1 Week Pregnant : What to Expect
For most women, especially for those who aren’t planning a pregnancy, week 1 goes by without realizing the pregnancy exists. Lots of women vary on monthly cycles, so most women assume that when their monthly menstrual cycle is delayed, it’s just that, delayed. There aren’t any immediate pregnancy symptoms during the first week that would make a women think it’s anything more than a delayed pregnancy. However there are signs such as fatigue, tiredness, loss of interest in things, mood swings and the constant need to urinate that lead many women to believe PMS has taken control of their lives before a pregnancy is considered.
The ovulation cycle lasts for 30 days and is when an egg leaves the ovary and travels into the fallopian tubes where it’s met by sperm and fertilized. From there the fertilized egg finishes traveling through the fallopian tubes and into the uterus where implantation occurs.
Some people speculate a woman isn’t really pregnant during the first week of pregnancy since fertilization takes place during the second week. This is the main reason why so many pregnancies go undetected during the first week.
Symptoms and Body Changes at 1 Week
Again, no real noticeable physical changes take place during the first week, however there are many internal changes that are happening. Common signs include digestive problems like gas, constipation and nausea, while other signs include tender breasts, fatigue, mood swings, morning sickness and hormonal changes. These signs and symptoms vary from woman to woman, and most women don’t feel these changes until after the second week. Doctors advise the first week of pregnancy is your “get out of jail free week” as you’re allowed to keep your same dietary and physical habits.
Baby’s Development
During the first week of pregnancy, there’s no major development of the baby other than the egg leaving the ovary and traveling to the fallopian tubes. And truly enough, you’re not actually pregnant at this time since it’s the time immediately following your monthly periods end and conception itself doesn’t happen until 2 weeks after your period ends. Still, week one IS included into the pregnancy calendar to help the doctor calculate the first day of your last monthly menstrual cycle-it’s from this day that the nine-month cycle is calculated and your EDD (expected due date) is determined.
However, despite all of that, once the egg is fertilized the cells begin to divide up over the next 7-10 days. During the first week the “baby” is called as a blastocyte, which is a mass of 100 cms. You can break the blastocyte into two parts. The external part of this blastocyte will become the placenta and the internal part will be the embryo during the second week of pregnancy. If more than one egg gets released and fertilized there may be multiple zygotes formed. The zygotes have 36 chromosomes which are equally obtained from both parents and these chromosomes have genetic material in them that determine the details of the baby such as sex, hair color, features, skin color, height, eye color and personality traits.
Pregnancy Week 1 Tips
If you are planning and expecting to get pregnant, the first week could be a sign of joy for what’s to come. It’s a great indication when your period is delayed that you could be pregnant. If you’ve been monitoring your morning basal body temperature, you will see that your temperature remains elevated beyond day 16 of your Luteal Phase (post ovulation). This is the first physiological sign that you’re pregnant. Take this time to take pregnancy tests, contact your gynecologist to set an appointment, change eating and physical habits. If you take medication, this is also a great time to contact your prescribing doctor and ask questions about the medication and whether or not it’s okay to continue use throughout your pregnancy or if you need to switch or quit your medication all together. Also, if you haven’t already, you can begin taking vitamins and minerals such as folic acid to help you conceive quicker. Pregnancy can be a very exciting time if you’re expecting, especially during the first week. Next is pregnancy at 2 weeks.
