Pregnancy Week By Week
The number of changes taking place throughout pregnancy week by week is remarkable, to say the least. From the first day of your last menstrual period to the day you finally give birth, your body undergoes an extraordinary transformation in order to create and sustain life inside your womb. And the second week of pregnancy is pretty significant when it comes to the entire process.
Believe it or not, at the beginning of your second week of pregnancy, you’re not actually pregnant yet. But by the end of the week, you most definitely are. What an amazing week that turns out to be!
During the first 2 weeks of your pregnancy, your body is preparing to make a baby. And whether you’re actively trying to conceive or not, ovulation typically takes place every single month when you’re a woman of childbearing years. But this month is quite a bit different—because this is the month you ovulate like usual and actually get pregnant this time.
So, what’s so special about this second week?
Interestingly enough, the second week of your pregnancy is the time when sperm swims up your fallopian tube, with the help of that sticky cervical mucus your body has been making, and one lucky sperm cell successfully fertilizes the most dominant egg recently released from your ovary. Then, this newly fertilized egg makes its way down into the uterus.
Lastly, the fertilized egg, or blastocyst as it’s now called, implants itself into the lining of your uterus. This lining has recently thickened up thanks in no small part to the estrogen hormone in anticipation of a future conception. And it makes the ideal home for your developing baby over the next several months.
2 Weeks Pregnant
Congratulations! It’s now the end of the 2nd week, and there’s officially a baby growing inside of you.
Trying to get pregnant is never an easy feat because the average woman is only fertile for about 6 to 7 days or so out of any given month. So, the timing and conditions have to be just right if a baby is conceived. And this month, your timing and conditions were spot on.
While watching for signs of ovulation, tracking your cycle, taking your basal body temperature, and using ovulation test kits can all help increase your chances of conception, the exact time of ovulation is unique to each woman.
Moreover, your fertile window is only three to five days before ovulation to the day of ovulation itself. And that’s because sperm can live inside a woman’s body for up to five days after ejaculation and your egg only lives for 12 to 24 hours after it’s been released.
Now you see why the second week of your pregnancy is so important when it comes to the entire pregnancy journey.
Early Pregnancy
Even though the official start date of pregnancy is calculated by determining the first day of your last period, which makes things a whole lot easier for your doctor to track, week two is when pregnancy begins in the technical sense.
There’s no baby by the end of the first week, but there is a baby by the end of the second. How exciting is that!
It’s still so early in your pregnancy, however, that you’ll probably have no idea that you’re pregnant yet—even if you hope that you are. For example, there won’t be any noticeable changes to your skin, hair, abdomen, or breasts this early on. You won’t feel super nauseous, tired, or like you have to urinate all the time. And, if you take a pregnancy test right now, it’s far too early for your human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels to result in a positive pregnancy test.
Pregnancy Symptoms Week 2
If you’re like most women, you probably won’t notice any pregnancy symptoms in the first two weeks of pregnancy. There just aren’t any common symptoms this early on. In fact, even if you do feel slightly different at this time, you’re likely to dismiss any changes to your body as symptoms of ovulation because you’re just not expecting it.
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. Some women report subtle changes resulting from pregnancy hormones like having tender breasts or a stronger sense of smell. And roughly 1 in 3 women experience implantation bleeding, which is basically light spotting of pink or brown blood that occurs when the fertilized egg burrows into the lining of your uterus.
Development at 2 Weeks
When it comes to baby development at this time, think small. Like, really small. In fact, a blastocyst is only a fraction of a millimeter, making it far too small to see with the naked eye. And even under a microscope, it only looks like a cluster of cells that are rapidly dividing each and every day.
While it’s far too early to see those cute little fingers and toes quite yet, major changes are taking place. And by the end of 40 weeks, you will have a fully formed, and very cute, bundle of joy to call your own.
Baby at Week 2
It’s so early on, you won’t even find out you’re pregnant yet. But that doesn’t mean that your baby’s development hasn’t begun. As the cells rapidly divide in those first few days, your baby is beginning the very important process of turning from a blastocyst into an embryo and eventually a fetus.
Checklist at 2 Weeks Pregnant
As a mother, your health before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and after pregnancy is very important. Even in the first month of pregnancy, or before that if you plan to try getting pregnant soon, be sure to get plenty of rest, stay hydrated, maintain an active lifestyle, get a checkup at the doctor’s office, and start taking folic acid.
All of these important measures increase your chances of having a healthy pregnancy and delivering a healthy baby.