1 week of pregnancy – what happens? what are the symptoms?

Understand the 1 week of pregnancy, and congratulations, now it will be 40 weeks full of emotions, new sensations, changes in your body and a lot of expectation. To finally find your baby. You’ve got a whole road ahead of you to learn about your care, your health, your diet, and more!

From the moment of conception to the day of birth, a woman’s body experiences dramatic changes, just like any other phase of her life. However, the pattern of structural and hormonal changes in pregnancy tends to be very similar among healthy pregnant women, which allows us to predict and describe some certainty when each sign or symptom of pregnancy generally occurs.

Even so, pregnancy can be a very confusing and mysterious time for women, especially pregnant women. It is natural that mothers have many doubts, as well as some of those that we will clarify in the course of the article.

What Happens at 1 Week of Pregnancy:

Your fertilized egg (hit by a sperm) is first divided just 1 day after being fertilized. The division continues in the following days and week by week, little by little, a ball is formed, called a blastocyst, which in the first 4 days can have more than 100 cells. After 5 days, they begin to separate into two groups. The group of cells in the outer ring will form the placenta that will receive your baby. The inner ring cells will become the embryo itself. These inner cells are called stem cells, which have the extraordinary ability to transform into over 200 types of cells from anywhere in the body (which is why they are so interesting for investigating treatments for certain diseases).

What to Do at 1 Week of Pregnancy:

For starters, when you start planning your pregnancy, you should have a preconceived medical and gynecological exam. Gynecology includes a cytology, a gynecological ultrasound and a mammogram if you are over 40, or over 30 if there is a history of breast cancer , as well as blood and urine tests. Also, if it is an early pregnancy, for example if the expectant mother becomes pregnant at age 16, or even at a younger age, you should receive psychological support if necessary.

First Pregnancy Symptoms:

The mother will experience a series of physical, metabolic, physiological, etc. changes, which are intended to safeguard, nourish and develop the new life that begins to grow within her.

There are women who do not experience any type of symptoms that indicate that they may be pregnant, so they only know when they discover that their period is late . On the other hand, there are others who begin to experience different symptoms, such as:

• tiredness ;
• Nausea  or vomiting, usually early in the morning;
• Increase in breast size;
• More urge to urinate, due to the growing size of the uterus, which puts pressure on the bladder.
• The sense of smell develops more than usual;
• Have a wish;
• Increased pressure in the pelvis and hip;
• The woman will experience instability in her emotional state, having the desire to laugh, cry, sudden changes in attitude, nervousness… Due to the action of hormones.

Pregnancy is a unique and special stage in life, in which it is recommended to be positive and try not to be obsessed with fears and insecurities.

How is the Development at 1 Week of Pregnancy:

Although this is officially the 1st week of gestation , conception will not arrive until two weeks later, when embryonic development begins, coinciding with the period of ovulation. During these days, which coincide with the period, the uterine membrane or endometrium is generated and prepared for pregnancy. If this does not occur, the membrane is removed and menstruation occurs , which differs in volume and duration from one woman to another.

During this 1st Week of Pregnancy , the ovulation hormones, which will occur towards the end of the second week, also begin. To do this, the pituitary gland (located at the base of the brain) produces follicle-stimulating hormone, which stimulates the development of follicles, which contain eggs at different stages of maturation. These follicles generate estrogen, a hormone that causes the pituitary gland to also generate luteinizing hormone, which triggers ovulation.

This first week of pregnancy, however, although estrogen and progesterone levels remain low, favor the muscles of the cervix to relax, allowing the birth canal to open and the mucus to become more fluid, and this favors, for in turn, that sperm can swim in them more easily, giving rise to conception and subsequent embryonic development.

How is the Baby at 1 Week of Pregnancy:

The female egg first divides a day after being fertilized by male sperm. From there, it continues dividing, and forms a type of ball called a blastocyst, which is an undifferentiated embryonic cell, which is formed before the germinal layer, which can have, in the first four days, 100 cells.

Starting on the fifth day, the cells begin to separate into two groups. The first group of cells will form the outer ring and create the placenta, which will accommodate the baby. The second group of cells is the one that makes up the inner ring. They are called stem cells, and they have the ability to transform into over 200 types of cells from any part of the body, which will later become the embryo.

After seven days, the fertilized egg travels down the fallopian tubes into the uterus, looking for the implantation site, which will be its home for the next nine months.

How the Body Is Inside at 1 Week of Pregnancy:

In the 1st week of pregnancy , fatigue, sleep, a more acute sense of smell, increased sensitivity in the breasts, nausea or even some mood changes will still take a week to appear. However, feeling pressure in the pelvis and hips or an increase in the urge to urinate are some symptoms that you may start to feel as early as the first few weeks of pregnancy.

Gynecologist visits, prenatal exams, ultrasounds, blood tests, amniocentesis… During the next 40 weeks, medical exams and diagnoses will follow each other. You must be patient and leave hypochondria parked if you suffer from it! All for your well-being and that of your future baby.

Feeding in the First Week of Pregnancy:

If you were planning a pregnancy, you’re probably already taking a folic acid supplement that helps prevent birth defects in the baby, otherwise you can start at week 3 or 4 of your pregnancy as well.

Calcium  is a fundamental contribution throughout pregnancy. At least you should consume 1 liter of milk a day. If you find it difficult, you can drink milk, cheese and yogurt until you get the calcium supplement you  need. It will help the formation of the baby’s bones and teeth, as it does not consume your calcium reserves if you do not have a diet rich in this mineral.

In addition, from now on, in the 1st week of pregnancy until after 4 years of pregnancy, you must have 5 meals a day, but not in abundance, in which you maintain a varied diet that contains the necessary vitamins and nutrients. Menus for pregnant women should contain legumes, vegetables, lean meats, fish, cereals and fruits. For now, and as long as you don’t have the toxoplasmosis test, don’t take raw animal products (pâtés, sausages, raw meats).

How to Start Counting from 1 Week of Pregnancy:

The length of pregnancy is measured using “gestational age”. Gestational age begins on the first day of your last menstrual period (UPM).

Gestational age can be confusing. Most people think that pregnancy lasts 9 months. And it is true that the state of pregnancy lasts for about 9 months. But pregnancy is measured from the first day of your last menstrual period, about 3-4 weeks before the state of pregnancy itself, a pregnancy usually extends about 40 weeks from the last menstrual period, i.e. almost 10 months.

Many people don’t remember exactly when their last menstrual period started, but that’s nothing to worry about. The safest way to determine the gestational age in early pregnancy is with an ultrasound.

Important Information For You:

If before pregnancy, the role of a healthy diet and lifestyle was already important, imagine now. That there is a new life about to take shape within you. It is therefore necessary that you especially avoid certain foods. Such as unpasteurized or adulterated dairy products, which can lead to listeria.

And certain seafood that may contain mercury such as swordfish, shark, marlin and freshwater fish, as well as keeping consumption of blue fish such as tuna, mackerel, sardines or trout at bay.

In addition, from the 1st week of gestation it is also necessary to avoid parasites such as toxoplasmosis, which is transmitted through cat and beef feces, undercooked pork or lamb and bacteria such as salmonella, present in chicken and eggs .

Obviously, no smoking and zero alcohol. You should also keep in mind that during the first trimester of pregnancy the only over-the-counter drug is paracetamol.