1-2 Weeks Pregnant

Understanding what happens in the first couple of weeks can be tough, particularly because in weeks one and two, you’re not actually pregnant yet, meaning your egg is still unfertilized. However, doctors still refer to this period as the first two weeks of pregnancy.

Don’t worry if that’s confusing; we’ll break it down in detail below.

Here’s a breakdown of what to expect during weeks 1 and 2, how you can prepare for what (might) be coming, and what steps you can take to cut down on the stress of it all.

Technically, not a whole lot is going on for the first week or two—because, again, you haven’t actually conceived, and aren’t pregnant quite yet.

Weeks 1 and 2 are pre-conception because of how doctors calculate due dates. They count 280 days (40 weeks) from the first day of your last menstrual period (LMP). 1

Doctors and due date calculators (including those in pregnancy trackers) use this because it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment you got pregnant. However, the actual moment of conception (sperm meeting the egg) generally happens around 14 days after the start of your last period, about midway through your cycle (assuming you have a regular 28-day cycle). 2

Put another way, you’re actually on your period during the first week of pregnancy. In the second, you’re just about getting ready to ovulate (release an egg for fertilization), but it hasn’t happened yet. 3

When will you actually get pregnant?

With those two extra weeks at the start, the timeline can get a bit murky. Here’s a breakdown of what happens during the first 4 weeks of pregnancy: 3

• Week 1: Your body sheds the uterine lining from your previous cycle. This is your menstrual period.
• Week 2: While your body prepares for ovulation, an egg matures in your ovary. After it develops, it moves down to one of your fallopian tubes and waits to get fertilized.
• Week 3: If you have sex in your fertile window, a sperm cell may reach the egg and penetrate it. That’s arguably when you officially become pregnant. About six days later, the fertilized egg (now called a zygote) travels from your fallopian tube to your uterus.
• Week 4: Once it’s in your uterus, the zygote implants into your uterine lining. This may occur later in week 3 or early in week 4.

Week 4 or 5 is when you may realize that you’ve missed your period. This is also the earliest you can take a pregnancy test and expect a positive result (before that point, even if you’ve conceived, the pregnancy test might be negative).

If you’re pregnant, you should book an appointment with your doctor. They’ll conduct a physical exam, discuss your medical history and any concerns you have, and run blood and urine tests to confirm that you’re pregnant and possibly do an ultrasound to determine how far along you really are. 4

Since you haven’t conceived (yet), in weeks 1 and 2, your body will go through your usual menstrual cycle. Here’s what you can expect:

Week 1 symptoms

Again, you’re still on your period, so these symptoms are from your menstrual cycle, not pregnancy. Expect them to be business as usual—bleeding, fatigue, cramping, bloating, mood swings, headaches, etc. Whatever your periods are normally like, that’s probably what you’ll get.

Week 2 symptoms

When you move into week 2, your period ends. You may experience postmenstrual symptoms like headaches and anxiety, although that isn’t universal. 5

In week 2, your body starts preparing for ovulation. You may notice other changes:

• Cervical mucus: One to two days before you ovulate, your cervical mucus becomes clear, slippery, and stretchy, like raw egg whites. You’re very fertile now, and sperm can swim through your cervix more easily. 6
• Cervical positioning: Your cervix moves further back and “higher” in your body, making it hard to reach if you check with your fingers. It also softens and thins.  7 8
• Ovulation pain: Some women experience a dull ache or sharp twinge around ovulation, known as mittelschmerz. It can last anywhere from a few minutes to one or two days. Usually, it affects one side of your lower abdomen at a time, depending on which of your ovaries releases an egg. 9

You might also notice other ovulation symptoms and signs, like a higher sex drive, bloating, tender breasts, and heightened senses (smelling, tasting, and hearing things more acutely). 10

Some people also believe that there are changes to their basal body temperatures (BBT) that happen around ovulation. This is your body’s resting temperature, and it supposedly has a small dip just before ovulation and then a slight (about 0.4 °F to 1 °F) rise after ovulation. 11 Tracking it is a popular fertility-prediction method, but you’ll need to track it for about three months before you can hope to see a real pattern. 12

If you do manage to get pregnant, you may experience early pregnancy symptoms in the first few days and weeks, some of which overlap with ordinary PMS symptoms. This makes it hard to distinguish between PMS and pregnancy. 13 14

• Missed period
• Nausea
• Fatigue
• Swollen or tender breasts

You may also have light spotting called implantation bleeding, which happens when the fertilized egg implants in your uterus’s wall. This happens 10 to 14 days after ovulation, which is right around—or slightly before—the time your period is typically due to return. Only 25% of women experience this early sign of pregnancy. 15

How to tell the difference between implantation bleeding and your period

As mentioned, implantation bleeding can come when you expect your next period, which can be confusing.

However, implantation bleeding is normally lighter than your period. It’s normally brownish or pinkish instead of red, like menstrual blood, and shouldn’t last more than two days. Accompanying cramping, if there is any, tends to be milder as well.

Even though you’re not pregnant yet, weeks 1 and 2 are still an important time to lay the groundwork for a healthy pregnancy. If you’re trying to conceive, here’s what you should focus on:

1. Visiting your doctor

Schedule a preconception checkup. Discuss your overall health, medical history, and any medications you’re taking. They can also assess your vaccination status and offer personalized advice for having a healthy pregnancy.

