I just got a positive pregnancy test and I'm so excited! I'm trying to figure out how far along I am. When exactly does the first month of pregnancy officially start?
I can only share how my doctor calculated it for me. They asked for the exact date my last period started and put that down as day one. So even though my husband and I knew the exact weekend we conceived, my official pregnancy timeline started two weeks before that.
I did a lot of research on this because I was so confused too! My doctor explained that medical science counts the first month starting from the first day of your last period. This is because it's hard to know the exact day sperm met the egg, but the start of your last cycle is a fixed date they can easily track. So the first two weeks of your first month actually happen before you even conceive.
When I got my positive test, my mother-in-law was already preparing special pinni for me saying my first month is over. I was so confused because I thought I just got pregnant a week back! But she and my mom both explained that in doctor's language, they calculate from your last period date, so yes, by the time you test positive, your first month is almost done.
It sounds a bit weird, but your pregnancy actually starts counting from the very first day of your Last Menstrual Period (LMP). Even though you aren't technically pregnant during your period or the week after, doctors use this date as Week 1 to keep a standard calculation. So by the time you miss your period and get a positive test, you are already considered 4 weeks or 1 month pregnant!
Actually, it's so funny because your first month basically begins before you are even pregnant! Doctors count from your last period's first day, yaar. So by the time you are waiting for your next period and wondering if you are pregnant, you're actually already in your third or fourth week!
