When thinking what to expect in the first month of pregnancy, you should know that at the beginning of this period you aren’t even pregnant yet. The due date is calculated according to the last menstrual period. This is because it is impossible to calculate the exact time of conception.
Conception
This usually takes place about 24 hours after the egg is released by the ovaries. Ovulation usually occurs about 14 days before the next menstrual period. If you have unprotected intercourse during this period, the egg and the sperm meet in the fallopian tube and conception takes place.
After fertilization the egg travels through the fallopian tube all the way to the uterus. The journey takes about 6-12 days. When it reaches the uterus, it gets implanted into the lining of the uterus.
Once this happens, the body receives chemical signals that you are pregnant. As a result ovulation stops and you won’t have any more periods.
The baby during the pregnancy’s first month
In the moment of the implantation, the baby is known as a blastocyst. The size of this is of about 0.1-0.2 mm. At the end of the first month the chorionic villi form.
Until the placenta gets totally formed the baby is protected by the yolk sack. This is the time when you could start suspecting that you are pregnant.
Hormonal changes begin
Also at the end of this period you could take the first pregnancy test and most probably you will get an accurate result.
This is because the placenta starts to form and this is what releases the hormones that the tests test for. The hormone is known as hCG or human chorionic gonadotropin.
Now you can see that there’s not much to expect during the first pregnancy month but there are some women who already feel the changes.
