First month of pregnancy

The first month of pregnancy, without exaggeration, can be called the most responsible and decisive. The main thing is determined - whether to be a child and how his development will begin. Much depends on the knowledge of what and how is happening during this period, and the correct behavior of a woman.

General information

The first month of pregnancy can be considered the time from the conception of the baby, and then it will be the first embryonic month of its development. But in obstetrics, it is customary to keep all the calculations in obstetric weeks from the first day of the last to the conception of menstruation. In this way, the first month includes 4 lunar or 4.5 calendar weeks.

You need to know that the first week of pregnancy corresponds to the week in which the woman still has her period. And 4.5 weeks is about 3-4 days from the start of the delay of the next menstruation.

Thus, many of the fair sex spend the first month in the dark. But if the pregnancy is desired and planned, then the possibility of a baby's existence, which cannot be reliably confirmed by the end of 1 month, the woman will assume and behave more prudently.

What's going on with the baby?

The first month of pregnancy is not only the beginning of a new life, but also laying the foundation for his future well-being, because the probability of fertilization and implantation depends on the woman's health status and her lifestyle, and the genetic set of DNA will determine right now everything that will be characteristic of a new inhabitant of planet Earth - gender, color of hair and eyes, skin, diseases and talents inherited from ancestors.

During the first month, the formation of the fetus proceeds at an incredibly fast pace, the process of organogenesis is underway. The embryo is forming, but the mother's feelings associated with the onset of pregnancy do not always begin in this month.

In each female cycle, several follicles begin to ripen in a woman's ovaries after the next menstruation, but after a few days the undisputed leader is determined - the dominant follicle. It is he who has to grow more actively than others. The development of the rest will be stopped by special hormones that are produced during this phase of the cycle. The dominant follicle ruptures and releases the egg, mature and ready for fertilization. This happens in the second week of the cycle (in the second obstetric week of pregnancy). Most women ovulate on days 14-15 of the cycle with a 28-day classic cycle..

The released egg is very lazy, inactive and its viability is limited to only one day. If sperm cells do not reach her during this time, the female oocyte dies and the body gets rid of it two weeks later during a new menstruation.

Sperm can wait for the oocyte in the genital tract if sexual contact was 2-3 days before ovulation, since male cells are more tenacious. Sperm can have time to get to the egg on the day of ovulation, if the contact was directly on that day.

Out of tens of thousands of sperm, one wins. He manages to break through the membranes of the egg, after which she strengthens the membranes so that other sperm cannot penetrate inside. They are no longer necessary, because an important process has begun inside the oocyte - the fusion of the nuclei of the cells of the father and mother. There is an exchange of genetic information. It is at these moments that it is decided who the child should be - a boy or a girl, whether he will be blond or brown-haired, tall or short, where he will have moles and whether he will have the talent to play the violin. At the same time, information about genetic diseases is transmitted, if the parents have them.

The ovum loses its status and is now called a zygote. It begins to move smoothly down into the uterine cavity along the tube, where fertilization took place. It is promoted by the vibrations of the villi of the fallopian tube.

A zygote is a unicellular organism that seeks to part with this status as quickly as possible - after 30 hours it divides into two, and after another 10 hours - into 4 new cells. After a few days, the number of cells becomes 250, etc. Having passed the morula stage, the embryo becomes a round, ball-like blastocyst, the size of which does not exceed 0.1 mm.

The third obstetric week of pregnancy corresponds only to the first week of embryonic development. Implantation takes place these days. 4-5 days after the significant meeting of the oocyte and sperm, the embryo descends into the uterus and floats there until one of the walls adheres... It already has an inner layer, which is called the germinal node, and an outer layer, which will be responsible for implantation. The villi of the outer layer loosen the endometrium by the action of special enzymes, the endometrial cells are damaged, and the ovum can sink into the uterus. The villi immediately begin to feed the baby, connecting with the mother's small blood vessels.

