The first week of pregnancy
Are you really pregnant in the first week of pregnancy? What will the symptoms be? What happens? What will you have to do? Here you will find information and advice for you and your partner.
Do you think you are in the first week of pregnancy? Check on our pregnancy weeks calculator .
The first symptoms of pregnancy are imperceptible and very similar to those of the period, but in the first week there is no signal , because – as we will explain further on – you are not pregnant yet.
While waiting to know, what should you do? First, we recommend checking if intercourse was close to ovulation using our fertile window calculator . You can also talk about how you feel on our Forum . Continue reading to get all our advice.
Your body in the first week
From when is the first week of pregnancy calculated?
The first week of pregnancy begins with the first day of your last period . Naturally you are not pregnant yet, but it is a conventional count that serves to have precise references for the entire gestation period.
How to behave in the first weeks of pregnancy?
If you’re going to have a baby, it’s time to start those good habits that are important for a healthy and serene expectation: pregnancy inside you begins even before conception!
Your health, lifestyle and diet will all affect your child’s development and growth. For this reason, from now on, it is important that you take better care of yourself.
- Take folic acid
- Stop smoking
- Eliminate alcohol
- Follow a Mediterranean diet (see nutrition during pregnancy )
- Contact your trusted doctor (questions to ask your doctor and free exams here )
- Calculate your fertile period
How to increase the chances of getting pregnant?
In addition to a healthy lifestyle, it is important to have unprotected sex on the days when ovulation is expected, which is the fertile period of the menstrual cycle.
If your cycle is regular, you can find your most fertile days using our calculator . Alternatively, you can rely on ovulation sticks or basal temperature monitoring to confirm ovulation has occurred.
Naturally, nothing prevents you from having intercourse freely, without tests or calendars in hand: the important thing is that you and your partner don’t arrive tired in the most fertile period!
What happens in the first week of pregnancy?
In the first week of pregnancy, which as we wrote is conventionally established, there is still no baby and symptoms such as cramps , swollen belly and pain in the lower abdomen are due to the start of the menstrual cycle and not to being pregnant.
For conception to occur, it will be necessary to wait for the moment of ovulation, which in a 28-day cycle occurs approximately two weeks after the start of menstruation . By convention, however, this period is considered and included in the pregnancy.
The uterus prepares
Even if conception hasn’t occurred yet, your body is already preparing to house the fertilized egg. Indeed, in these days you are having your period and the uterus is renewing itself, while inside one of the ovaries about 15 follicles are maturing, each of which contains a single egg cell. One of these, called the dominant follicle, will release a mature egg cell at the time of ovulation.
For dad: you too can improve your diet, stop smoking and drinking alcohol. Make sure you get ready, formidable news awaits you!
Checks and exams to do
If you and your partner have decided to have a child, the first thing to do is make an appointment with your trusted doctor , to assess your state of health (questions to ask your doctor and free tests here ).
During the visit, you will also be prescribed some pre-conception tests, to rule out the presence of hereditary diseases or risk conditions that could interfere with conception or the good course of pregnancy, and therefore require appropriate precautions.
For example, it is important to evaluate whether you are immune to toxoplasmosis or rubella: these diseases, in fact, if contracted during pregnancy, can be dangerous for the fetus .
It is important to underline that preconception tests are free and can be requested from your general practitioner, who will insert the appropriate code M00 on the prescription.
Advice for the 1st week of pregnancy
- What to do:
- Eat green leafy vegetables , legumes and whole grains to increase the intake of folate (ie the “natural” form of folic acid); other foods rich in this vitamin are chicken livers , citrus fruits , kiwis and strawberries ( supplements are not needed )
- take folic acid supplements
- What not to do:
- drink alcohol
- smoke or expose yourself to secondhand smoke : the negative effects on fertility and on the health of the fetus are practically identical!
Texts in collaboration with Midwife Sara Notarantonio, of the Castelli Hospital in Verbania.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.