They’ll also be able to prescribe you with a prenatal vitamin. Ideally, you should start taking vitamins containing 400 mcg of folic acid at least a month before you get pregnant. Folic acid helps prevent your baby from developing birth defects affecting his brain and spine, called neural tube defects (NTDs). 16

2. Making lifestyle adjustments

Start prepping mentally and physically to minimize any negative factors affecting your fertility and create a smoother transition to pregnancy.

• Quit bad habits: Quit drinking and smoking while trying to conceive. Now’s also the time to cut out recreational (or illegal) drug use. That means no nicotine, marijuana, cocaine, or steroids (not that you should be using those anyway, for the sake of your own health). 17 18 It’s also generally recommended to limit your caffeine intake to less than 200 mg a day (about two cups of coffee). 19 These substances can negatively impact your fertility and your baby’s development in the womb.
• Eat healthy: Focus on a nutrient-rich diet of eggs, dairy, fruits, vegetables, lean meat, fatty fish like salmon, and whole grains. These foods can boost your fertility and make up a majority of what you’ll eat in your pregnancy diet to fuel your body’s nutrient stores for the nine-month journey ahead. 20 21 Cut back on processed foods, sugary drinks, and unhealthy fats.
• Practice stress management: Being stressed out may affect your ovulation patterns and fertility. 22 23 Find healthy ways to cope with stress, such as yoga, hobbies, meditation, or deep breathing exercises. Talk to your partner, friends, or a therapist about your feelings and concerns.
• Avoid excess heat: Overexposure to heat can also affect your and your partner’s fertility. If you work as a cook, firefighter, manufacturing worker, or in another job where you regularly withstand high temperatures, you’ll need to be extra careful and discuss management tips with your doctor. 24

3. Understanding your menstrual cycle

Understanding your menstrual cycle is key to figuring out the best time to have sex to get pregnant.

Throughout your cycle, your hormones fluctuate and trigger physical changes that both demonstrate and aid your fertility (your ability to conceive). As mentioned, you might see changes in your cervical mucus and positioning, your basal body temperature, and your symptoms (like ovulation pain, higher sex drive, heightened senses, etc.).

Pay attention to those changes to identify when you’re ovulating. From there, you can develop your understanding of your broader fertility window, which is when you’re likely to get pregnant. It includes the five days leading up to ovulation, the day of ovulation itself, and the day after it. 25

Consider using these fertility tracking tools to monitor everything going on:

• Ovulation predictor kits (OPKs): Using ovulation test strips lets you measure the levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) in your urine for several days. A hormonal surge indicates that you’re going to ovulate within 24–36 hours. 26
• Ovulation calculator: Some online calculators will use the length of your cycle to tell you when you’re (probably) ovulating—if you have regular, predictable cycles, at any rate. 27
• Fertility trackers: These apps let you log pretty much everything throughout your cycle, including menstruation, BBT shifts, OPK results, symptoms, cervical mucus and position changes, lifestyle habits, etc. They condense all this information in charts and graphs (and may also offer predictions) to let you know when you’re most fertile.

4. Having sex at the right time and in the right way

There’s no definitive timeline as to how long it takes to get pregnant, but once you know your fertile window, you know when to have sex to have the best shot at conceiving.

Ideally, you should have sex every other day during this time frame, but you can also do it as often as you feel comfortable.

Watch out for lubricants. Some are thick enough to interfere with sperm’s ability to move around—including hand lotion and saliva. 28 You can use a special type of sperm-friendly lubricant called Pre-Seed, but apply it lightly. Too much can still impede sperm. 29

Don’t douche. This can wash away your partner’s sperm completely. 28

Debunking sex myths

There are many old wives’ tales when it comes to sex and pregnancy. We’ll debunk a few below.

Myth: You’re more likely to get pregnant if he’s on top.

The best position for sex is the one that’s most enjoyable for you. Many believe that the traditional way (man on top) and doggy style (rear entry) are better because they allow deeper penetration, but there’s not a lot of actual science backing up one position over the other.  28 30

Myth: Lying down after sex helps you get pregnant.

Similarly, some say that lying down for 20 minutes after sex—especially with a pillow under your hips—helps sperm swim through your cervix to meet your egg. It won’t hurt to do it, but there’s no definitive science behind that, either. 31

Myth: Too much sex affects sperm count.

Lastly, many believe that frequent ejaculation (either through sex or masturbation) can lower your partner’s sperm count. While there may be a temporary decrease after a few weeks of this, research suggests that it doesn’t significantly hinder your partner’s ability to get you pregnant. 32 33 34

Fertility can vary from person to person and couple to couple. You should see your doctor or a fertility specialist if you have been trying to conceive for a year (or 6 months if you are over 35) without success.

They can evaluate both you and your partner for any underlying issues that may be affecting your fertility.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to understand everything that’s happening in the first few weeks of pregnancy (when, again, you haven’t actually conceived yet). Arm yourself with accurate information from reliable sources, such as your OB/GYN.

Every pregnancy is unique, and what works for one person may not work for another. Be patient with yourself, prioritize your well-being, and celebrate the small victories along the way.