Pregnancy Calendar

Pregnancy can be an exciting time for new parents. But it can sometimes feel like a lifetime to have to wait the full nine months or 40 plus weeks gestation before you get to hold your baby in your arms. Advancements in medical research has made it easier for the modern parent to see the development of their baby through the use of a week by week pregnancy calendar.

These types of calendars are sometimes also called a due date calendar because they count down the weeks until your baby's arrival. Often each week provides a detailed description of how your baby is growing and changing as well as changes in your body and how you might be feeling. Some pregnancy due date calendars also provide medical information you can use to keep you and your baby as healthy as possible.

The Timeline of a Pregnancy

A full term pregnancy is typically 40 weeks. But it's possible for you to have your baby anytime between 37 weeks and 42 weeks without any complications. A baby is considered full term at 37 weeks. A due date calculator will determine your expected delivery date 40 weeks from your last period. But a pregnancy calendar due date calculator is not a prediction of the date your baby will arrive. It should only be used as a general guideline of when to expect the new arrival to your family.

Every pregnancy is divided into three parts called trimesters. Trimester one is from week one to the end of week 12. The second trimester ends week 26 and the third trimester is the period of 27 weeks to the end of the pregnancy. Some women like to use a pregnancy calculator to figure out exactly which week and how many days they're into their pregnancy and in which part of each trimester they're currently in.

Getting Pregnant

If you're actively trying to get pregnant, an ovulation calendar can help increase your chances of successfully conceiving. There are free versions of this type of calendar available online and most of them are reliable and accurate if all the information is filled in correctly.

The ovulation calendar will let you know when you're most likely to ovulate. Ovulation is the process when your ovaries release a mature egg that travels down into one of your fallopian tubes where it waits for fertilization. The window of opportunity for fertilization is actually quite small and the egg is only viable for approximately 24 hours. If you're trying to get pregnant, it's important to time intercourse so that there is sperm in the fallopian tubes when the egg is released. Sperm can live up to 72 hours so it's not necessary to have sex at precisely the time your body releases an egg.

Don't Know When You Got Pregnant?

Many women get pregnant without trying and aren't sure about the date of conception. That's where a conception calendar can be helpful. These types of pregnancy calendars are also available online and most are accurate as long as the correct information is filled in correctly. Some allow you to type in the requested information and the website's program does the calculations and provides you with the final number. Other conception calendars just provide you with the formula to estimate the date you likely conceived your baby.

If you know your due date based on ultrasound pictures or your last menstruation, you can subtract 266 days (38 weeks) from this date to determine date of conception. Another way is to add 14 days to the date of your last period, but this only works if you have a 28 day cycle. This is the time you would have ovulated and conception always occurs within 24 hours of ovulation. You can conceive even if you didn't have sexual intercourse that day because sperm can live in your body for up to 72 hours.