I have an ultrasound booked for next Thursday, the 26th.
My Hilly Quirky clinic nurse: “We would book you for an ultrasound at 6 1/2-7 weeks, which would be May 21-25th”
My New City clinic nurse: “We do ultrasounds at 6 weeks, so for you that is the 26th!”
I double checked the New City clinic math with the nurse – they count back 14 days from the day of transfer to determine cycle day 1. This ignores the 5 days of embryo development that occurred, skewing the count low. Even with that skew, I think this is behind, as my transfer was on a Monday. By my reckoning, the 26th is 7 weeks 1 day.
As Turia said, ultrasound dating is most accurate, and it will all get sorted out, but as she also said, what kind of fertility clinic does not know how to date their cycles? I am glad I am just using them for drug prescriptions and scans.
In the past week I have also made motions to be transferred to one of the OB/GYNs associated with the clinic when the time comes and have been accepted by a midwife program. So I’m getting things moving regardless of my reservations. I also canceled my seminar at the Exotic Far East workshop, which was perhaps presumptive, but I needed to give them good notice to replace me on the program.
Mostly I am still just thirsty, and easily tired. Yesterday I spent four hours vacuuming spiders out of the basement of our new house, and then spent half an hour with my uterus crampity cramping. I may need to tone it down a touch in the next few days, especially with unpacking on the menu for the weekend.
labmonkey2 
It’s not presumptive. Your numbers are great and all the signs are there. You’re good – this is going to be great!
Thanks Jessica! I will feel better post-ultrasound, I think.
It is really hard to make plans in the early stages, when you have to just have faith that you need to be making those plans. But if you don’t, you can miss out (midwives especially). I remember it always felt like a huge leap of faith to call the midwives and my endocrinologist.
We will hold hope in our hearts for you when it feels hard to look forward. I am already sitting here in my house going, “And then we can give that to labmonkey, and that! And that!”
I did think “Ooh, I will not need much maternity wear, hooray for Turia!”
When I was pregnant with Miso I had a scan very early on, just over 4 weeks (so early they had to use an internal wand to see anything). I’d had two periods less than 2 weeks apart, so the dating was all a bit wonky (was that a second period? Or implantation bleeding?) The radiologist who did the assessment wrote on the report that it probably wasn’t a viable pregnancy, given the small size for 6 weeks. Because it was only 4 weeks. Unfortunately, my GP apparently doesn’t read reports from specialists she refers her patients to, so she didn’t follow up with an hCGH blood test (as recommended by the radiologist, and which she should have done in the first place… she had me get the rest of the pregnancy-related blood tests, but said she thought peeing on a stick was adequate). I was so relieved there was still a baby in there at my 13 week ultrasound I almost cried (actually, pretty sure I did). So, you know, it’s a little disconcerting that your clinic can’t figure out cycle dates, but as long as they don’t draw alarming and/or dangerous conclusions, you’re probably ok. Oh, and now when I go to the doctor I make a point of seeing one of the other two doctors at our clinic.
That is ridiculous, and so stress inducing! Good lord. Glad there are other doctors you can go see, she sounds useless.
They… what? I mean, your embryo/fetus to be was made with science. So you really do know exactly when X, Y and Z happened. I hope they straighten it out eventually! (Shades of the time a dental surgeon told me inflammation directly causes infection. Um, no.)
I do think it strange that this is literally their job, and they are not getting it right, and it is not like there is grey area here. It is good in that it will make me more likely to question anything else I think is a bit off from them though. Dating can be sorted out relatively easily, but what other confusions can I look forward to?
I found out in my SURPRISE! third pregnancy that it is less accurate than I had thought: “Up to and including 13 6/7 weeks of gestation, gestational age assessment based on measurement of the crown–rump length (CRL) has an accuracy of ± 5–7 days” (http://www.acog.org/Resources-And-Publications/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Obstetric-Practice/Method-for-Estimating-Due-Date) – relevant to me because here, even my hippie midwives induce at 8 days overdue. It all turned out okay but… you know when the sperm met the egg at much higher accuracy than the ultrasound!
Oh how strange, I definitely thought it was more accurate than that. At least in my case I know with clinical precision when the sperm was ushered into the egg, and can solicit my Hilly Quirky doctor for backup if it ever becomes an issue!