First week of pregnancy - when does it really start? Are there any symptoms during the first week of pregnancy? How to recognize pregnancy in 1 week? Can you be sure you are 1 week pregnant?
Such questions are asked on many forums for mothers-to-be. Before we answer them, we will explain why the first week of pregnancy is a conventional concept, and the woman may not be (and most often is not) pregnant at that time.
First week of pregnancy: when does it start?
Pregnancy is assumed to begin before the egg is fertilized. According to the Naegele method most often used to determine the age of pregnancy, the first week of pregnancy is counted from the start of the last menstrual period, i.e. from the beginning of the last menstrual cycle. During this cycle, fertilization takes place - determining its date, although possible, is not important from a medical point of view (unless it is, for example, in the case of a vitro). During menstruation, it is not known whether the initiated cycle will end with pregnancy or not, therefore the beginning of pregnancy, especially its first week, is retrospective, and its course or symptoms can be analyzed only after the fact.
What does week 1 of pregnancy mean?
Since it is the last menstruation preceding conception, and not the first menstruation itself, that marks the beginning of the 1st week of pregnancy, then this week can be described as the "final countdown" before the actual pregnancy - regardless of whether it is the final stage of her planning or the time when the woman's body is preparing for pregnancy, although she herself is not necessarily aware of it. After all, during monthly bleeding, the endometrium exfoliates to create the conditions for the later development of pregnancy.
The entire menstrual cycle, which begins with each period, takes about 23-35 days. In the first week of the cycle, i.e. theoretically in the first week of pregnancy, the so-called ovaries begin to mature. Graff's follicles, containing immature egg cells. One (or more) of your cells will be released during ovulation, around the middle of your cycle. Then, fertilization can take place - the egg is capable of it for a day, and the sperm - even for 5 days.
1st week of pregnancy: calculations and reality
Caring for health and a regulated hormonal balance contribute to the regularity of the cycle, facilitating pregnancy planning. In fact, however The length of a woman's cycle varies, depending on various factors, including illness, travel and stress.
All this makes for ovulation and possible fertilization can occur both within a few and several days after menstruation. In very rare cases - with an irregular or short cycle and long periods - fertilization occurs during the period, i.e. in the first week of pregnancy.
That is why the actual due date is calculated not only from the last period but also from the last menstrual period confirmed on ultrasound of the first trimester, and in the following weeks, also on ultrasound in the second and third trimester.
1st week of pregnancy: symptoms typical of menstruation
Menstruation that marks the beginning of the first week of pregnancy makes it the symptoms observed at that time are difficult to associate with pregnancy. Abdominal cramps and pains, back pain, headaches, and lethargy - they can all feel like the first week of any other menstrual cycle.
More or less accurate calculations of the moment of conception can be made later, thanks to the ultrasound examination, which allows to determine the actual age of the fetus. Then you can also look back and remember how you felt in the 1st week of pregnancy. However, when it comes to gynecological symptoms of the first week of pregnancy that begins the date of the last menstrual period, there is no marked difference with regard to the prior well-being of a woman.
Can pregnancy symptoms occur in the 1st week of pregnancy?
In many forums related to motherhood, nausea or increased breast sensitivity are mentioned among the first signs of pregnancy. However, these are not usually symptoms of pregnancy - they are usually absent in the first week, but they appear later, at least one week after conception. Only in those rare cases, when the egg is fertilized during menstruation, the first nausea or breast hypersensitivity may also occur in the 1st week of pregnancy.
Feelings or emotions associated with it are mentioned more often than the symptoms of the first week of pregnancy - joy, weariness, euphoria, confusion or anxiety.
Unanswered question, or how to recognize pregnancy in 1 week?
Unfortunately, there is no satisfactory answer to the question of how to recognize a pregnancy in 1 week, although the topic is taken up in almost every maternal forum. During or immediately after your period, when conception is about to happen or is just about to happen, it makes no sense to do a pregnancy test. A visit to the gynecologist will not help here either, because at the present stage of medical knowledge there is no method that would allow for diagnosis of pregnancy in 1 week. Therefore, you have to be patient and wait for the body to signal it naturally or you can use the test. Most doctors advise you to wait over a month for the first visit to the office.
1st week of pregnancy: supplementation and testing
During the first week of pregnancy - even if it is not recognizable because it is not yet fertilized and has no symptoms - steps can be taken to help your body prepare for it. Already then, the uterine mucosa is prepared to receive the fertilized egg and the further development of the pregnancy. Therefore, it should be properly nourished and moisturized, and the future mother's diet has a big impact on it.
- In addition to healthy eating and discontinuation of stimulants, an appropriate dose of exercise is recommended.
- The Polish Society of Gynecologists and Obstetricians recommends that take it already 12 weeks before pregnancy folic acid at a dose of 0,4 mg per day. The first week of pregnancy, understood as the date of the last menstruation before pregnancy, is therefore the last call to start supplementation, if the woman has not decided on it earlier. During pregnancy, the demand for folic acid increases threefold, so even a healthy and balanced diet may not provide the future mother in the required amount. Folic acid deficiency threatens with congenital defects of the fetal neural tube, and supplementation started early enough and continued throughout pregnancy reduces the risk of their occurrence by 70%.
- At this stage, you can do blood testto rule out anemia and correct any deficiencies in a timely manner, and urinalysis - for the presence of protein or ketone bodies. A general urinalysis is used to rule out infections, for example. However, it is routinely not recommended to do these tests before you become pregnant.
- Pap smear - recommended once a year as part of the prevention of cervical cancer - should be done early in pregnancy, unless it has been performed recently (NFZ reimburses the cytology once every 3 years).
- It is advisable to do this once a month breast self-examination - palpation should be performed by a doctor during a routine check-up visitj. It is also worth performing an ultrasound of the breast.
- During the first trimester of pregnancy X-rays are not taken, including teeth, therefore diagnostics and serious dental procedures should be planned in advance, and before root canal treatment or anesthesia, inform the dentist about a possible pregnancy.
- Beauty treatments, most notably those involving retinoids, as well laser hair removal, it is recommended to plan ahead of a possible pregnancy.
Therefore, it is worth considering both supplementation and the necessary diagnostics at the stage of pregnancy planning - also due to the subsequent limitations in the scope of some treatments and procedures. In order to protect against potentially dangerous infections, it is recommended even before possible pregnancy vaccinations against rubella, mumps, chicken pox, hepatitis B, whooping cough, as well as influenza, pneumococcus and Covid-19.
Consultation:
Ph.D. n. med. prof. IMID Tadeusz Issat - Head of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic at the Institute of Mother and Child;
Maria Krowicka-Wasyl - resident physician in the course of specialization in gynecology and obstetrics, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Institute of Mother and Child.
