What is the 1st week of pregnancy?
You just got to know that you are pregnant, but when did this happen exactly? Many women get to know about their pregnancy when a few weeks of pregnancy have passed already. Even the women who are very vigilant about their sexual activities do not understand how to know pregnancy after the 1st week.
For many doctors, the first week of pregnancy starts when you have your last periods before getting pregnant. This means that you were not even pregnant during that first week. But in this article, we will talk about the first week after getting to know that you are pregnant.
What Happens to your body during the first week?
During the 1st week of pregnancy you won’t be able to see any noticeable change in your body but inside, you are getting ready to welcome a new human being. This means that your body will need more food and rest because it has to work more than it did before. Your body will start making more blood and you would be able to feel something different happening.
Changes in your body
One thing is for sure, pregnancy is going to change your body altogether, but the following are the changes that you might notice and understand the signs of pregnancy during the first week.
You will notice that your vaginal bleeding will stop during the whole nine months of pregnancy but at times you might feel a little spotting of blood too. Don’t be afraid because this is completely normal.
For ages, vaginal bleeding was considered to be one of the most credible first symptoms of being pregnant. People usually got to know about their pregnancy when they missed their periods. But now you have many tests to know about your pregnancy very early.
Changes in your breasts
The first thing that you will notice in your body will be soreness in your breasts. The changes in your hormones will make the glands inside your breasts grow which will make them stiff.
This is because the hormonal changes make sure that the mother is ready to feed the baby as soon as it is born. Increase in the size of breasts would be apparent as well. This would be the most noticeable of all the symptoms of pregnancy after the 1st week.
The hormonal changes would not be very kind to you when it comes to the appearance of your body. After a few days of getting pregnant, you will feel bloated and puffier.
You might start feeling that you are not fitting in your old clothes. But do not worry, start drinking enough water and you will see that your body will start getting better after some time.
Watch out for the overthinking
Although it is your 1st week of pregnancy but the mood swings are ready to make you overthink everything. You will feel extreme emotions and the people around you might get affected by this. It is very important to take care of yourself during this time.
You cannot let your overthinking affect any of your relationships in life. There are a few techniques that might help you in dealing with the mood swings and overthinking, the first symptoms of being pregnant.
How to calm yourself
We would suggest a good exercise every morning to keep your brain calm. You should avoid any stressful situations. Drinking water while you are having an emotional panic could be very helpful for some people as well. You can try meditation to keep yourself peaceful during this time.
Do you suddenly want to eat more?
Do you find yourself thinking about food most of the time? This might seem a little bit weird but this is very normal to crave for spicy food when you are pregnant. We would not say that you should completely ignore the urge, but keeping a balanced diet is very important especially during this time. You should keep a check on what you are choosing to eat and avoid anything that can be harmful to you or your baby.
Choose a healthy way
Many women surrender to their cravings very soon during pregnancy. This can be a cause of useless weight gain and losing these kilograms after delivery becomes very difficult. We understand that the urge is real but we would recommend healthy alternatives.
It is better to eat home-cooked food instead of eating outside. If you can see the obvious symptoms of pregnancy after one week, you should get alert and watch what you eat.
Things you should be ready for
You might be very excited about your pregnancy. Many women consider it to be the most special time in their lives. But pregnancy is not just about excitement. You will face many discomforts during this time as well.
By keeping your mind prepared and understanding the early signs of pregnancy week by week, you can deal with all these problems effectively and make it a pleasant pregnancy for yourself.
ALSO READ: Things to consider while getting pregnant
Cramps and back pain
The cramps and back pain during pregnancy are very much similar to what you might feel during your periods. Many women miss this one of all the signs of pregnancy after the first week.
This is because they consider it as normal period cramps. You can take some painkillers to ease this pain. Using a hot press would also help you ease the pain of cramps.
Pregnancy affects your digestive system the most. Your patterns of eating might not change as much as the overall digestion process inside your body. The hormones responsible for causing bloating are also involved in this changed bowel movement as well. You will feel constipated most of the times during pregnancy.
In order to be safe, it is better to add fibers and laxatives in your diet. Constipation can be very painful and if you do not take proper precaution, things might get very complicated.
It is common knowledge that the amount of blood in a woman’s body increase during pregnancy, this might affect the blood flow in your head and you will get frequent headaches. Drinking less water might also become a cause of headaches that is why you should keep yourself hydrated especially during pregnancy.
Most of the women feel the morning sickness during pregnancy after 1st week. But this could become more difficult sometimes when you feel nauseated because of different smells and motion. Some women reported that sitting in the car was a trigger for nausea for them.
At times eating something sour also helps many people get rid of nausea during pregnancy after the 1st week. Although you will only have to face this during the first few weeks of pregnancy, later the symptoms of morning sickness will start reducing.
Many people believe that the problem of frequent urination is not related to the 1st week of pregnancy. It happens mostly during the last trimester when the growing baby puts pressure on your bladder but this might happen in the first week as well.
The increase in blood pressure makes urination more frequent and would feel a need to go to the toilet again and again.
How to confirm that you are pregnant?
You might not focus on the first symptoms of being pregnant in the 1st week of pregnancy. That is why it is important to perform certain tests to be sure whether or not you are pregnant. You can test your pregnancy at home and to be surer you can get other clinical tests done as well.
Test at Home
A home-based test is performed by using pregnancy strips. You will have to test your urine on the strip by simply peeing on it. This is a very easy test and you will get results in a few minutes.
But this is not a confirmed test; there are chances of failure of this test as well. If you think that your pregnancy strip is not giving you the right results, you can see a doctor and get some clinical tests done as well.
Doctors will ask you to get some blood tests done. These tests will measure the amount of pregnancy hormone in your blood.
The doctors might ask you to get some additional blood tests done after a positive result as well.This will measure the levels of different things in your blood and help you in maintaining a healthy pregnancy later.
Although ultrasound is not that clear during the first week of pregnancy, you can get it done to be sure. This is the last and the confirmatory test of pregnancy. After an ultrasound, you can finally believe that a new life is now growing inside you.
It is one of the best feelings to have in a woman’s life. This is a special time and you should try to enjoy it as much as you can.