The Importance of Knowing Your Date of Conception
Gabriela
I learned fertility awareness initially to prevent pregnancy without using hormones. About
six months after my first daughter was born I started weighing the decision to go back on
the pill. I didn’t want to enter into another pregnancy, but for various reasons I did not
want to go on the pill. So, I started to look into other forms of contraception. I read an
article about Fertility Awareness and decided I wanted to learn this method to use as a
contraceptive. I learned the method and began charting. By charting I learned that I was
still not even fertile and I learned how to tell when I did become fertile. Actually, I didn’t
even become fertile for many, many months later and by then we were ready to have
another baby. So, I never actually had to use any form of contraception.
I continued charting even after becoming fertile because I liked having a clear idea
of my cycle and what my body was doing. I saved my charts and further down the line they
helped me determine my infant’s gestational age and pinpoint my date of conception.
When I realized I was pregnant I knew my conception date by looking at the charts and
shared this information with my midwife. At that point, it wasn’t so critical, but as I’ll
explain it was important once I went into labor.
I was in my 35th week and my family and I where on a summer trip in the North.
We had spent all day out on the Kinneret and as I was relaxing on the beach I started
experience an unusually large number and strong contractions. I assumed that they were
the usual “Braxton Hicks” contractions, but started to think “I don’t remember these
Braxton Hicks being so strong before. They certainly didn’t feel as strong as labor
contractions so I didn’t think much about it.
The next day we drove home from the North. In the car ride home my contractions
became stronger and very close together. Soon, it was clear that this was not normal and I
went to the clinic to get checked out. They did an ultrasound, checked the fetus’ heart rate
and movements, and finally I was checked by the doctor. Consensus – yep, you’re dilating
and you’re having this baby today! What?! I wasn’t ready for that. The doctor who
examined me took his measuring tape and by measuring my belly said that I have nothing
to worry about because this baby isn’t early. According to my measurements the baby is
38 weeks old, not 35. He’s not early. Well, I had many different opinions of my date. I
had the ultrasound’s estimation (which varied each time), I had my conception date from
my charts and now I had this very recent estimation at 38 weeks. Actually, both the
ultrasound and my midwife had told me that I had a lot of water in the womb and that
actually the baby was still quite small.
I had planned on giving birth at home. But, since I knew that the baby was quite
early, I believed that he was 35 weeks, I went to the hospital to give birth. I had a
completely natural birth, but he was small 2300 g and at the hospital they declared he was
clinically 35 weeks. He actually had to be in the NICU for a few days. In this case I am
very glad I knew my baby’s gestational age. I had to make an important decision, if he
was 38 weeks I would have had him at home. It’s crucial to know the gestational age in
many other births as well. For example, doctors are becoming increasingly pushy about
not allowing you to carry for too long. They are pushing mothers to deliver using artificial
means such as Caesarian surgery and inducing labor. The decisions to use these
interventions is often based on an incorrect due date. The result is an unnatural birth with
all its accompanying complications and often times an early birth. By being aware of your
fertility you can help determine your baby’s gestational age and have more control over
your birth.