In Vitro Fertilization is one of the most effective ways to fertilize a female egg with a male sperm.
However, after the pregnancy test is confirmed and positive, people find it difficult to understand when the baby is due.
But there is nothing to worry about. You can easily calculate the due date for when your baby will be born by considering a few basic, relevant pieces of information about the cycle.
The likely date on which a baby is generally born is called the Estimated Due Date or EDD.
Calculating the due date after IVF is successful tends to be a little different from natural conception.
Let’s understand how to calculate the due date for a pregnancy after IVF. A proper IVF calculator will help you to track the pregnancy timeline after the embryo transfer is successful.
How Is IVF Pregnancy Calculator Different?
During a natural pregnancy, doctors generally determine the stage of pregnancy by counting the number of weeks from the first day of the last menstrual period (LMP).
Actual fertilization, on the other hand, happens two weeks later. Hence, it happens on the date of ovulation.
Thus, it is very different from how weeks are counted in other types of pregnancies that happen with the help of IVF.
IVF follows certain procedural nuances. The medics and the paramedics induce the ovulation. Hence, they control timing through medication.
Fertilization and embryo transfer are properly planned, and they also have due dates. Hence, computing becomes easier with these known dates, as you know how many weeks pregnant you are.
The doctor knows all these dates. Thus, they generally use a 14-day pre-ovulation phase to properly replicate a common natural cycle.
They evaluate the pregnancy and also count the number of pregnancies, depending on the day of embryo transfer.
The Key Dates Used In The IVF Pregnancy Calculator To Calculate Pregnancy Weeks
All expecting parents should properly understand the two most important dates in the context of the IVF procedure.
They should also understand the relation between these dates and the 14-days pre-ovulation period. Hence, this will work as the first step towards an accurate pregnancy follow-up.
1. Retrieval Of The Egg
The date for egg retrieval is quite similar to the day of ovulation. On this date, the doctors collect the matured eggs for ovulation.
The doctors consider this date as the 14th day of a standard 28-day cycle. The pregnancy generally begins two weeks before the egg retrieval day in a natural conception model.
This date is equivalent to the LMP in case of IVF.
2. Embryo Transfer Date
The embryo transfer date depends on whether it is a Day 3 or Day 5 transfer.
Day 3 Embryo Transfer
You can get your LMP-equivalent date by adding 17 days to the transfer date. This is 14 days before the egg retrieval date, plus 3 more days for embryonic development.
Day 5 Embryo Transfer
Adding 19 days to the embryo transfer date will provide you with the LMP-equivalent date.
Hence, the IVF pregnancies align with the gestational dates. Thus, the medical professionals and ultrasound use these dates.
How Does The IVF Pregnancy Week Calculation Take Place?
When you had a Day 5 embryo transfer on March 1st, you should add 19 days to get your “fictitious LMP.” Hence, that makes it 20th February.
Then you will have to count your pregnancy weeks from 11th February. Thus, this is 19 days before the embryo transfer.
Thus, even though the embryo transfer is on March 1st, you have to start the pregnancy two weeks earlier. This will happen exactly as with natural conception.
People often find this system to be really confusing. However, this system aligns your pregnancy with a medical model. This helps you accurately track the baby’s growth milestones.
How Does The IVF Pregnancy Calculator Work?
The IVF Pregnancy Calculator estimates the IVF due date using two main methods:
1. From Embryo Transfer
Pregnancy generally lasts 38 weeks from the day the embryo is transferred. This happens as the embryo remains fertilized.
The IVF Pregnancy Calculator eliminates the two-week pre-ovulation timeframe.
2. What Is The LMP Equivalent Date?
The IVF Pregnancy Calculator alternatively counts back 40 weeks from the LMP-equivalent. Hence, they count 17 or 19 days back from the date of transfer.
Hence, this is how the IVF Pregnancy Calculator calculates the due dates while estimating a natural pregnancy.
Most professional clinics keep an IVF Pregnancy Calculator for quick reference. The due date changes slightly when you get an early ultrasound.
However, the due date remains the same in case of an IVF pregnancy.
How Is IVF Pregnancy Timeline Different From The Natural Pregnancy?
IVF allows you to learn about the exact date. Hence, the expecting party does not have to indulge in any kind of guesswork.
On the other hand, in a conventional conception of pregnancy, you will have to estimate ovulation as well as the fertilization dates on the basis of 40-weeks pregnancy at maximum.
IVF determines the due date when the embryo gets transferred back into the uterus. The ultrasound scans generally match the ultrasound due date.
Doctors generally do not change IVF due dates unless they find major discrepancies. The doctors manage the timing precisely in the case of IVF.
Hence, as long as the embryos have not shown a large growth difference since the embryo transfer, the pregnancy week timeline remains the same throughout.
Hence, such precision allows doctors to monitor conditions more effectively throughout the entire pregnancy.
Things To Remember About The IVF Pregnancy Calculator
Laymen often find it difficult to calculate pregnancy weeks after IVF. However, the process is comparatively very simple.
IVF helps to find clear pregnancy weeks through embryo transfer and retrieval. You should know about all the LMP equivalent dates.
Then you can either use manual calculations or rely on the IVF Pregnancy Calculator to get a more accurate result.
This should help you make appointments at the right time and keep your entire IVF procedure smooth.
Every patient is very different from another. Thus, they often need customized and specialized IVF care.
