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Pregnancy

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Original poster

Has anyone else added a week onto their last period date in order to buy time at the other end?

31 replies

nuttysquirrel · 08/10/2009 22:53

I know this sounds a bit mad but I am currently in the early stages of pregnancy no2. My DS was three weeks over and still had to be induced. I have 30-32 day cycles and know I conceived on day 16.

I have been to see the GP and decided to add 7 days onto my last period date as most people seem to assume we all have 28 day cycles and conceive on day 14.....sure enough she got the old spinny card thingumy out, didn't ask about my cycle length and told me my EDD....ta da

I guess I was thinking it might reduce the hassle from the medical profession, (they don't move EDD based on scans here) Or am I being a prat and it will come out in the end/be more stressful/ create a whole heap of other problems I haven't thought about??? Any other late layers out there done this??

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gingerkirsty · 08/10/2009 22:57

You are very sneaky and I like your style! Wish I had thought of that...

Am no expert but can't think of any reason why not - baba will emerge when ready hopefully.

When you say 'late layers' do you mean you are slightly older than the average pregnant lady? Does that mean they are more 'strict' about due dates and inclined to induce you if you go over? If I were you I'd want to avoid that but I don't know what the implications are....

Good luck, and CONGRATULATIONS!

liahgen · 08/10/2009 22:58

yep, every time.

StripeyKnickersSpottySocks · 08/10/2009 23:05

Ok so say you go into labour early and you've added a week on. You could (hypothetically) really be 35 weeks but the hospital will think you are 36 weeks. At this stage (or the cut off may be a week earlier, can't rememebr off top of my head) they won't give steroids to mature baby's lungs. What do you do? Confess so baby gets steriods it needs?

Placental function tails off after 42 weeks, but you won't gte induced till you're actually 43 weeks. I'd be twitched about that if I was that overdue. If you'd been honest you could have declined induction at 42 weeks and had a scan to assess doppler function and have daily ctgs to assess fetal wellbeing. But you won't have that option.

Sorry, I think its a silly and potentially dangerous thing to do.

Original poster

nuttysquirrel · 08/10/2009 23:05

Gingerkirsty, 'late layers' I was referring to those of us who seem to go over our due dates, I hadn't thought about the age thingy before but yes I am oldish at 37. I had to fight quite hard to be allowed to go over by 21 days....

liahgen anything 'difficult' result from it?

OP posts:

liahgen · 08/10/2009 23:10

nope.

Didn't do it with my first and went into natural labour at 18 days over my genuine ov, (had fertility issues So i knew)

induced at 42wks due to being "overdue" with 2nd.

3, 4, and 5 I knew better so added dates on. I did suffer from Oc, (liver cond) so had to have monitoring last 6 wks twice wekly so would have been very aware of any probs though.

Was still induced cos of the oc but cos of the slight adjustment, induction was smooth(ish) I guess cos babies were already well done.

Good luck.

Don't take chances though, if baby looks small for dates/large, or any other problems that might be affected by it's term, then be ready to adjust accordingly.

Original poster

nuttysquirrel · 08/10/2009 23:33

stripy I guess, based on past form, that I am unlikely to be as early as 35 weeks.........if that was the scenario then i guess i would confess and not worry about doing so in that situation.

re being overdue and placental function, due to my long cycles and late conception then won't my baby actually be 42 weeks old at my 'adjusted date' 42 weeks? My DS was 21 days over and did not look in any way overdue.

I guess my problem was that the EDD is based on the 'average' woman and the 'average' cycle, and I don't ovulate on day 14 or have 'average' cycles. Is it really that unsafe if your due date is calculated based on your bodies actual timings?

OP posts:

liahgen · 08/10/2009 23:37

if you have a long cycle, it makes sense that you will ov later and therefore your pregnancy will be longer than average.

Obviously noone would take risks with their or their baby's health.

Heated · 08/10/2009 23:42

I think MWs do take into account a longer cycle when they work out EDD The MN calculator on here for instance EDD does. But I think, & correct me if I'm wrong, that they often place more reliance of the scan dates.

Both my dcs were 'late' but I had then a 35d cycle and neither had that overcooked look.

Comma2 · 09/10/2009 01:29

Uh, if you conceived day 16 instead of day 14, as is assumed in average 28 cycle, your doc's spinny-thingy would only be two days off-- its the ovulation not the period that counts....like fetal age doesn't have anything to do with the time between ov and peroid but when you ov. No? And anyway, won't they adjust according to US scan? I wouldn't fiddle with the dates either, you can always tell them what you know. If they choose to ignore, they should have a reason and an explanaion.

duchesse · 09/10/2009 04:47

Sadly they re-date your pregnancy at the first scan so this may no longer be an option for buying time. I would have done it for number 4 but it's pointless now.

duchesse · 09/10/2009 04:50

Although I know two pple who've conceived through ivf (ie know to the minute when they conceived) who've had their dates readjusted at their 12 week scan... My dates for number 4 were adjsuted by a week but I still think mine were right. I would have had to ovulate about 5 days before my period was due to agree with theirs. When she came out she was either 41+3 (their date) or 42+3 (my lmp date). Either way she didn't look overdone. There were problems, but utterly unrelated to gestation length.

mangosTrickyrice · 09/10/2009 05:38

I was in a similar situation, 33 day cycle ovulation around day 16/ 17 (although I never charted so not 100% sure). EDD calculators on the internet can take that into account, but the dr got out his spinny thing and gave me a date about a week earlier. I just told him about my cycle length and that it should be later - he didn't disagree. And then the first us agreed with my dates anyway, and that's what's in my notes.

