I’m not totally sure how to ask this. So most people find out they’re pregnant between 6-8 weeks. And it’s relatively common knowledge that one does not get their period while pregnant. So my question is, how do people not find out they’re pregnant until around 6 weeks if the average menstrual cycle is 4 weeks? Ovulation occurs on, I believe, day 14 in the cycle, so shouldn’t more pregnancies be discovered at 2-3 weeks when the initial next period would occur?
ETA: thank you for the responses! My confusion began with the the whole “you’re 6 weeks pregnant” when it’s more than likely 3-4 weeks of legitimate gestation due to how doctors begin the “clock” at the end of the last menstrual cycle.
In: 16
First precise sign of pregnacy is the hormone which is produced by the very fetus itself. For it to expand and reproduce in the mother’s body enought for a test to be positive, it will need a couple of weeks.
The *average* menstrual cycle is 4 weeks. But:
* Many, if not most, women have some irregularity in their cycles.
* Menstruation can be light and difficult to notice for some women or for some specific rounds of it.
* Some women do not closely track their cycle.
* Cycles can be significantly longer or shorter than the usual 4 weeks.
All of these combine to make a missed period not necessarily immediately obvious.
And finally:
> so shouldn’t more pregnancies be discovered at 2-3 weeks when the initial next period would occur?
The ages given in pregnancies (“gestational age”) are from the *last* menstrual period, not from the first missed one. So 2 weeks after conception is, on average, ~6 weeks after the last menstrual period. Counting from conception, the child is about two weeks younger than this number.
Periods vary. You don’t always get your period on the clock. They can be early, late, or even skip a cycle sometimes altogether.
If you’re not actively keeping track, it’s very easy to not notice.
> so shouldn’t more pregnancies be discovered at 2-3 weeks
If you’re seeing a doctor every day and they’re specifically checking for whether you’re pregnant, you can know earlier than that. But if you’re only telling by your cycle, then you might not know until you’re 2 months in. And unless you’re actively trying to conceive, you’re not going to be watching out for it.
It’s a very individual process. Everyone’s bodies are different. So they react in different ways to being pregnant. As far as testing is concerned, that relies on the amount of hormones being released to differentiate standard levels. Estrogen, for example, levels will *rise* during pregnancy.
My menstrual cycle just shows up when I’m stressed sometimes and otherwise is incredibly irregular.
Lots of women have issues with their period because it’s not well treated in medicine. Most of the time the solution is “oh well, painkillers.”
With this attitude combined with what others have told you already, it’s not surprising that issues go unnoticed, including the early signs of pregnancy.
Pregnancies are counted from the date of your last menstrual period. That means that on the day you ovulate, it’s usually 2 weeks after your last period.
Sensitive pregnancy tests won’t detect you’re pregnant until about 10-14 days past ovulation, which is another two weeks. So you really have no way to know you’re even pregnant until you’re about 4 weeks in. And that’s for people with regular, 28 day cycles.
-In many countries, reproductive health education is garbage, so not all women do know the signs sadly.
-Pregnancy weeks are counted starting from the first day of the woman’s last period, not from fertilization. This means the earliest possible week you could notice a period not being on time is week 5, not week 2.
-4 weeks is only an average menstrual cycle. Cycles vary from person to person, and can become irregular due to drugs and medications, general health conditions, weight gain, reproductive health conditions, stress, etc. Even typically regular women can have multiple-week-late periods once in a while without being any cause for worry. This can cause a delay in some people recognizing anything being “off” from normal, in severe cases it may take multiple months before a realization.
-Likewise, there may be a delay in recognizing a pregnancy due to various types of birth control either masking symptoms or causing pregnancy to be dismissed as impossible.
-During early pregnancy, “spotting” (light period-like bleeding) is common as the uterus starts to organize itself. Some women who don’t know about this phenomenon or are irregular may mistake it for an unusually light period and carry on.
-Pregnancy tests generally become less accurate the earlier in pregnancy. Both false negatives (if there isn’t enough hormone built up yet) and false positives (a fertilization happened to screw with your cycle but the embryo is not viable) are common early on. As well as user error. This means the early days of a suspected pregnancy are often full of uncertainty and it may take time to confirm, especially if the mother has a history of issues conceiving.
Say you get your period on the first of the month, then you’d be (in a perfect world) ovulating on or around the 14th. If you happen to get pregnant on the 14th, well lucky you! You’re already 2 weeks into your pregnancy. By the time you miss your period (most women have some degree of variation) you’re already 4 to 5 weeks pregnant. This doesn’t even take into consideration the fact that lots of women don’t track their periods, and/or have irregular periods. Hope this helps!
Women often experience what is known as implantation bleeding 10-14 days after conception. The implantation bleeding can be mistaken for a period, particularly with women who tend to have light menstrual flows.
Others have explained about conception is two weeks after last period so actually considered 2 weeks in the pregnancy. And about the average cycle being 28 days.
There is another factor to any delay too. Even if a woman has a rough cycle of 28 days (for many 28 days is a rough thing for them. It can vary by a day or two) there are so many things that can throw off that 28 days and can make a period early or late. Even a basic viral cold can do it. A bit more stress that normal aswell. So being even a week or two late might not ring alarm bells if it’s happened before.
On top of that if the woman is on some form of contraception that they view as reliable, they may not think they could be pregnant.
Latest Answers