Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dysupes]

Hi!

My wife is expecting our first child in August of next year and we got to talking last night about exactly how far along she is. The doctor says we're 8 weeks along and will deliver at the beginning of August which would mean the pregnancy lasted 10 months. Does anybody have any experience unraveling this conundrum? We thought, just subtract 4 weeks, but that would mean we saw the baby in the ultrasound at only 1 week old and that we heard it's heartbeat at only 2 weeks which seems pretty fast. Any old hands out there who have had to figure this one out too and could help us out?

Thanks!

[T-J]

Human gestation lasts approximately 40 weeks divide that by a standard 4 week month and you get ten months.

[kprrok]

They count things differently when it comes to age. We say 9 months because 40 weeks is actually 9 months and a few days. That means it takes 9 complete months.

Koreans say 10 months because the actual birth takes place IN the 10th month. Therefore, it's a 10-month pregnancy.

[Horangi Munshin]

40 weeks is about 10 lunar months too. Or 10 womens' months.

[T-J]

I forgot to say congratulations!

[Horangi Munshin]

Doh! Me too. Congratulations!

[Dysupes]

Thanks very much! I kind of figured that that might have something to do with it but thought I would ask some other old hands who have probably already gone through this for the explanation! Much appreciated!

[Ilsanman]

Koreans can't count. They think people who are 30 are actually 31, and 32 next week.

They count the starting month/year as 1. As soon as my wife got pregnant, she said '1 month', and after 1 month, she said '2 months'. They don't seem to like to use weeks and days.

[theholyinnocent]

There is also the fact that many doctors count pregnancy from the date of the last menstrual cycle, not the date of conception. So by the time you're late, you're four weeks pregnant. Usually by the time you find out that you're pregnant you're already about five weeks along, by the counting method most frequently used. That's not a Korean thing but an ob/gyn thing, as most US doctors do the same thing.

[sarbonn]

[plynx]

[Saxiif]

Reminds me of when my gf (now wife) said that we'd been dating for three years in Jan of 2005 when we'd been together since Sept of 2003.

2003 + 2004 + 2005 = three years

[Horangi Munshin]

[HapKi]

My daughter was born in the middle of a December. After a couple of weeks, she was two. I still don't fully understand it.

[michaelambling]