When Am I Due

Every month, generally in the middle of your menstrual cycle, which for most women is between the 14th and 16th day, one of your ovaries, releases an egg. The egg travels through the fallopian tube, and if it doesn't get fertilized by a sperm, your next period will arrive on schedule. If the egg does get fertilized, there's reason for celebration, because you're pregnant! While it may be confusing to try estimating when you conceived, and therefore when you're due, there are simple calculations to make, that should give you a reasonably accurate prediction. These calculations will answer the question, "When am I due?", and are listed below.

When Am I Due - How to Calculate Due Date

There are several ways to arrive at your official due date. It's called an official due date because less than 5% of pregnant women actually deliver on the date that they are due - each pregnancy is unique, just as each woman and the child she's carrying is, therefore, it's difficult to predict with absolute certainty the day that you will deliver your baby. However, determining pregnancy due date, can help you prepare yourself, both mentally and emotionally for childbirth. The following are some methods that will work as a pregnancy calculator.

Last Menstrual Period (LMP)

The first method to arrive at a due date is by noting the first day of your last menstrual period. Here you add 280 days to the first day of your last period. 280 days or 40 weeks, is the standard estimation of the gestation period for humans, which takes into account 266 days (from conception to delivery) and adds two weeks, or 14 days, which is the time before the baby was conceived. This method assumes that your cycle lasts for 28 days, and the egg was fertilized on the 14th day.

The inconvenience of adding 280 days lends another, easier method, to arrive at the answer to your query, "When am I due to have my baby?", which is, to take the first day of your last menstrual period, add 7, and then subtract 90 days or 3 months. This is illustrated with an example below:

• Last menstrual period: 1st July
• Add 7 days: 8th July
• Subtract 3 months: 8th April (due date a year ahead)

Both these methods assume that the cycle is 28 days long, so in case your cycle is longer or shorter, you can use the same method and add or subtract the difference. For instance, if your cycle is 30 days and not 28, your official due date would be 2 days later. Remember that these are estimations, and your due date may be earlier or later without necessarily affecting fetal health.

Other Methods

• Other techniques include pregnancy tests which can ascertain whether you're pregnant within the first 10 days of conception using levels of hCG in urine.
• If you can remember the date and timing of intercourse with accuracy, you may also be able to calculate the due date on this basis (add 266 days to the date of intercourse).
• Pregnancy symptoms like breast tenderness or morning sickness are natural warning signs.
• Ultrasounds can track the development of the baby and thereby, help you arrive at the due date by analysis of this data.
• Internal cervical examinations can also help ascertain the due date.

Perhaps the uncertainty of not knowing exactly when your baby is due is nature's way of making you aware of the uncertainty of accuracy in parenting methods - you can never arrive at a perfect method! Answering your question "When am I due" can only help you prepare yourself for the awe inspiring part of having a baby. The only thing that you can know for sure, is that life will never be the same again!