3 Weeks Pregnant: Ovulation and Fertilization

Your baby may begin its journey to becoming an adorable bundle of love this week, but you still are not technically pregnant. You likely ovulated, or released a developed egg, around the end of last week or beginning of this week.fertilization 3 weeks pregnant

What happens when you are 3 weeks pregnant?

As mentioned last week, an LH surge signals the release of an egg, or ovulation, to occur followed by the final phase of the menstrual cycle, the luteal phase. The released egg travels into the fallopian tube, hopefully to be met by sperm and fertilized.  There is a roughly 5-day fertile window, generally lasting until about 24 hours after ovulation, for this to occur.

Meanwhile, the follicle your baby exited from begins to form the corpus luteum. The corpus luteum is an important, but temporary structure that tells your body to begin and continue producing progesterone. Progesterone is a hormone that maintains the uterine lining during pregnancy. It also will cause your body temperature to rise making it possible to confirm ovulation via body temperature. If you don’t become pregnant, the corpus luteum dies after 12 to 14 days, progesterone levels fall and your period will begin. If fertilization does occur, it will continue to produce progesterone until the placenta takes over around week 10 of your pregnancy.

Fertilization, or that meeting of your egg and your partner’s sperm, usually occurs within a day or two of ovulation. After fertilization, your baby is called a zygote. Cell division began immediately– your baby is already growing at an alarming rate! Your genetics have also already determined everything from eye color to height, including well over two-hundred different characteristics.

Your baby will spend the rest of this week traveling to your uterus for implantation. Once the zygote reaches your uterus, it is medically referred to as a blastocyst, though you may want to start thinking up names yourself. At this point, your baby is 0.1 to 0.2 millimeters in diameter and not even visible without a microscope.

Can you confirm pregnancy at 3 weeks pregnant?

Chances are, no. Typically, implantation occurs 6 to 12 days following ovulation landing somewhere between day 20 and day 26. While the short side of this range does fall within week 3, it takes about 48 hours after implantation for hCG levels to be sufficient to make any pregnancy test–even the most sensitive–show positive meaning you shouldn’t even try to test until a minimum of day 22. You’ll be more likely not to get a false negative if you wait until after your period should have arrived during week 4 of your pregnancy or around day 28 or 29 of your cycle. You can read about this more in-depth on our page on when to take a pregnancy test.

Pregnancy symptoms at 3 weeks:

Pregnancy symptoms are caused by pregnancy hormones, and as those don’t begin until after implantation, you won’t have pregnancy symptoms in week 3. You may, however, experience PMS-like symptoms that are often mistaken for pregnancy symptoms before a missed period.  You can read a full guide on when pregnancy symptoms start here.

 

 

 

2 Weeks Pregnant: The Follicular Phase

By week 2 of your pregnancy, you still aren’t pregnant. Your period has likely ended, and you are now about mid-way through the follicular phase. The follicular phase begins on day one of your period and continues until the second phase, ovulation, which may occur on the final day of this week.2 weeks pregnant follicular phase

What happens during the follicular phase, or when you are 2 weeks pregnant?

As menstruation ceases around day 5 of your cycle, the level of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in your body will increase slightly to stimulate the development of several follicles in your ovaries. Each of these follicles contains an egg. Throughout the week,  FSH levels will decrease, and hypothetically, just one follicle will continue to develop and prompt your body to produce estrogen. Sometimes, more than one follicle may develop, which can result in twins.

Estrogen levels then begin to rise and cause your uterine lining to thicken. Once levels are sufficient, the body triggers the release of  luteinising hormone (LH) which tells your ovary to release the egg. LH can be detected by home urine tests. It’s surge indicates ovulation will occur in 24 to 48 hours. If you choose to use this testing method, you should begin “attempting” (having sex without protection) as soon as you get a positive result.

Sometimes ovulation will also cause mittleschmerz, or pain in the side, but most women don’t feel ovulation at all.

There are a few ways to know if you’re ovulating:

-You can watch the calendar. Ovulation often occurs about half way through your menstrual cycle, which would be, in most cases at the end of week 2, two weeks after your last period began.

-You can chart your basal body temperature. Body temperature will become low during menstruation and then rise immediately after, so by charting this effect every month you can get an idea which days you typically ovulate.

-You can watch your cervical mucus and position. Cervical mucus becomes more plentiful and watery as ovulation approaches, before turning “egg white” and stretchy at ovulation, and slowly dissipates after. The cervix rises, softens, and opens during ovulation and is lower, firmer and closed during infertile times.

It can take some practice to master the art of pinpointing ovulation. You may find a charting program, such as FertilityFriend helps.

Pregnancy symptoms at 2 weeks:

You still will have no pregnancy symptoms, as you are not yet pregnant.

You may also find helpful:

Vaginal Discharge
How to Check Your Cervix
Our Trying to Conceive section

 

Pregnancy Week 1: Menstruation

Pregnancy is calculated from the first day of your last period and not from conception.  As a result, during week one of your pregnancy you are not actually pregnant. You count day one of pregnancy from the first day of your period.pregnancy week one

So, what’s going on in your body during that first week?

On average, a menstrual cycle is around 28 days, with 21 to 35 days being the normal range. The first week of pregnancy (assuming you become pregnant in any given cycle) is mostly menstruation a.k.a your period. Hormone levels are at a low and are telling the body it is not pregnant, so it is shedding the uterine lining and preparing for a new cycle.

What should you be doing during the first week of pregnancy?

Now is the time to begin acting pregnant. How do you act pregnant, you ask? We don’t mean in the stereotypical vision of eating ice cream with pickles, but to begin taking prenatal vitamin vitamins and cease any drug and alcohol use. The condition of your body affects your new baby even before he/she baby has been conceived. Make sure your dad-to-be is also being health conscious at this point. The health of his sperm will also affect your baby.

You may also consider basal body temping as you are officially trying to conceive. Basal body temping can help you determine when you ovulate in a given cycle and increase your chances of becoming pregnant. Keep in mind that only about 25 percent of all couples make a baby in that first month of trying–it may take awhile.

Pregnancy Symptoms Week 1:

There are no symptoms in the first week of pregnancy, because you aren’t pregnant yet.

 

You may also find helpful:
Period Blood Colors and Textures
Implantation Bleeding VS Period
Brown Discharge Before Period