Almost immediately after the baby is fixed, the intensive formation of embryonic structures will begin... The baby acquires embryonic petals, from which organs will be formed. By the end of the first month, the baby looks like a tiny dot with a rich inner world (naturally, at the cellular level). Its size by the end of the first month is no more than 1 mm.

In the body, from the very moment of conception, progesterone is produced in large quantities, which helps the endometrium to become more lush and facilitate the task of implantation. He is now in charge of many processes - the level of progesterone determines whether the pregnancy will continue, whether the baby will have enough nutrition for development and growth.

Here are the milestones for the first month.

Week 1 - menstruation ends, the uterine cavity is cleared of endometrium, which has grown in the last cycle and was not needed, since conception or implantation did not occur. The production of follicle-stimulating hormones begins.
2 week - the egg matures and leaves the follicle at the end of the week. Ovulation and conception occurs.
3 week - the zygote, and then the morula and blastocyst descend into the uterine cavity. By the end of the week, implantation occurs, the embryo begins to receive nutrients and oxygen from the mother's blood.
4 week - amnion and chorion are formed. The first will become the fetal bladder, the second will gradually transform into the placenta. Embryonic petals have appeared: the inner one will become the organs of digestion and urination, the middle one will become the basis of the heart and blood vessels, genitals, bones and muscles, and the outer one will become the child's skin.
4.5 weeks - the heart is actively forming. From two endocardial tubes, one is formed, the laying of the primary parts of the organ begins. It will take quite a bit - no more than a week, and a tiny heart, still two-chambered, will begin to contract, beat. The laying of germ cells begins. A notochord is formed, which divides the body into the right and left sides, as well as a neural tube, which is destined to become the brain and spinal cord a little later.

Woman's well-being

The first obstetric week of pregnancy does not bring any new sensations into a woman's life. Menstrual bleeding, which is usual for her, occurs, the uterus cleans itself, brings out bloody fluid with particles of the rejected endometrium. The hormonal background remains normal, characteristic of the first phase of the female cycle, the norms of general blood and urine tests have not been changed.

The second week precedes and ends with ovulation. On the eve of ovulation, a woman may experience a strong sexual desire - the mechanism for increasing libido is provided by nature itself precisely when a woman is fertile, that is, she can conceive a new life.

Typically, women experience the following ovulation symptoms mid-cycle.

The discharge from the genital organs becomes more abundant, viscous, the woman feels a constant sensation of moisture in the external genital area. Often, such a discharge is compared in consistency with raw chicken protein - if you spread your fingers apart, a stringy thread will remain.
Libido is enhanced.
At the time of follicle rupture, there may be quite distinct pain sensations to the left or right of the lower abdomen, in the ovarian region.
Basal temperature, which after menstruation remained at 36.5 degrees, makes a sharp jump to 37.1-37.3 degrees.
The sense of smell is exacerbated, the chest is slightly enlarged, and its sensitivity increases. The reason for both is a change in hormonal levels.
There may be mild bloating as estrogens cause fluid retention in the body.

Those planning a pregnancy usually determine their ovulation without significant difficulties. Ovulation test strips, which can be bought at any pharmacy, can always come to the rescue.

The third week passes either in complete ignorance or in anxious anticipation of the result... The woman does not know if conception has taken place. But even if she knew about it for sure, it is too early to consider herself pregnant until the ovum is successfully implanted into the uterus. It is this week that this process takes place. This time is called the pre-implantation period by obstetricians.... A woman practically cannot increase the likelihood of implantation - there is no such medicine or behavior method that would help save a crumbs half a millimeter in size if the female body does not accept the baby.

At the end of the third week, the doubting woman begins to look for signs of possible implantation.

Signs of implantation

The opinion of doctors on this matter is completely unambiguous: implantation does not have any vivid characteristic symptoms and signs. Everything that happens is happening at such a subtle, microscopic level that it is almost impossible to feel it. But women themselves argue that this process can be fully felt if the level of their own sensitivity and receptivity allows (it all depends on the nervous system).

So, at the end of 3 - beginning of 4 obstetric weeks of pregnancy, such signs are likely to appear.

