Week 3 of Your Pregnancy
Baby’s development
Ovulation occurs this week and your baby begins its intense nine month journey to meet you! Whereas the rest of your cycle is divided into phases, ovulation is considered an event. It’s a time sensitive, short window of opportunity as anyone who has been trying to conceive can attest.
When your dominant follicle releases your egg, the blood flow to the ovaries increase. As a result, the tendons contract and your ovary is brought closer to your fallopian tubes. This allows your egg easier access into the tube and toward your uterus. Once inside the tube, tiny hairs that line the sides called ‘cilia’ carry the egg along. Meanwhile, your cervical mucus, now stretchy and elastic, is working to facilitate the swift movement of sperm toward the ovum. When the two meet, it takes twenty minutes for one lucky sperm to penetrate the outer layer (zona pellucida) of your waiting egg. As soon as this hardworking ‘soldier’ makes it through, your egg swiftly changes the zona pellucida to make it hostile to any additional sperm. This important step stops serious genetic complications from occurring from the introduction of more than one set of DNA into the fertilized egg.
Congratulations! You are now the proud mother of a Zygote! In the next few days, your zygote will make its way down to your uterus and begin its monumental task of developing into your future bundle of joy.
Your body and emotions
If everything goes as planned, you will conceive at some point this week! Hopefully you have been taking folic acid on a regular basis up to this point, as it’s so essential to have proper stores of this vitamin to give your little one the right start. If the pregnancy is unplanned or if you just weren’t aware of the benefits of regular supplementation, it’s never too late to start.
It’s very hard to tell if you have conceived this early. However, most women are either so excited or so frightened they’re ‘with child’ that the Internet is rife with questions about early pregnancy symptoms. How your body will respond to pregnancy and all its hormones is highly individual, and at this point it’s unlikely that you feel any difference in your body or your emotions. However, you may be feeling excited and impatient for the next week to pass as only time can tell if you’re a mama or not!
Dad’s Tips
You and your partner may be going at it like bunnies these last weeks and as fun as that is, the desire to make a baby may be changing the dynamic of your sex life. Suddenly it becomes less about pleasure and more about creation and this can certainly take some of the spontaneity and ‘sexiness’ out of your time together. Try to combat this by keeping a sense of humor. Although you’re ‘in it to win’ this time, sex is still one of life’s greatest joys and should be treated as such. Don’t give up on foreplay and even though her orgasm is not technically necessary to make a baby, that doesn’t mean it’s not important. Don’t let her get away with dismissing her own pleasure in her rush to conceive and for heaven sake, don’t you do it either! Relax and enjoy your sessions. You’ll enjoy the process all the more if both of you have that special glow by the time they’re over. |
