Week 1-3

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The child

Of the millions of sperm racing to be first to the egg, we now have a winner. One sperm has entered the egg — and you are now pregnant! The fertilized egg now travels along one of your fallopian tubes to your uterus. What will soon be your baby is a collection of cells known as the morula. The morula absorbs liquid and soon looks like a tiny bubble.

Mother

Pregnancy weeks are counted from the first day of your last period. Although we usually say a pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks, you’re technically pregnant for “only” 38 weeks—266 days—because fertilization takes place in week 2+0 or, in other words, the third week of your pregnancy.

From the moment you know that you’re expecting, it’s important to give up alcohol, nicotine and drugs completely. It’s also a good idea to do this when you’re trying for a baby as the fetus is particularly delicate during the first few weeks.

Another good idea is to take 400 micrograms of folic acid (vitamin B9) per day as this reduces the risk of conditions such as spina bifida in the fetus. Ideally, you should start taking folic acid a few months before you want to conceive.

Partner

You probably won’t notice that your partner is expecting during the first few weeks of the pregnancy. The mother-to-be often has no idea either, although plenty is going on inside of her.

Find out more about other trimesters:

Trimester 1

Week 1 to 14

Trimester 2

Week 15 to 28

Trimester 3

Week 29 to 43

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