First Trimester

Pregnancy Week By Week - Week 1

Technically you are not pregnant, yet. Your 42 weeks of pregnancy starts the day of your last period before you become pregnant, so if you just started your period you’re on the first step to your new baby!

If you are thinking about getting pregnant, now is the time to prepare. Your preparations should begin with getting rid of anything in your life that could be harmful to an unborn baby, such as smoking and drinking alcohol. It is also vital that you start taking a daily prenatal vitamin that is high in folic acid, as this important B-vitamin is key to preventing birth defects. Daily folic acid is recommended from at least 12 weeks prior to conception until week 12 of pregnancy.

Tip

Now would probably be a good time to stock up on pregnancy tests – so you’ll have them on hand when it’s time! If you want to get pregnant as soon as possible you may also want to invest in some fertility products, such as ovulation tests which will tell you when your body is ready to conceive.

Pregnancy Week By Week - Week 2

It’s finally the time you’ve been waiting for! During this week you will be ovulating, so it’s the perfect time to ‘get busy’ with the baby making. During a single sexual encounter sperm will pass from the upper vagina through the cervix, and travel to the fallopian tubes, where one will fertilise an egg.

For the most part your body will be business as usual, although you may experience some slight cramping when you are ovulating. Tell yourself that by then end of the week your egg will be a blastocyst – the combination of sperm and egg – you’re almost there! Once fertilized your little one will travel down the fallopian tubes and into the uterus, a trip which takes 7-10 days.

Tip

Now is a good time to rest up, you’re going to need all the energy you can get over the next few weeks! Drink plenty of fluids, take your daily prenatal vitamin and eat well. Once your baby starts growing he or she is going to need all the help you can provide.