First Trimester: Week 1
It’s extremely difficult to pinpoint the exact moment your pregnancy begins, so most doctors use the first day of your last period as the start of your pregnancy. What this means is, during the first 2 weeks of pregnancy, you’re not really, uhm, pregnant.Fertilisation happens in week 3. That’s when one of your partner’s sperm joins with your egg. The newly fertilised egg starts dividing when it travels down the fallopian tube. At this early point, the pregnancy hormone Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin is produced and it is this hormone that can be detected in your urine or blood when a pregnancy test is done. You are still a few weeks away from feeling the effects of the pregnancy hormones.
What’s changing in your body
Although you may be hoping you’re pregnant, it will still be a couple of weeks before you will know for sure. You don't need to be extra careful about physical activity or changing your usual routines. If one of your eggs has been fertilized, it already knows where to go and what it has to do.
First Trimester: Week 2
First Trimester: Week 3
How your emotions are affected
You may be feeling slightly on edge because you want time to go faster so you can tell if you've been successful.
Tips for the week
You won’t really know that you’re pregnant at this stage, so take the same precautions you’ve been taking since you started trying to conceive, such as:
- Avoid X-rays. If you're going to the dentist for a check-up, let them know you may be pregnant.
- Be aware of any hazards around you. There are risks with some environmental factors, such as pesticides and poisons, which can have an effect on early cell division in pregnancy.
- Avoid drinking any alcohol or taking any medication unless it has been especially prescribed for you.
- Keep taking your prenatal vitamin with a folic acid supplement that you should have started before trying to conceive.
Have more questions on pregnancy? Join a support group (if you have not done so!). Motherhood represents a completely new phase in your life, so you want to find a community of new mothers who can journey together with you. Pregnancy tips, parenting tips, free diaper samples and exclusive diaper offers shared on the Huggies Club platform can ensure you are best prepared for your newborn child too.
Last Published* January, 2024
*Please note that the published date may not be the same as the date that the content was created and that information above may have changed since.
