When you go to a doctor and they confirm that you are indeed pregnant, one of the first things they are going to do is to ask you some questions and then give you a due date. This date may change when you have an ultrasound, but most doctors are pretty good at giving you the right date if you are a woman that has regular periods of which you have kept track. Your due date can tell you many things, and will be on your mind the entire time you are pregnant. What will it mean for you?
As you already know, your due date tells you when your baby will be full term and delivered. However, this date is not usually the day your baby arrives. Most women do not deliver right on their due date, but some do. If you go far beyond your delivery date, you may be induced. If you give birth early, you intended date of birth can tell the doctors and nurses a lot about the health and development of your premature baby. For the most part, the development is right on track with what is expected.
Your due date is calculated by the first day of your last period. When you are eight weeks pregnant, you have actually only been pregnant for six, as this type of calculation goes by the two weeks before you ovulated as well. If you have periods that are not regular or if your cycles are not 28 days long, your date could be off. Be sure to tell your doctor that so that they can figure that into their calculation. When you get an ultrasound, they will measure the size of the baby to give you a more definite date. They are usually very close though.
Your due date can be used to let you know what is going on in your body. Much study has been done on in utero development, and this means you know exactly what is going on with your baby that week. You will know when they are going to develop hearing, or when they have the lung capacity to survive if they are born early. You will also know when you can expect morning sickness to end (though not exact for all women, of course), and even when your baby can be born full term, even when the due date has not been reached.
Use your due date as a guideline for when baby should arrive, but do not bank on it. Have everything done weeks before your due date so that you are not caught unaware when labor begins. You can go as early as two weeks before your due date, in many cases, without having to worry that your baby is under developed. You may go over too, so don't call your doctor if you have not gone into labor on your date. They are going to tell you to give it more time. That's no fun when you are uncomfortable and wishing for pregnancy to be over, but it happens all the time. Think of your expected date of delivery as a target, but also as an estimate. No one knows for sure what triggers labor, it just happens when the time is right.