A pregnancy calendar helps you following your growing belly.
According to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, only about 5 percent of babies are born on their designated due date. However, determining your due date and creating a pregnancy calendar are important when you are pregnant. Knowing an estimated delivery date, or EDD, can help your doctor monitor fetal growth and progress. Creating your own personal pregnancy calendar can keep you informed of your and your baby's changes in the nine months preceding his birth.
Instructions
Paper Calendar
1. Purchase a blank, 12-month calendar to use for your personal pregnancy calender. Choose a design that fits your personality or one with a baby theme.
2. Determine your estimated your due date. If you know the first day of your last menstrual period, add seven days and subtract three months. Or mark your date of conception on the calendar, if you know it. Many women find it difficult to pinpoint the exact date of conception, so this method of creating a pregnancy calendar is rarely used. However, if you only had sexual intercourse one day of the month and are pregnant, using this method should be fairly simple. Count 40 weeks from the date of conception to determine your estimated due date.
3. Mark the beginning of each trimester on your calendar. Count backward 12 weeks from your EDD; this will be the beginning of your third trimester. Count an additional 12 weeks back for your second trimester and another 12 weeks for your first.
4. Mark other significant dates throughout your pregnancy on the calender -- doctor's appointments, sonograms, the day you can find out your baby's sex and the date of your baby shower. You can also mark your weight gain and belly circumference or developmental milestones each week or each month.
Online Calendar
5. Find an online parenting site with a pregnancy calendar generator. Parents, BabyCenter and Pregnancy.org offer this feature.
6. Enter your due date in the appropriate boxes. You can use a due date calculator provided by the website or calculate the date yourself. To calculate your own due date, count seven days forward from the first day of your last menstrual period. Subtract three months and you will have your estimated due date.
7. Register with the website (if necessary) to create a personalized pregnancy calendar. You will need to provide your name and email address to register with the websites. However, you will receive weekly updates via email, as well as special offers and other articles relating to your pregnancy.
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