Week by week pregnancy guide: The first four weeks of your pregnancy

The initial days of your pregnancy aren't the ones that would grab your attention swiftly, but they are the ones that's most crucial for your baby's being and development. Know what happens during those initial first weeks of your pregnancy.

Debjani Arora | Updated: December 14, 2014 4:19 pm

An amusing and interesting part about your pregnancy is that the countdown to your motherhood begins even before you conceive. The reason being, the calculation of your expected delivery date or EDD takes into account the first day of your last menstrual cycle i.e., the day you get your periods. Even though you have not conceived yet it is still considered as the start of your gestation period. Conception takes place approximately 14 days after the start of the cycle, once you ovulate. So during the first two weeks of your pregnancy you are technically still not pregnant. Read tips to calculate your EDD.

Changes that happen to your body during the first four weeks of your pregnancy

There are a lot of hormonal changes that happen to your body even during the first two weeks.

Remember once you ovulate which happens 14 days after your cycle starts is when you are fertile to conceive. Your most fertile days are the day of your ovulation and one day after that. Know how to track your most fertile days to get pregnant.

During the initial two weeks your body does a lot of background preparation to help you get pregnant. The level of progesterone hormone inside your systems increases and your uterus wall thickens in order to hold the fertilized egg in place. The uterus starts to produce more endometrium cells (inner lining of the uterus) to help the fertilized egg thrive in a healthy environment and implant. While all this happens an egg matures and ripens inside one of your ovaries which would be released at the end of week two or 14 days after start of your cycle. Once ovulation happens and you try to get pregnant, your partner’s sperm would fertilize the mature egg released from the ovary. This fertilized egg then moves towards the fallopian tube and then to uterus where it gets implanted.

But remember each month when ovulation happens a woman only has 25% chances of getting pregnant. So don’t be disappointed if you don’t conceive at the first try. You may have to try for some more time till you conceive.

Once the fertilization happens this marks the third week of your pregnancy and the start of your true journey towards motherhood. The fertilized egg moves to the fallopian tube and reaches the uterus. The embryo now floats in the uterus protected by the secretions of the uterus lining and is very tiny.

This is also the time when most of the pregnancy problems will start to haunt you – nausea, vomiting, GERD, sleeplessness and fatigue. The other symptoms could be of tender breasts, abdominal cramps and vaginal discharge or spotting. Though not all women face the same fate, some might not even feel the pressure of pregnancy until late. There aren’t any prominent physical changes happing at this point of time, but the changes and development happening deep within you are crucial and of utmost important. Also know what spotting during the first trimester mean.

Once you enter the fourth week of your pregnancy, the embryo has implanted itself well inside the uterus and started to grow at full pace and your body is also secreting a hormone known as hCG or human chorionic gonadotropin hormone. You will have a missed period by this time and a home pregnancy test now can confirm the good news. Now the hCG would also aggravate some of the common pregnancy problems making it a little worse for some. Also read common pregnancy problems and how to dodge them.

Development of your baby

During the initial two weeks of your pregnancy your baby hasn’t formed yet but your body prepares you for the task ahead. Once the fertilization takes place your baby in scientific term is called an embryo which approximately has some 150 cells measuring somewhere between 0.1 mm to 0.2 mm in length, and is growing rapidly now. As the cells divide rapidly in the embryo and it implants itself on the endometrium, the inner lining of the uterus, it gets its nutrition from it now.

During the fourth week of your pregnancy your embryo is still a two layered structure. Also, the amnion sac and yolk sac develops during the fourth week. The amnion sac later gets filled with amniotic fluid, which protects the embryo; whereas the yolk sac produces the blood and helps nourish the embryo until the placenta takes over.

At the end of the fourth week your baby is 0.4 mm long. The heart also begins to beat, blood begins to pump and other vital organs have started to develop. Soon you might have to go for your first scan to check on the developments. Congratulations you are pregnant!

What you should be doing

If this has been a planned pregnancy and you had been keeping track of your ovulation days, then this is the time you should give up your vices, if you have any. Quit smoking or drinking, if at all you do it.

Be regular with your exercises, eat right and load up on your folic acid. Also read why folic acid is important during your pregnancy.

Ask around for a good gynecologist and make an appointment. Also read things to do during the first trimester.

Take rest and avoid any work that would put a pressure on your abdominal muscles, be cautions with exercise too. Talk to your trainer about your pregnancy and select exercises that are designed for expectant mums. Read our comprehensive guide on dos and don’ts during the first trimester.

Take your antenatal vitamins, calcium and iron doses on time.

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Published: May 16, 2014 5:41 pm | Updated:December 14, 2014 4:19 pm

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