PREGNANCY WEEK 2 ~ HEALTH and FITNESS

2 WEEKS PREGNANT

Think you’re 2 weeks pregnant? You might not be. Here’s why.

Most OBs count pregnancy starting from the first day of your last menstrual period (LMP). Yep, that’s a week or two before you even get pregnant. We know it sounds totally weird, but it’s more accurate for doctors to estimate a due date this way.

So if you think you conceived about two weeks ago, you’re probably at least four weeks pregnant—maybe even five. We give you permission to skip ahead to week four.

If you really are in the second week of your cycle and are trying to conceive, we’ve got some advice right here for you.

2 WEEKS PREGNANT SYMPTOMS

Getting pregnant relies on timing sex for when you’re most fertile—this is probably in the two days before you ovulate and the day you actually ovulate. If you’ve got a regular 28-day cycle, chances are you ovulate on day 15. But who the heck has a regular 28-day cycle every month?

At 2 weeks pregnant, symptoms of ovulation can clue you in on the best time to have sex and hopefully conceive a baby. You’re probably ovulating if you notice these signs at week 2 of pregnancy:

“Egg white” cervical mucus. Sounds a little gross, but it’s true. Your cervical mucus becomes thin, clear, and stringy, like egg whites, as you near ovulation. This consistency helps sperm travel toward the egg.
Better sense of smell. Believe it! Hormonal changes boost your ability to pick up different scents, which is probably nature’s way of helping you sniff out male pheromones in an effort to procreate.
Breast soreness or tenderness. Hormone changes associated with ovulation can make your boobs feel slightly sore.
Pelvic ache. As your ovary releases an egg, you might feel a little twinge in one side of your abdomen. This is the phenomenon known as Mittelschmerz—named for the doctor who first documented it.
Light spotting. You might notice a small tinge of red or brown on your underwear around the time of ovulation. This happens when the follicle around the egg ruptures. If it’s actual bleeding though, it could be something else, such as an ectopic pregnancy, so let your doctor know if you experience something heavier than just spotting in between periods.
Increased sex drive. You might “just know” that you’re ovulating and naturally get revved up for some baby-making sex.
Cervical changes. If you check your cervix routinely—something women who chart often do—you may notice it becomes higher, softer, and more open when you’re ovulating.

Some women buy an ovulation test to help them figure out when they might be most fertile. A low-tech strategy is to have sex every other day from about day 12 to day 16 of your menstrual cycle—meaning toward the end of the second week to the beginning of the third.

2 WEEKS PREGNANT BELLY

If you do conceive at 2 weeks pregnant, symptoms won’t appear right away. In fact, you won’t be able to find out for sure you’re if pregnant until there’s enough pregnancy hormones in your system for a home pregnancy test to detect. That should happen at about week 4, which is the same time you’ll probably miss your period. Around this time, those hormone levels are finally high enough that they give you some noticeable pregnancy symptoms. Some women swear they do start noticing early pregnancy signs before week 4 though; these are the ones that could clue you in:

Spotting. About 5 to 10 days after conception, you may notice a little spotting. This is caused by the embryo implanting itself into your uterine wall.
Frequent urination. Pregnancy hormones can cause you to take more trips to the bathroom in the first weeks of pregnancy.
Sore boobs and/or darker areolas. Pretty much as soon as those hormones appear, a woman’s body starts prepping her boobs for breastfeeding.
Fatigue. Total exhaustion is some women’s first clue they’re expecting. That’s because your body will use a ton of energy to grow baby.
Morning sickness. Probably the most notorious pregnancy symptom, nausea usually begins to rear its ugly head around week 4 to week 9.
Bloating. Yes, again. As your body starts to realize you’re pregnant, it will probably slow down the digestion process in an effort to deliver more nutrients to baby. This can result in a bit of gas and bloating—hey, maybe it will even look a bit like a 2 weeks pregnant belly! (Not that that exists!)

2 WEEKS PREGNANT ULTRASOUND

You probably won’t have a 2 weeks pregnant ultrasound. If you could see inside your 2 weeks pregnant belly at the time of ovulation, it’d go a little something like this: First your ovary releases an egg (smaller than a fleck of ground pepper) into your fallopian tube, where it must be fertilized within 12 to 24 hours. If you’ve had sex within the last six days, there could still be sperm living inside you, and one of those could fertilize the egg. Otherwise, you’ll have to have sex stat to get pregnant.