Weakly, aching back and lower back ache - pulls and breaks. Women tend to attribute minor unpleasant sensations to fatigue, overwork, changing weather, etc.
The lower abdomen hurts slightly, as before menstruation. If a woman does not focus on her sensations, but is busy with work, study, something else, then she may not pay any attention to it at all.
The temperature may rise (slightly above 37.0 and mainly in the afternoon). A woman's face “burns”, has a chill, or is thrown from cold to fever - this is a side effect of high levels of progesterone, which is now “working” to feed and preserve the baby's life. Many at this stage believe that they have caught a cold somewhere. But the next morning the temperature returns to normal, and by the next evening it rises again, and so on until the very delay.
Headache, slight dizziness may occur, drowsiness and weakness increase, women usually attribute this to fatigue.
Often women say that on the day of implantation, they felt an unpleasant metallic taste in their mouth, as if an iron coin was put under the tongue.

Normally, excretion after ovulation becomes scarce, the so-called "dry" period goes on. Therefore, the nature of the discharge will not say anything specific, unless implantation bleeding occurs (according to statistics, it occurs in about 30% of women). Medicine has been trying to explain this mysterious phenomenon for a long time, but so far without success.

On the day of implantation, a slight spotting bleeding begins... The discharge is not abundant, there is no scarlet blood, only a few drops of dark, close to brown color. At the physiological level, this is explained by the violation of the integrity of the small capillaries of the endometrium during the dissolution of the membrane cells by the villi of the ovum.

Bleeding is most often regarded as an implantation sign only by those who have been expecting this pregnancy for a long time and are savvy and well-read about the symptoms and signs. The overwhelming majority of women believe that due to nerves or troubles at work, the cycle has failed, so menstruation begins a week earlier than their due date. This usually does not bother anyone, it is confused by something else - after about a day, the sanitary napkin becomes clean, there is no discharge. And after a week, menstruation does not come.

Implantation bleeding does not pose a risk to the mother and fetus. This is absolutely known. If it does not happen, this also does not indicate any deviations.

After implantation, the hormone hCG begins to be produced. It doubles every two days. As early as 4-6 days after implantation (by the end of the 4th obstetric week or a few days before the delay), theoretically, the earliest signs of pregnancy may appear, caused by a change in hormonal levels.

Early pregnancy symptoms

After implantation in a woman's body, the ratio of hormonal forces begins to change. Progesterone and chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) predominate. The first is already present in large quantities, the second increases in the blood gradually, and becomes perceptible for test strips in the urine only by the first day of the delay (4 full obstetric weeks).

If ovulation was late or implantation was somewhat delayed, then it is possible that the test will not give an accurate answer on the first day of the delay. A blood test to determine the level of hCG is considered more reliable. (the hormone is produced by the villi of the fetal chorion). In the blood, it is found in a concentration distinguishable for laboratory methods as early as 3.5 obstetric weeks (3-4 days before the delay).

At the end of the first month of pregnancy, there may not be any changes in the state of health, and the earliest signs of an "interesting position" may already appear - this is a purely individual question, it depends on the intricacies of the organization of the nervous system of a particular woman.

Progesterone, which has already completed the task of preparing the endometrium for implantation, takes on several other important functions - it begins to retain fluid in the body and contribute to the accumulation of fat (a nutritional reserve in case of hunger provided for pregnant women by nature), it also acts as an immunosuppressant - it suppresses the immune system women, so that overly zealous immune cells do not reject the embryo, because it is only half native to the female body, the second half of its DNA is paternal.

The changed hormonal conditions lead to the fact that the blood supply to the pelvic organs becomes intense, and all the mucous membranes in the body become looser. Therefore, a runny nose, which can suddenly begin, or general malaise, have a completely reasonable explanation. If a woman does not feel anything, this is also a variant of the norm.

The most common signs of pregnancy that start in the first month, even before the delay or immediately after it, include the following situations.

