The pregnancy test turned out to be positive, and a whirlwind of thoughts and questions immediately flashed through the woman's head. One of them is the gestational age. After all, it is very important for the expectant mother to understand how the future baby develops and when he should be born.
It is necessary
- - the date of the start of the last menstrual cycle;
- - the calendar;
- - ultrasound.
Instructions
Step 1
Think back to the past weeks and just think about when exactly conception could have occurred. Sometimes a simple chronological order is enough to clarify the gestational age.
Step 2
Use the obstetrician method. They have their own strict deadline calculation system. It is for her that your interesting position in the antenatal clinic will be calculated, and these data will be entered into the exchange card. The obstetric gestational age is considered from the first day of the last menstrual period. At this moment, the maturation of the eggs takes place, which will then be fertilized by sperm. Which, in fact, has already happened to yours.
Step 3
Calculate the baby's due date using a simple scheme: from the date of the start of the last menstrual period, count forward 280 days or 40 weeks. This will be the estimated due date. And the duration of pregnancy by weeks will be set in the hospital according to the same scheme. The discrepancy with the real state of affairs will be approximately 1-3 weeks.
Step 4
Determine the gestational age by ovulation - the period when the egg is ready for fertilization. This day usually falls in the middle of the menstrual cycle. 28 days / 2 = 14th day from the start of your period. This will be the approximate date for the start of pregnancy.
Step 5
Seek help from your gynecologist. At an early stage (up to 8 weeks), he will be able, after examining you on a chair, to establish a fairly accurate gestational age by the size of the uterus, sometimes with an accuracy of up to 1 day. At the 4th week, the size of the uterus corresponds to the size of a chicken egg, and at the 8th week - a goose egg. Ask your gynecologist to determine the number of weeks of pregnancy by measuring the length of the uterus. The doctor measures it with a special tape, and the length in centimeters will correspond to the period in weeks.
Step 6
To determine the duration of pregnancy, make an appointment for an ultrasound scan. The first scheduled ultrasound scan is prescribed up to 11 weeks, when a more accurate conclusion can be made. At later stages, this is more difficult to do, because all babies develop in different ways, they can have larger or smaller dimensions.
