2 Weeks Pregnant - What To Expect in Early Pregnancy

While there are many signs of early pregnancy, the most obvious and easiest indicator is a missed period. By the time you miss your period, you are only about 2 weeks pregnant. The problem is that many women either do not know when they started their last period, or their periods are not regular. So how do you know if you are 2 weeks pregnant, 4 weeks pregnant, or more? This question must be answered first before we can begin to discuss what to expect in early pregnancy.

In order to understand how far along you are in the pregnancy and what to expect at 2 weeks pregnant, you must first understand how fertilization takes place. Then you will know how to calculate your due date. Most women ovulate on a 28-day cycle. So for the sake of simplicity, we will say that this cycle begins on the first day of your period. What this really means is that your body released an egg, but it failed to become fertilized by a sperm before either the sperm or the egg died. So, the uterus must begin all over again grooming a new egg for release and slowly re-lining the uterus over the next cycle. But first, you will go through 5 to 7 days of what is referred to as your period.

So, on Day 1 of your cycle, or period, you will go through about 5 to 7 days of the inconvenient expulsion from the body of an overripe ovum and the mucous membrane that lines the uterus. By about Day 10 to Day 15, ovulation takes place. This is when the body releases hormones from various glands, making the timing perfect for the sperm to fertilize the egg. However, the unfertilized egg can survive no more than a 24 hour period of time. The sperm has an average life span of about 48 hours while inside the female tract. Ideally, the sperm should be waiting on the egg to arrive. So, if the sperm begins it's journey more than 48 hours before the egg reaches the oviduct, the sperm's life span will expire. But, if the journey begins more than about 22 hours after the egg arrives in the ovum, the egg's life will be over, and a new period will begin again. Therefore, there is only about a 72 hour window of time each month during which a woman's egg can be fertilized and she is considered fertile.

Assuming a woman's egg was fertilized on about Day 15 of the cycle, the egg will move along the oviduct and eventually implant itself into the wall of the uterus by about Day 24. Here it will remain for the next 260 days of pregnancy. This is the day that the embryonic heart starts a slow and irregular pulsation, that will smooth out to a systematic rhythm in about one more week. The actual date of conception would be Day 15, the day on which fertilization took place. This means that from the date of conception to the date you first miss your period is 13 to 15 days. You are now 2 weeks pregnant. Even so, doctors will still calculate your due date from the first day of your last menstrual cycle. So when they say you are 2 months pregnant, you will really only be about 6 weeks pregnant.

Now you know exactly when you are 2 weeks pregnant, but how do you know exactly what to expect at 2 weeks pregnant? Surely you have wondered what to expect in early pregnancy, but are you prepared with what to do next? Considering the many obstacles to achieving pregnancy, it would seem the hard part would be over. Indeed, in a recent study of women who desired pregnancy, only 33 percent were able to get pregnant in the first month, 60 percent by three months, and 75 percent within six months. But in fact, achieving pregnancy was the easy part compared to the changes that will take place in your body over the next year.

One of the first changes in what to expect in early pregnancy is that food will not taste the same. Along with the changes in the taste of food is the common morning sickness, even if you are just 2 weeks pregnant. In addition, you will most likely have an increase in appetite or cravings for specific foods. This can trigger unwanted weight-gain early in the pregnancy.

Other symptoms and what to expect in the first two weeks of pregnancy include bloating, small aches and pains, and possible even pregnancy cramps. These quite often occur in the calf of the leg as a "Charlie horse" cramp and are a result of low calcium. Very early pregnancy symptoms are difficult to detect unless you are keenly in tune with your body. So do not be discouraged if you do not notice it when you are 2 weeks pregnant. Be patient and time will tell.

So, the next time you hear people asking how to really know for sure when someone is just 2 weeks pregnant, then remind them you read this article and share it with them.

Jennifer Clark is a successful publisher for MaternityCollections.com, a website specializing in what to expect in early pregnancy, all about maternity, your baby, and other related topics. The site offers a full range of information about maternity health conditions such as anemia, morning sickness, fatigue, and many more. Other pregnancy and maternity related topics include parenting, exercise, newborns, maternity clothes, and baby clothes.

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