Sleepiness and fatigue - a woman feels overwhelmed due to a decrease in immunity and increased energy costs, which are required by the internal processes taking place with the baby and with her.
Mood swings - A side effect of progesterone is its effect on the psyche. The functions of the central nervous system are slightly suppressed. Because of this, women notice sudden mood swings.
"Tingling" and "lumbago" in the uterus and cervix are associated with relaxation of the uterine muscles, caused by the action of progesterone.
New hormonal phenomena that have come into force can lead to an increase in the sensitivity of the nipples of the mammary glands. The chest is slightly enlarged and sometimes it even hurts. The abdomen may be somewhat distended, under the influence of progesterone, constipation or heartburn often begins.
Urination may become more frequent and there may be uncontrolled excess drooling (usually during sleep).

Feelings that the body "breaks" if the throat hurts and the temperature exceeds 38.0 degrees - not a sign of pregnancy, but a sign of a real illness, flu or cold. Such there is a danger, because immunity, as mentioned above, is suppressed by progesterone.

The lower back aches, the back pulls - the sensations are quite normal, as the body adapts to new working conditions for itself. The woman becomes more sensitive to odors. There were cases that in a stuffy room, a woman fainted at an early stage only because her body was overloaded with the changes that had begun.

Some already at the end of the first month begin to suffer from nausea and toxicosis, which leads to the fact that the norms in the analyzes change - an increased hematocrit, a large number of leukocytes, etc.

What can and cannot be done during this period?

In the first month of pregnancy, a woman can lead a normal life. This usually happens, because many do not even know that they are pregnant. If a woman planned to conceive and in her heart assumes the likelihood that she may be pregnant, then you should not commit those stupid things that you can later regret.

Alcohol (even beer and wine) is not the best companion for the healthy formation of fetal organs... However, if you look at the situation from a medical point of view, then there is nothing wrong if a woman, not knowing about pregnancy, took alcohol during the first month (we are talking about a rare and dosed intake, and not about heavy drinking in huge quantities every day). Until the 4th week of pregnancy, when the chorion is formed, the baby will not feel the effects of alcohol at all, since he does not receive anything from the mother's blood, he feeds on the reserves of the “yolk sac”.

After 4 weeks, when a woman sees two strips on the test, it is important to immediately give up smoking and alcohol, because at this time the embryo already receives a lot of substances from the mother's blood, and the placenta, which could be a barrier and protection, is not yet formed - it has not formed ...

The effects of progesterone can cause marked emotional instability, mood swings, and feelings of panic, but you need to try to control yourself, get rid of stress correctly, so as not to accumulate them to a state of chronic problem.

If pregnancy occurred after the abolition of OK (oral contraceptives), there is nothing wrong with that either. Contraceptives do not affect the baby's condition at 1 month of pregnancy, even if the woman took emergency contraception, but did it late or incorrectly, and the effect of the medicine did not come.

Sex is allowed to everyone, except for women who transferred embryo transfer into the uterine cavity during the IVF treatment protocol... You can fly on an airplane without restrictions, if it does not cause unpleasant sensations. It is not forbidden to treat teeth yet, but it is already undesirable - it is better to do this at the planning stage of pregnancy or wait until the middle of the term, when the state of health will be better and the risks for the child will decrease.

The use of antibiotics during the first month of pregnancy is neither prohibited nor encouraged. Donly a situation when a drug is prescribed by a doctor and is taken for some kind of disease, which without antibiotics can harm a woman even more... There is a risk of fetal malformations while taking antibiotics, but it is not as great as before, because new generation antibiotics have appeared, not all of them are teratogenic (harmful to the fetus).

Disorders of the intestines, possible against the background of the action of progesterone, do not need drug treatment - it is enough to adjust the diet so that the diarrhea or constipation recedes. If a woman was on a diet and suddenly became pregnant, which she found out about when the first month had already passed, you need to calm down and start eating right - balanced, increase the amount of vitamins and proteins.

