnant the due date is just an idea on what baby is doing compared to the doctors milestone charts??? but babies come when they are ready some earlier than others but i feel afta 30wkz is safe as most development is sorted just the lungs need to mature and with the technology we have these days the survival rate is higher....also in New Zealand if you are overdue by i tink its 7-10days they induce you as its not safe for your bub and your placenta starts to rot??? i tink thats right??? could be a few more days longer??? but yeah and we have midwives here so from about 37weeks u see them once a week and they check bubz and ur health so i feel pretti sweet wiv it all but its kul hearing what other people go through in different countries...

Danielle - posted on 05/24/2010

Well you're due date is the first day of the 10th month or 40 weeks. So you're pregnant for nine FULL months. The average baby will be born on or around the 40th week. You're due date is just an estimate. For instance, I gave birth to my first child at 39 weeks.If you go past that point (40 weeks), they begin to talk about induction because doctors will not allow you to be pregnant beyond the 42 week mark (at least that's how it is in Canada). At 37 weeks, you're baby is considered full term because it has finished developing and is just putting on weight from that point on. So although you're due date is October 3rd, you can give birth at any point between 37 and 42 weeks. I'd pack you're hospital bag at 37 weeks but don't plan on going in until around 40 weeks. If it's your first child and you've had a healthy pregnancy, it'll most likely be closer to 40 weeks.

Kelly - posted on 05/24/2010

when you are 40 weeks pregnant, you are actually 38 weeks pregnant (estimated) they give you a due date based on your last menstral period and it takes 2 weeks to get pregnant then 4-6 weeks for a positive to show on a HPT.

Amanda - posted on 05/22/2010

40 weeks is 10 months only if you count every month as exactly 4 weeks. when you consider that most months are 2 or 3 days longer than that then the count doesn't work by doing weeks into months. if someone asks me how far i am i tell them 26 weeks. if they want the months i say i'm right around 6 months (as i'm due in 3 months and 2 days). most of the time the last 2-3 weeks is primarily for the lungs to finish maturing and the baby to put on weight. (this is baby 4 for me so i'm sort of old hat at it and have done ALOT of reading over the years. my eldest is 13 already)

Amanda - posted on 05/22/2010

40 weeks is 10 months, but that's how doctor's measure it. They have to because its impossible to know the exact day you conceived so they go by the first day of your last period. You technically aren't pregnant for that entire time, but it makes it easier for them to measure about how far along you are by that.

Serene - posted on 05/21/2010

I always thought that 40 weeks was really 10 months.

Heather - posted on 05/21/2010

A true full term pregnancy is 40/41 weeks, the reasong there is a 7-14 day window is because every woman ovulates at a different time of the month, even though there is a general guideline that says we ovulate 12-16 days after the last day of our period it is just a guideline. The 37 week term is used because at 37 weeks ur child is ready to be outside but will still be safer to stay in until 40 weeks, meaning that if u go into labor at 37 weeks or even 36wks 5 days the docs will not try and stop the labor. Many babies that are born between 37 -40 weeks still have some breathing issues and some heart issues so it is safer for them to stay in until 40 weeks. Once again this is not an exact science, no one even really knows what tells our bodies to go into labor and why. hope this helps and feel free to mssg me if u have any more questions.