My midwife just called. She has the results of the ultrasound I had done this morning. Everything looks fine, except…
…except, they estimate my due date to be two weeks earlier than the date given based on the first day of my last period.
This might be because I, well, um, didn’t really tell them the real first day of my last period. After my first three pregnancies where the babies all came late and doctors were threatening inducing me (Katie, in fact, was induced, but there are other reasons for that), I was fed up with arguing, tired of going “against medical advice,” and pretty ticked off at doctors who basically said that they knew better because they were doctors and my own personal experience with my own body and pregnancies wasn’t worth as much as their degrees.
Fritz came 10 days “late” and my due date was moved later after an early ultrasound. Billy came 11 days “late” and this due date was moved later because I had had one negative pregnancy test. Based on the first day of my last period, these guys would have been about 2 1/2 weeks “late”. The doctor refused to push my due date later with Katie because the ultrasound only indicated a later date of 6 days, not 7. She was induced 10 days “late” – more like a week early based on my prior experience, but you can’t argue with those degrees.
Since I’m moving, this midwife is passing the buck to the midwife in Kansas. I’ll see what she wants to do about this “problem.” I’m insisting that my last cycle was normal, and my dates are right. My kids have all been healthy with no signs of being in the womb too long. I know my cycles are longer than “normal” and I know I ovulate later than most. I predicted Jenny’s due date exactly right, and I was 4 days off for Pete. I just don’t want a battle royale in October.
Reit This Way 
You have to go with what YOU know about your body, but you know that.Hugs. I hate the modern “babies must be out by their due date or else” mentality.
This is what really toasts my marshmallows about medical professionals who don’t completely understand NFP.If a woman’s cycles are longer than normal, that happens in the BEGINNING of the cycle!!! So if you normally run 35 days, you probably ovulate around day 21, give or take.They need to learn to give credence to people with the chart in hand and the experience to interpret it.
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Let’s try this again – I had way too many typos in that last one:I have the same “problem”. I have never ovulated (at least in the last 10 years of charting) before day 19 – ever. This is a huge issue for me as they will schedule my c section for a week before the due date. Luckily my doctor has been willing to go along with me because the early ultrasound has always measured exactly with the date that I have given them for ovulation (which is anywhere from 5-9 days off of the last period date). And since my babies have all began to measure big by 20 weeks, that early ultrasound’s reassurance coupled with a doc who trusts my charting is a good thing!
Barb… “toasts my marshmallows”???Love it.Exactly what percentage of women (NOT on the pill) actually have 28 day cycles? That’s what I want to know.Mine are well over 40.And they STILL don’t believe me.
I never thought of lying to them… With Rosie, I was supposed to call if she hadn’t been born by Wednesday. I didn’t call. Had no plans to call. And they didn’t call me, so how much did they really care? As anxious as I was for her to be born, I certainly had no plans to hurry her along. She can stay in her own womb as long as she likes. 🙂 I do have cycles between 28 and 30 days, so my babies actually are late, though.
And my babies are actually “late” too, since the ultrasounds do tend to push the due date out by a week and they still want to hang out in there for another 10 to 14 days. The big issue came with Katie and it only pushed it out by 6 days and he wouldn’t shift it, so I knew she would have been well past the 14 day allowable late window.That’s where just knowing and trusting my body comes in. If the babies are born healthy time and time again, I don’t see any reason to force them out sooner.
I have never ever had a “normal” 28 day cycle. Mine are always well beyond 40, sometimes 50-60, and so my due date with Dylan by LMP was actually an entire month earlier than the one I knew to be accurate by my NFP charting. Luckily, an early US and a followup at 20 weeks set a due date much closer to the one I had given all along. (He was born three days past their ultrasound due date but one day shy of the one I had calculated). I’ve had similar experiences with each of my girls.WE are the experts when it comes to our own bodies! I’ll pray that your new midwife in Kansas will be more understanding.
You’re a much braver woman than I to stick with those yahoos even though they are so backwards when it comes to letting babies and nature take it’s course. I got into a phone confrontation once with the Chief of OB at Hood. She wasn’t convincing me that all babies needed to be induced using the most aggressive doses possible. Give er the max, we do it all the time. 6lb baby and I tore like crazy….never again. My girls were a full pound (Charlotte 2lbs) bigger and everything was fine and intact when they were born peacefully, no arguments, at home…just the word induce sends me into a rage. Best of luck.
wow- I’m finally catching up with you. my prayers are with your body, the baby, and everything you have going on right now. congrats. I’ll pray that God gives you exactly the doc you need. peace!