Dating the Pregnancy

Sometimes, at some point, there is a little bit of a discussion around dating the pregnancy. Maybe there were a couple of ultrasounds at the beginning which gave different estimated due dates, and your care provider is trying to decide between the two. I’ve got two pieces of advice:

1. Try to figure out the date you conceived on to try and decide which one is more accurate. Some couples know, and some couples don’t, but there’s always power in knowledge. Remember, ovulation typically occurs somewhere around 12 days after the beginning of your period so the conception date is *different* than the first day of your last period. If you need help figuring that out, there’s a link below and you can always ask me and I’m happy to help!
2. Always choose the later date. Always. Even if you’ve calculated the conception date and one is more accurate than the other, if you’re given the option.. Choose the later one! Why? It will help you avoid induction. Most first-time birthers will “go past” their due date and typically face some sort of induction conversation. If you’re able to give yourself an extra 2, 3, 4, even 5 days of “pregnancy” before 41 weeks, then you’re much more likely to go into spontaneous labour and have a birth with many less interventions. For example, if one due date is May 1 and the other is May 5, then with one care providers might encourage an induction on May 8th, which is 41 weeks, and the other would be offered an induction on May 13th. So much can happen in 5 days! So if avoiding as much medical intervention as possible is important to you, choose the later guess date!