Fetal Development: Week By Week Guide: Month 1

When you’re pregnant, the hardest thing to do is wait those long 9 months. Sometimes it seems so unfair to know what’s in store but still have to wait for such a long time to see it come to fruition. So close yet so far. You’d do anything to get a glimpse of what’s going on inside without having to wait till your next ultrasound. Even with an ultrasound, sure you can see your baby’s development, but you can’t know what they’re feeling or experiencing.

All these years in the field of medical research have not been for nought. They have brought to us all the information down to the nitty-gritty of fetal development. With this in mind, would you like to know what exactly is going with your baby in the first month? If so, read on…

The thing about pregnancy is that a lot of women don’t realise they’re pregnant right after conception. The pregnancy symptoms are very few if any, and they’re generally attributed to random abnormal symptoms. Additionally, conception may not occur on the same day as intercourse, which makes it even harder to pinpoint its exact time. Therefore, medical experts consider the first week of pregnancy to begin at the beginning of the last period before pregnancy.

Week 1 and 2

This is the period during and after your last period. In this stage, the uterine lining is shed in order to make way for the new uterine lining which can support an embryo. As the uterus sheds, follicle stimulating hormone begins to be produced, which stimulates the follicles of the ovary. The hormone oestrogen is also produced, which is what brings about ovulation. Inside the ovary, the eggs begin maturation – they increase in size.

Conception

This is that fateful moment when the stars align and the heavens decide to bestow upon you the gift of life. In other words, you and your partner start upon the road to parenthood. To break it down, plain and simple, you both have sex, the semen is released inside the vagina and the sperm travels up the fallopian tubes, to the ovary, to penetrate and therefore fertilize the ovum. The fertilized egg is called the zygote. This process is called conception.

Week 3

This begins right after the point of conception. After this point, the fertilized egg is starting to move down the fallopian tube in order to reach the uterus and embed itself in the uterine wall. All the while, rapid cell division is taking place, turning the zygote into a ball of cells. This little ball of cells is what goes on to make your little baby. While this is going on in the fallopian tube, the uterus isn’t idle. The uterus is preparing itself to receive the zygote; The walls thicken with nutrient-rich bed vessels in order to be able to provide nutrition to the zygote once it is embedded. It is towards the end of the third week that the zygote reaches the narrowest part of the fallopian tube and then enters the uterus.

Week 4

The ball of cells is safely embedded in the uterine wall. In this stage, the zygote splits into two parts – one part goes on to make the embryo which rows to be the fetus, and the other part starts to develop into the placenta which is what supplies nutrients to the embryo (fetus). It is now referred to as the blastocyst. While this split is taking place, the amniotic fluid begins to be collected (and the yolk sac starts forming) which has the primary function of providing nutrition to the embryo inside the amniotic sac, in the early stages. All this while, the blastocyst was covered by a thin membrane; in this fourth week, the blastocyst breaks out of this membrane to truly attach itself to the uterine lining. When this occurs, the blastocyst becomes the embryo, and a true connection is now established between mother and embryo.

It’s quite a common report that before 4 weeks, pregnancy tests read negative. After week 4 is when pregnancy can be detected more clearly.

Follow us to know what happens after week 4!