Pregnancy Guide: Week 1

Week one of pregnancy is filled with excitement, but not because you know you’re pregnant. It’s likely been filled with excitement because you’re trying to get pregnant. Depending on how long you’ve been trying, this experience could be brand new. It could be filled with some doubt and trepidation because you’re not sure if you’ll get pregnant or how you’ll handle being a mother. 

Those feelings are all normal.

The beginning of your pregnancy is counted from the starting date of your last period, so the counting starts now, but you’re not actually pregnant at all. If you already know you’re pregnant, you’re probably already in week four, but you’ll get a more accurate estimate when you see your doctor for the first time.

So, what’s going on in there? Well, a lot of things, but they’re not much different than what goes on in there every month. Your body is making its way through a normal cycle, from menstruation to ovulation. 

You and your partner are going about your daily lives, perhaps, waiting anxiously for something life-changing to happen.

1 week pregnant is how many months?

You’re effectively at ground zero. While you’re in your first month of pregnancy, you’re not one month pregnant yet. You’re not even technically pregnant at all. And because you don’t know if you are, in fact, at this time, who’s counting?

Your Baby at 1 Week

Nothing has happened with your baby yet, because there is no baby. Your body is simply preparing for ovulation like it does every month. You have an egg waiting and a lot of sperm eager to do their jobs. 

This is the week of your menstrual period. You are shedding the lining of your uterus to prepare for your next ovulation cycle. Your body is going through its normal routine and paving the way for a baby.

Your uterus is getting ready to receive a newly fertilised egg, but there’s no way to know whether the fertilisation was successful until a few weeks from now. You likely won’t know until next month, when you either miss your period, or are anxiously awaiting a missed period and happen to take a pregnancy test a few days early.

How big is a baby at 1 week?

As we’ve already discussed, there is no baby yet, only an unfertilised egg. Your eggs are tiny, and so is the sperm. They’re a match made in heaven, waiting to give you the miracle you’ve been wanting for some time now.

Your Body at 1 Week

So far so good at this point. You’re going about your daily routine with work and home life, although you may be a little bit more excited than normal because of the baby you’re trying to conceive. Hopefully, you and your partner are having fun!

The changes that are happening in your body are normal for the most part right now, but the emotions you are feeling could be a little unusual. Most women who are trying to get pregnant are filled with excitement, anxiety, fear, dread, happiness, and all kinds of other contradictory feelings that most other people won’t understand.

Symptoms

You’re not experiencing symptoms of pregnancy, but you are experiencing all the same symptoms you do every month when you’re on your period. Your symptoms can last anywhere from three to seven days and may include any of the following:

• Vaginal bleeding is an important part of shedding your uterine lining containing the unfertilised egg from last month.
• Lower back pain and cramps are normal parts of shedding your uterine lining. When your uterus prepares to shed its lining, it contracts, causing these aches and pains.
• Bloating is caused by fluctuating hormones, which happens regularly during your cycle.
• Mood swings are another byproduct of raging hormones that cause unstable emotions and irritability. It doesn’t help that you’re also in pain.
• Headaches are common in most women and are related to hormone fluctuations, too. Many women suffer from these headaches and their migraine-like intensity. Try ice packs, relaxation exercises, and pain relievers.

Some early signs of fertilisation could include nausea, tenderness, fatigue, and the urge to pee more frequently, though you likely won’t be focusing on these symptoms just yet.

Tips/Things to do

Your body releases one egg anywhere between the tenth and nineteenth day of your cycle, which would be two weeks before you expect your next period. The window for fertilisation is about twelve to twenty-four hours. Because sperm can live for up to six days in your body, it’s helpful to have sex (a lot) before this happens to increase your chances of successful fertilisation.

If you’re hoping to get pregnant soon, you should be doing things to prepare your body. Start your pregnancy with healthy habits. 

• Try to achieve or maintain a healthy weight, but don’t starve yourself, because that won’t help you get pregnant—your body needs those nutrients.
• Stop drinking alcohol while pregnant and smoking. 
• Reduce your normal caffeine intake to one or two cups each day. 
• It’s still perfectly fine to continue a normal exercise routine at this point, as it will be for most of your pregnancy unless it begins to hurt. While there are some good ab exercises you could do while pregnant, you should consider slowing down on the high impact exercises. At this point, keep up the good work!
• You should also avoid excessive heat from heating pads or electric blankets. It’s not good for sperm and can slow down production. That means staying away from excessive heat goes for your partner, too! Instead, try to generate heat by snuggling, because it leads to other things that help make a baby.

At one week pregnant, you’re not pregnant yet, but there are plenty of things you can do to get your body ready. Your body is doing its own thing right now, and while you can’t control it, you can help it along by staying healthy, avoiding bad habits, and getting your mind and heart ready for what is about to come.

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