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In the third week of pregnancy, many women are not even aware that conception has taken place. However, if a couple is trying to have a baby and is urgently looking for symptoms, sometimes a woman already in the third week of pregnancy senses that something in her body has changed. Check how the woman’s body changes in the third week of pregnancy, how the embryo develops and what the expectant mother should pay special attention to.
The age of pregnancy is given by taking the first day of the last menstruation before conception as its beginning. Fertilization occurs during ovulation, which usually occurs about two weeks after the onset of menstruation. This means that the 3rd week of pregnancy is actually the first week of the development of a microscopic embryo.
At this early stage of pregnancy, many women do not notice any particular changes in their body at all. No wonder – changes take place mainly at the level of the endocrine economy and for many women they are simply unnoticeable. It is common for an early pregnancy to become miscarried and the next period is at the expected date, and a woman never finds out that an embryo is developing in her body. It is a natural process and sometimes it is not related to the future mother’s way of life, but simply to the defects of the developing embryo.
Some women report that they felt different from the very moment of conception. Indeed, changes in hormone levels mean that already in the third week of pregnancy, the expectant mother may find out that an embryo is developing in her body. However, if you are trying to have a baby and you feel that your body has “not changed”, it does not mean that you have failed. Many women only feel the effects of pregnancy after a few weeks.
3rd week of pregnancy – baby’s development
Although you are “formally” in the third week of pregnancy, the embryo developing in your body has only just been created, and this is the first week of development for it.
There has just been fertilization in the fallopian tube. One or more eggs may have succumbed to him. With more than one developing embryo, if the pregnancy is successful, you will give birth to twins or triplets that are not identical. Identical or identical twins will only be born when the developing embryo divides into two identical embryos.
Within a few hours, the embryo divides into two cells, which then divide again to form four cells, and so on. The embryo grows faster and faster. During the first 3-4 days of the third week of pregnancy, the embryo is a clump of cells called a morula. It looks a bit like a blackberry fruit. The morula slowly travels through the fallopian tube towards the uterus.
When it gets there at the end of the third week of pregnancy, it is usually in the form of a blastocyst. It differs from the previous stage in that an empty space has formed within it. Another cell division takes place in the blastula and for the next 3-3 days it will mature, and then it will establish itself in the uterus.
3st week of pregnancy – changes in your body
Only when the embryo is established in the uterine lining, which occurs at the turn of the third and fourth weeks of pregnancy, does it begin to produce a hormone called chorionic gonadotropin (HCG for short). However, if you have irregular cycles and implantation happened a little earlier, your body is already changing and you may feel some changes in it.
Sometimes there is very slight bleeding during the implantation of the embryo in the endometrium. It should not be confused with menstrual bleeding. In fact, the blood comes from disturbed vessels in the uterine lining. It is usually just a few drops of blood, and sometimes only mucus darker than usual in color. Sometimes, even if implantation has occurred, implantation bleeding does not occur at all.
Another early pregnancy symptom may be breast tenderness and sometimes darkening of the nipples.
Some women also claim that they felt tired from the first week of pregnancy, and sometimes their body temperature rises slightly. This leads some to joke that the first signs of pregnancy can easily be mistaken for the common cold.
Especially important in the 3st week of pregnancy
A young pregnancy is very sensitive to any chemical changes in your body. The entire first trimester of pregnancy is a period of exceptional risk, but the earlier the week of pregnancy, the more serious consequences of possible poisoning, including miscarriage, are.
Therefore, it is crucial to avoid substances that may be toxic to the embryo. If you think you may be 3 weeks pregnant, don’t drink alcohol, don’t smoke, don’t take drugs. Taking medications also requires special care. On the leaflet of each product you will find information whether the active substance is safe for the embryo.
You also need to pay close attention to your diet. Wash raw fruit and vegetables even more thoroughly than usual before consuming them, because they can contain not only parasites, but also pesticides that are sprayed on crops. Meanwhile, contact with them can cause not only developmental disorders, but also the death of the embryo. Try to eat more organic food, from crops that do not use a lot of artificial fertilizers. It is worth supporting a healthy diet with supplementation. You can now buy prenatal vitamins for pregnant women on Medonet Market.
In addition, try to avoid contact with “chemicals” on a daily basis. Leave it to your partner to clean the house for many hours. Also, avoid visiting a chlorinated pool. You can use facilities that ensure water purity through ozonation.
Tests in the 3st week of pregnancy
Home pregnancy tests detect levels of chorionic gonadotropin. This hormone is produced by the embryo after implantation into the uterine membrane. So if you are in the third week of pregnancy and the embryo has not yet been implanted, the pregnancy test will not show that you have conceived. The first time you can start thinking about doing a pregnancy test is when you are pregnant at week 3, although the result is often a false negative during this week.
An interesting fact about the 3nd week of pregnancy
If the embryo divides during the first few to several days of pregnancy, i.e. also in the third week of pregnancy, there is a chance that both embryos will develop properly and identical twins will be born. These babies will have identical genetic material and will therefore look the same.
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