QuestionQUESTION: hello i had a scheduled repeated c-section on July 23 2009. I'm just wondering if my baby was taken out to early if i had sex on November 17 2008 last year. i had a ultrasound done at 9 weeks 5 days measuring everything from ovaries, crl, mean sac and uterus. I also had sex last week of October so is the doctor going by that date or the November 17 encounter? the reason i ask is because i had what i thought was a period November 2nd that why i'm thinking i conceived November not October. seems to me my baby was take out to early if i did conceive in November. my due date was aug 5. sorry if i confused you
ANSWER: Hi Ashley,
It looks like they dated your pregnancy from the ultrasound, not from any of the dates you gave them.
If the only dates you had sex were late October and November 17, it's looking like you actually conceived November 17th, which should have given you a due date of August 10, which is 5 days off from their due date based on ultrasound, and ultrasounds at that date can be off by 5 days.
If you had your baby on July 23, it looks like s/he was born at 37 1/2 weeks. Babies are considered full-term from 37 weeks on, and most of them will generally do ok adjusting if they are born then. Doctors generally like to schedule repeat cesareans at 38 weeks, because they are afraid if they wait any longer that you'll go into labor on your own, and they would rather do a scheduled cesarean at 10:00 AM on Monday than have to do one at 2:00 AM on a Saturday because that's when you went into labor.
Babies born at 37 1/2 weeks aren't considered premature, although some babies will have a harder time adjusting at 37 weeks than they would have if they were born at 39-40 weeks, Babies born at 37 weeks tend to have more issues with jaundice, breastfeeding, excessive sleepiness, etc. although most of them do just fine.
Hopefully by now at three months old your baby has gotten past any issues that may have occurred by being born at 37 weeks. Congratulations!
Dorothy Haines, LCCE
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: So my november period was a real period even going by the ultrasound? from the measurements it seems like that period wasn't a real one. my ultrasound paper says this:
Based on ultrasound examination, is nine weeks five days.
based on lmp, is nine weeks, three days.
based on first ultrasound examination, is nine weeks, two days.
with all the measurments. So my embryo isn't actaully 9 weeks 5 days?
AnswerIt looks like they considered your November period a real period - the ultrasound due date was only a few days off from your due date based on your period.
If they were going by your October intercourse dates/period, they would have had your due date in July, not August.
Dating a pregnancy can be confusing because they date a pregnancy from your last period, not from your actual conception date - so a pregnancy that is 9 weeks 5 days means that you got pregnant approximately 7 weeks 5 days before that date. It can be confusing.
So go to the date that you actually had that 9 week 5 day ultrasound (probably sometime in early January) and count back 7 weeks and 5 days. That is the day that the ultrasound is saying you conceived. Of course, if you didn't have sex within the 5 days before to one day after that date, you didn't actually conceive then. (Sperm can live in the reproductive track 3-5 days and the egg can live for 1 day after you ovulate)
I hope that helps!
