Pregnancy is an exciting time for any woman. It is filled with new experiences and changes – even doubts, questions and fears.
If you are pregnant, the medical practitioner will start dating your pregnancy from the first day of your last normal menstruation. This is the most accurate way to date pregnancies since most people are not certain when they actually conceived. Depending on a woman’s cycle (i.e. cycles longer or shorter than 28 days, or completely irregular, the doctors may adjust their dates a bit.
Pregnancy last for about 40 weeks and doctors estimate your due date forty weeks from the first day of the last period. You may deliver the baby anytime from 4 weeks before the due date to two weeks after.
Have you noticed that the timeline above is in terms of weeks? It is because using months can be confusing and can be less accurate since calendar months do not fall neatly into four-week periods.