Your Pregnancy: Conception

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Your Body

There’s no real way of knowing yet, but there might be the beginnings of a baby in there. Fingers crossed!

The good news is that it’s just a waiting game at this point. Either you’ll get your period in another week or two and start again, or you’ll see a positive sign on the stick and move forward in your pregnancy. All you can do, and should do, is relax. Do whatever it is that calms you down or distracts you from the anticipation – whether that’s yoga, gardening, cooking or hitting the gym.

Speaking of exercise, start to think about your current regimen in terms of pregnancy. Do you need to swap out heavy weight-lifting for low-impact cardio? Do you need to dust off your long-abandoned running shoes or consider prenatal yoga classes? Exercise is proven to help with the aches and pains of pregnancy – as well as benefit the baby’s development – but how that fits into your lifestyle is up to you.

As you get further from your last period, you might be feeling familiar sensations like fatigue, cramping and breast tenderness, which can be discouraging if you think they suggest you’re still menstruating. However, there’s a chance it could be your developing embryo rather than typical menstruation, so don’t feel down just yet. You might have other pregnancy clues like a heightened sense of smell or nausea, or you might feel nothing at all. We know you’re probably analyzing every ache, but you can only wait until that missed period to know for sure.

If you’re late for your expected period, head to the drugstore for a home pregnancy test. Good luck!

If you get your period, don’t be too discouraged. This might just be week one of your pregnancy.

Your Baby

You might not feel anything different during the week of conception, but if you did conceive a baby, there’s monumental activity going on in there. Once the sperm and egg meet, hit it off, and commit to becoming your future child, the egg allows said sperm to penetrate and locks all other sperm cells out. The sperm’s nucleus combines with the egg’s DNA, and all of a sudden you have yourself a tiny (think microscopic!) zygote that divides over and over until a ball of cells (the blastocyst) remains. Your soon-to-be baby then travels through your fallopian tube to make house in your uterus.

In the week after that, it’s time for your embryo (which is no bigger than a dot on a map) to be implanted into your uterine lining. Once it’s snug and cozy, it will then split in half – one portion becoming your baby and the other becoming the placenta. Your baby-to-be’s cells are also organizing into three layers: The outer layer will become the hair, eyes, skin and nervous system; the middle layer will be the bones, kidneys, muscles, heart and sex organs; and the inner layer will transform into the liver, digestive system and lungs.

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