I think my point is, there's no need to be dishonest about it, just tell them why their dates will be wrong - and if they're idiots necessary insist ask for a note about the length of your cycle to be added to your notes so you can use it to argue at the other end of pg.

mangosTrickyrice · 09/10/2009 05:42

Comma2, that's the other thing, it should be only 2 or 3 days off, shouldn't it? But it was actually 5 days earlier for me. Why is that?

flimflammum · 09/10/2009 06:40

I did this with my second pregnancy (after going past 42 weeks with DS and being induced) and it backfired a bit, as I added 5 days to my LMP date, and at the scan they re-dated it - to even earlier than it would have been if I had been honest.

LibrasBiscuitsOfFortune · 09/10/2009 06:51

No do not lie, that way trouble lies. You don't HAVE to be induced - what do you think they are going to do? drag you in and tie you down?

What you need to do is read all you can about being over-due etc and not wanting inducation and BE INFORMED so IF the time comes you can talk calmly and rationally to your medical carers about why you don't want to be induced.

sparkle12mar08 · 09/10/2009 07:06

Ha! I had 42 day cycles when I got pregnant with ds1, and my doc was really good about it, as I told him I knew when I ovulated because of charting. Midwife was a bit funny though, surprisingly, and my first scan date put him back a week anyway. I would tell the truth and insist it be written on your notes, or annotate your notes yourself when you get them. I always used to note down if I was unhappy with their assumptions on various things. I annotate the ds's red books too, all the time!

Comma2 · 09/10/2009 13:54

Mango, they don't really believe any of us know when exactly we ovulate (and lots of us don't) so they give a hopple about what we say, the only thing agreed on among medical community is that we should be able to recognize the period and that the statistically average cycle is 28 days, so that'll be their best guess. Then they take the scan to get a better guess, and possibly another scan around 37 weeks to see how the baby is grown.

FABIsInTraining · 09/10/2009 14:02

Iyt is only a week but I can't help feeling it will cause unnecessary concern when the baby doesn't grow at the expected rate.

Just tell the truth. No one can make you be induced.

sheeplikessleep · 09/10/2009 14:07

I have a 36 day cycle and know I ovulated on day 22 (used OPK). I told the MW at the 8 week check that and she decided to ignore it. However, when I went for my 12 week scan, again I said I thought the 'EDD' given was a week earlier than my dates. The Sonographer adjusted the dates, so now it is exactly what I agree with.

BUT, if I hadn't been sure about my ovulation dates, I wouldn't have pushed on this. I didn't lie about my period dates, but I'm always 35/36 days and with the OPK positive at 22 days, that's why I insisted they listen to me.

Luckily (?) the sonographer agreed.

Ivykaty44 · 09/10/2009 14:10

why not just say - i have a 32 day cycle and this is the date of my last period and this is when I conceived as that was the only night I had sex

...although actually I know someone who conceived on a one night stand a one and only night of passion and the hosptial said she had her dates wrong and the baby was older than that by 3 weeks - hardly if the night you went out was the only night of passion that month.

Honesty is the best policy

mosschops30 · 09/10/2009 14:11

Its fine knowing when you ovulate, but actually knowing when you concieve is impossible!
Me and dh only had sex once in the month I conceived, however as his sperm can live up to 5 days, I have no way of knowing whether I concieved on day 1 or day 5, do you?

Plus you will be re-dated at your first scan and if youre out by 7 days or more then you will be given a different date.

Some babies are just never gonna come out (my ds) no matter how long theyre left.

Comma2 · 09/10/2009 14:41

The egg can only be fertilized for 24 h after ov, so ov is actually a good guess. But it's not like we can look inside there, and none of it works like clockwork. I think the entire thing is a liability issue for the doctor. If they go with established means and numbers, they cannot be accused of doing the wrong thing if anything goes awry. Anyway, the scan will tell.

MadameOvary · 09/10/2009 14:45

Hello, sorry to hijack but what does an "overcooked" DC look like? I'm intrigued! Esp as DD was 13 days overdue.

Chaotica · 09/10/2009 14:57

I don't want to put a downer on this but I thought about doing this in second pg and didn't (and I'm glad I didn't).

First pg went 10 days over (and could have gone more) with minimal problems, second pg would have been a disaster to let it run any longer and it was only accident that I was being monitored. Had I lied about dates and not had a very enthusiastic consultant, I would not have DS.

Just say no to induction if the pg is going well and you don't want it.

duchesse · 09/10/2009 16:02

Madame- my third was a little overdone- she had started to use up her body fat again, so was skinny with loads of spare skin, very dry hands and feet (in fact she ended up peeling all over) due to vernix wearing off days before birth, and in her case no amniotic fluid for the last week.

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