Pregnancy Symptoms—Week 2 (Will I Feel Pregnant?)
What are the pregnancy symptoms in week two? Well, technically, you’re still not pregnant—but this is the week you’ll likely start actively trying for a baby. When you are officially pregnant, your doctor will calculate your due date from the date of your last menstrual period, which was last week. For most women, conception occurs approximately two weeks after that date.
But when you’re trying to determine when your pregnancy began, the date you’re really looking for is implantation—when the fertilized egg burrows into your uterine lining, thereby starting your pregnancy. You can figure out this date using a couple of simple formulas (which we’ve covered in detail in our implantation calculator post).
Last week, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) began preparing your body for the process of ovulation. These hormones encourage the growth of fluid-filled sacs, called follicles, within your ovaries. Ovulation occurs when the dominant follicle bursts and releases an egg into the fallopian tube. Depending on your cycle—which can vary from woman to woman—ovulation tends to occur at the end of week 2 or the beginning of week 3.
How big is my baby in week two of pregnancy?
Baby’s Length: 0.0 in.
Baby’s Weight: 0.00 oz.
How is my baby developing?
Right now, your baby is a single egg cell—and a separate, single sperm cell—waiting to meet. During ovulation, a mature egg is released into the fallopian tube, and this egg and your partner’s sperm may meet this week (or early next week) depending on the length of your cycle. When the sperm fertilizes the egg and conception occurs, the now fertilized egg (also called a zygote) is so small that you can only see it with a microscope.
This zygote will grow into a more extensive collection of cells, called a blastocyst, and will travel down the fallopian tube and implant into your uterine lining. Once the blastocyst implants in the uterine lining, which usually occurs eight to 10 days after ovulation, it rapidly begins producing the hormone hCG.
Pregnancy Week Two: What’s happening in my body?
If you’re looking to get pregnant this month, timing sex for your most fertile days is the name of the game. Since fertility is determined by ovulation—your fertile window is the day of ovulation and the five days before it—the better you understand your body and its unique cycle, the better your chances of conceiving.
So, when do you ovulate? That’s the million-dollar question when you’re trying to conceive. Most calculations assume that a woman with a regular 28-day cycle ovulates on day 14 or 15. But studies show that most women don’t ovulate on the fourteenth day of their cycle, as they are commonly told. (In fact, one study showed that 70% of women have fertile windows that don’t fall entirely within cycle days 10 – 17.)
Once you ovulate and the egg enters the fallopian tube, it has to be fertilized by a sperm cell within 12 – 24 hours or the egg will die, and you’ll have to start the process over again next month. Luckily, sperm cells can live within the body for up to six days, which is why it’s important not to wait until the day of ovulation to start trying.
If you’ve been wearing Ava or tracking your cycle for several months, you may have a pretty good indication of when those fertile days are. Even if you haven’t been charting, you may be looking for some signs and symptoms of ovulation. But the truth is, ovulation happens on such a small level in the body that it usually cannot be “felt.”
But there are some physical signs when your body is preparing to ovulate and other physical symptoms that happen after ovulation, which may include:
- Increased Resting Pulse Rate. According to clinical study data, resting pulse rate (RPR) begins to rise in the days before ovulation. RPR is lowest during menstruation, and increases by about two beats per minute (BPM) between two and five days before ovulation. After ovulation, RPR continues to rise, reaching a peak in the mid-luteal phase. It drops around the time menstruation starts—or, if you’re pregnant, it remains high.
- Changes in Basal Body Temperature. Some women notice that basal body temperature (BBT) reaches a nadir (a low point) on the day of ovulation. However, this BBT nadir is not present in the majority of charts and is not a very reliable way to identify ovulation.
- Pelvis ache. You may experience mittelschmerz (named for the doctor who documented it first). This is a twinge, sometimes painful, in one side of your abdomen that occurs when the ovary on that side releases its egg. About 20 percent of women may experience ovulation pain, but this doesn’t necessarily happen at the exact moment of ovulation, and it shouldn’t be used as a definitive indication that ovulation has occurred.
- Changes in cervical mucus. Pay close attention to your vaginal discharge. During most of your cycle, your vagina is acidic and hostile to sperm, and your cervical mucus is thicker and stickier. But as you approach your fertile days, the consistency of your cervical mucus changes. The cervix begins producing “egg white” mucus, which is slippery, clear, stretchy, and welcoming to sperm. (It’s like a Slip ‘N Slide that helps the sperm travel more effectively toward the egg.)
- Changes in cervical appearance. One thing to check if you’re trying to get pregnant is your cervix’s appearance. It becomes softer, higher, and more open when you’re ovulating.
Some women swear that they started “feeling” pregnant around the end of the second week, but it is unlikely. Early pregnancy symptoms often mimic pre-period symptoms, and it’s challenging to tell the difference between PMS and early signs that you’re pregnant.
You may be anxiously looking for any possible first signs of pregnancy, but be patient. Even if fertilization occurs this week, there’s really no way to detect it, so try to stay calm. You won’t be able to get a positive pregnancy test until the fertilized egg implants in your uterine wall, and your body starts producing the pregnancy hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). HCG is the hormone that pregnancy tests (both blood and urine) look for—and your body hasn’t started producing it in earnest—yet.
What else should I be doing this week?
- Have sex! You’re ovulating. If you’ve narrowed in on your fertile window—have sex every other day (or every day, if you’d like!) during that window. Having sex every day during your fertile window (the five days leading up to the day of ovulation, and the day of ovulation itself) gives you a 25 percent chance at conceiving. (Doing it every other day gives you slightly lower chances, 22 percent.) For more details on this, check out our post about how often you should have sex to get pregnant.
- Manage any stress and anxiety you’re feeling. A recent study found that women who reported feeling more stressed leading up to ovulation were 40% less likely to conceive during the ovulation window.
- If you don’t have an OB-GYN, this is an excellent time to research doctors.
- If you’re not already, start taking a prenatal vitamin containing 400 micrograms of folic acid. The early weeks of pregnancy—even before you know you are pregnant—are critical, developmentally. Adequate folate drastically reduces the likelihood of neural tube defects in your baby.
This week’s FAQs