Questionhello:
im from louisiana, i just have a few questions! i am first time pregant. married acctually due on my one year anniversay date! HOW NICE ! my cycle does come ever month however i got off the pill and they still came once a month just not same date. i had first u/s on july 6th. it dated me 6 weeks 2 days.. and had another one on july 31st. due to some cramping and it dated me at 10 weeks( i thought it was 9weeks 5 days) thats just two days off from my first one.. one more thing i think i ovulated on june 4-5 i got postive test on june 23 with a hcg level of 923.. and 1500.. the next day...she gave me a due date of 2-27-11 on first u/s the second one came up 2-25-11, she didnt change it i just saw it on screen...do you think that its accurate to that date that i conceived around june 4-6? thanks so much hubby and i are excited! thanks for your time..i know the times we tried and it was the weekn of june 3,4,5 and not again until june 12th. i think that hcg level would be high for just 11 dpo do you?
AnswerHello Tara from the U.S.,
Gestational age dating is based on the first day of the last menstrual period, which is usually the most accurate way to date the pregnancy. The second most accurate is a first trimester ultrasound between 6-8 weeks. The margin of error with ultrasound is 7 days so that is the best you can do. If there is only a 3 day difference in dates, we don't change the dates. That is the reason we technically call the due date the "estimated date of delivery (EDD)" or "estimated date of confinement (EDC)". As you know, people will often NOT deliver on their due date but within days of it.
Congratulations,
Edward J. Ramirez, M.D., FACOG
Executive Medical Director
The Fertility and Gynecology Center
Monterey Bay IVF Program
www.montereybayivf.com
Monterey, California, U.S.A.
for additional information check out my blog at http://womenshealthandfertility.blogspot.com check me out on twitter with me at @montereybayivf
