Conception Date

If you have been trying to get pregnant, you may want to know your exact conception date.

Conception Date

Unfortunately, at this time medical technology has no way of telling us your exact conception date; it is almost always unknown. However, you cannot conceive until you ovulate, so if you have been charting your ovulation date, you may be able to guesstimate your conception date. Conception must occur within 24 hours after ovulation or when you release an egg for fertilization.

If you have undergone artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization, you do have your exact conception date.

Conception and Intercourse

Logically, it seems like your conception date and intercourse date would be the same. That may be the case, but since sperm can live inside a woman’s body for up to three days, conception can happen three days after intercourse, depending on when you ovulate.

What if I Don’t Know my Ovulation Date?

Most women do not know their exact ovulation dates, though some claim to get a small crampy pain in their sides at the time of ovulation. If you have been tracking your monthly cycle, you can determine your fertile time, the window of when you will ovulate. However, this window can be 9 days long.

Another way to look at it is, if you have a regular 28 day cycle, conception usually occurs about two weeks after the first day of your last period. For example, if your period started on Oct. 11th, conception would occur around Oct. 25th. Of course, this is just an estimate and assumes you have a 28 day cycle.

In addition, an ultrasound may be able to tell you the date of conception within one week based on gestational age.

What if I Don’t Have a 28 Day Cycle?

Many women do not have an exact 28 day cycle, so they do not ovulate 14 days after the first day of their last period. If you have been charting your cycle and know how many days between periods, you should be able to determine ovulation. If your cycle is longer than 28 days, take the number 14 and add an additional day for each day your cycle is longer than 28 days.

• If you have a 30 day cycle, you ovulated about 16 days after the first day of your last period.
• If you have a 35 day cycle, you ovulated about 20 days after the first day of your last period.

If your cycle is less than 28 days, take the number 14 and subtract a day for each day your cycle is shorter than 28 days.

• If you have a 24 day cycle, you ovulated about 10 days after first day of your last period.
• If you have a 26 day cycle, you ovulated about 12 days after the first day of your last period.

Signs of Conception

Unfortunately, there are no signs of conception on your conception date. You may suspect you are pregnant, especially if you have been following your ovulation cycle and trying to get pregnant.

About two weeks after you conceive, if you have a regular cycle, you may notice early pregnancy signs. These include missed period, breast tenderness, increased urination, nausua, sensitivity to foods or smells, exhaustion, and mood swings. However, many women experience few early pregnancy symptoms. If you are uncertain whether or not you are pregnant, you can take a home pregnancy test.

Gestational Age

If you know or suspect your conception date, you may notice that it doesn’t match up with how many weeks along you are. That is because gestational age is measured not by conception date, but by the date of your last period. So if you have a regular cycle and are 6 weeks along, your baby is only 4 weeks old.

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