Here we go!
Now it’s started for real! A sperm has reached the egg and wiggled its way inside. The fertilised egg travels towards the uterus. On its way there, it develops as the cells in the egg divide over and over. On the fourth day of pregnancy, the fertilised egg looks like a blackberry and is called a morula. It’s the size of the head of a pin and consists of 32 cells.
Missed period?
Chemical signals are now being sent to the pituitary gland announcing that you are pregnant and you can cancel egg release until further notice – no more periods for a while! But if you have some light bleeding anyway, this isn’t your period, but what’s known as spotting. This happens when the egg attaches to the uterine wall and resembles slightly bloody discharge. At this point, your placenta has started to form – a brand new organ – and the roots are digging deeper and deeper into the uterus. From here, the hormone progesterone will begin to be produced. Its task is to keep the pregnancy in the uterus, and the concentration in the blood rises quickly. Body temperature also becomes a little higher.
Early signs
If your partner is pregnant, from now, she’ll no longer have a period. But there could be another form of bleeding. When the egg embeds into the uterus, it’s fairly common to experience spotting, which is completely harmless. This might happen seven to 14 days after the egg is released, and it may look more or less like blood mixed with discharge. Soon, you can take a pregnancy test to see if you are expecting. With artificial insemination like IVF, the egg lived outside of the uterus for the first two weeks, which means it’s now been inside the belly for one week. It may be good to know that some people experience a slightly higher body temperature while pregnant, and many people feel tired. Feeling a bit off and thinking you may be getting sick is fairly common, so if you’re trying to get pregnant, this could be a little sign.
