I'm pregnant. How far along am I?
You just found out you are pregnant. Whoa! You are probably feeling a variety of emotions ranging from excited to scared. Whatever your reaction to the news of pregnancy, it will be important to answer a few questions. One of those questions is “How far along am I?” also known as the gestational age of the pregnancy. Getting the answer to this question will help answer other questions such as “When is my due date?” It will also help you make important decisions about your pregnancy. There is more than one way to find out how far along you are, and some methods are better than others. Because this is integral information, you want it to be accurate. In this article, we will describe why this question is important and how you can get the best and most accurate answer.
First, we will tackle: why do I need to know how far along I am? The short answer is that it helps you know what to do today and how to prepare for tomorrow. Pregnancy and having a baby will make a big impact on your life, and you don’t want to be unprepared! Let’s talk about a few areas to consider.
The first is your health and the health of the baby. What you need to do to stay healthy will vary depending on the stage of pregnancy. Even early in pregnancy problems can arise. This is why getting the expert advice of a healthcare provider is essential (3).
If you plan to parent and raise your child, you will need to have an idea of when he or she will get here so that you can prepare your home, make adjustments to your schedule (like letting your employer know), and gain strength from your support system (which may include your spouse, family and friends).
Perhaps you don’t want to be pregnant and are considering abortion. Knowing how far along you are will give you valuable information as you think about this option. The procedures, risks to your health, and cost are all affected by the stage of pregnancy (4).
Maybe you are thinking about the option of choosing a family for your baby through adoption. If this is the case, knowing how far along you are and when you are due will help you as you research this avenue.
Now that we have some examples of why it is good to answer the question, “How far along am I?” let’s talk about how you can get that information.
The quickest method (and one you can do at home) uses the first day of your most recent period. Pregnancy lasts 40 weeks which is just over nine months. Based on this knowledge, we can apply something called Naegele’s rule. You add a year to the first day of your last menstrual period, subtract three months, and then add seven days (1). The margin of error for this method is two weeks.
If you are not good at math, there are apps and websites that can calculate your due date and gestational age for you. Some examples are Perinatology.com (website), Pregnancy and Due Date Tracker (app for iOS), and Pregnancy Tracker + Countdown to Baby Due Date (app for Android). The downside to this method is that if your periods are irregular or you can’t remember your last period, then it may not be accurate in determining how far along you are (2).
This brings us to our second and most reliable method for dating a pregnancy: Ultrasound (2). An early ultrasound in the first trimester can determine your due date and gestational age with a margin of error between five to seven days. Trained personnel will be able to see the baby and measure from head to butt (also known as the crown-rump length) and the machine will calculate a due date. Starting at 14 weeks of pregnancy, different measurements must be taken called biometry. Measurements of the head and thigh bone (femur) are examples. The further along in pregnancy you are, the less accurate these measurements become, which is why it is important to seek care as soon as you think you might be pregnant (2).
An additional benefit to ultrasound is that it can confirm a pregnancy. A urine pregnancy test and blood work are simply indicators that you may be pregnant. For example, a woman experiencing a miscarriage may still have a positive pregnancy test. The same is true with an ectopic pregnancy which is when implantation of the baby does not occur in the uterus, but occurs elsewhere, such as in the fallopian tubes, abdomen, or the cervix. This highlights the value of an early ultrasound, even beyond discovering the gestational age (5).
If you find yourself needing to answer the question “How far along am I?” give us a call or text us. You can confirm your pregnancy at Life Forward by receiving a pregnancy test and a limited ultrasound. Then we will encourage you to connect with a health care provider, and if requested, we will provide referrals.
Additional Resources
Pregnancy can be both exciting and scary at the same time. Fortunately, there are lots of people and resources to help you on your journey. Life Forward is one of those resources and we would love to help you in any way that we can.
For more information on the topics discussed in this article, check out the references below:
References
1 Chilcote, D. (2019, January). Antepartum nursing [PowerPoint].
2 ACOG. (2017, May). Methods for Estimating the Due Date. Retrieved February 12, 2020, from https://www.acog.org/Clinical-Guidance-and-Publications/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Obstetric-Practice/Methods-for-Estimating-the-Due-Date
3 What is prenatal care and why is it important? (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2020, from https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/pregnancy/conditioninfo/prenatal-care
4 Watson, S. (2018). What are the different types of abortion. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/types-of-abortion
5 ACOG. (2015, May). Early Pregnancy Loss. Retrieved March 27, 2020, from https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/practice-bulletin/articles/2018/11/early-pregnancy-loss