As in the case of alcohol, your food, even if you were on a strict diet to lose weight, and ate only lemons, is not dangerous for the baby until 4 weeks of pregnancy, until he began to receive nutrition from the mother's blood.

Possible problems and how to prevent them

In the early stages of pregnancy, a woman may experience various conditions that require the intake of an intestinal sorbent: diarrhea, nausea, indigestion, allergies, ARVI. When choosing a sorbent, it is necessary to take into account the safety of the product. Powder enterosorbent Smecta is not suitable for use in pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under 2 years of age due to the detection of a toxic substance in the raw material (clay) - lead. Lead during therapy with Smecta can enter the bloodstream and have a harmful effect on the child, in particular on his brain. This was announced in March 2019 by the regulator ANSM. ROAG (Russian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) reacted to this message with the following recommendation: do not prescribe Smecta to pregnant and lactating women, babies under 2 years old. Use well-proven domestic drugs in this group of people. Enterosorbent of the first choice for expectant mothers ROAG isolated Enterosgel. This gel-like enterosorbent, in contrast to powder, has a beneficial effect on the gastrointestinal mucosa, promotes the growth of beneficial intestinal microflora. It is important that the Enterosgel formula saturated with water does not provoke constipation in pregnant women. Enterosorbent Enterosgel acts only in the lumen of the digestive tract, does not penetrate into the blood.

This month, many problems, like the pregnancy itself, go unnoticed. So, during the fusion of the parents' germ cells, genetic errors may occur, and then a chromosomal abnormality cannot be avoided, not all of which are compatible with life. This is the most common reason why pregnancy is not prolonged and why the embryo dies after implantation for no apparent reason, it simply stops developing. In these situations, a woman begins her period, they just come after a short delay and can be slightly more abundant than usual. The woman may not even know she was pregnant.

Those chromosomal abnormalities that do not lead to the death of the embryo (Down syndrome and a number of others) are not yet subject to diagnosis - there is no single way to know if the baby is healthy or not, until at least 10-12 weeks of pregnancy.

Implantation can take place not where it was intended by nature, but on the way to the uterus - in the tube or in the cervix after entering the cavity. This is an ectopic pregnancy. At this time, it does not differ from the usual one, only tests show stripes a little later, and a blood test for hCG determines a reduced level of the hormone for the current period. It is too early for an ultrasound diagnosis - the ovum is too small to be examined.

But there are signs that might raise suspicion. More often, an ectopic pregnancy develops in women who have been taking medications to stimulate ovulation for a long time, in women who have repeatedly had abortions and have inflammatory diseases of the pelvic organs.... Quite severe stitching pains in the pelvis or abdomen may appear. In this case, the main symptomatic picture may appear as early as the second month of pregnancy.

A frozen pregnancy occurs at such a short time, mainly due to genetic abnormalities of the fetus, but the influence of harmful factors can also lead to the termination of life and development of the embryo. In this case, the fetus remains in the uterine cavity for some time - from 2 to 4 weeks. Then the uterus rejects it as a miscarriage. A miscarriage at this time is usually not recognized and is mistaken for a delayed menstruation.

Due to a decrease in immunity, infectious diseases of both viral and bacterial origin are not excluded - angina, flu, etc. In women with a tendency to constipation, hemorrhoids may develop or worsen.

Recommendations

The tips for women are pretty simple.

Lead a normal lifestyle, because pregnancy is not a pathology, not a disease, it does not oblige you to go to bed and spend all nine months in it.
Try to get enough sleep - now you need at least 9 hours a day for a full night's rest. After two stripes on the test, if your work involves night shifts, ask the management to change your schedule according to your position. They have no right to refuse.
Introduce more vegetables and fruits into your diet. Avoid strong coffee and tea, a lot of sugar and chocolate. Allergenic foods should now be avoided.
Walk and walk more.
Tune in to the good - the child is not yet able to feel your emotional state, but he perceives your stress hormones with blood at the hormonal level (adrenaline, cortisone, etc.).

In case of a sharp deterioration in the condition, the appearance of pain, bleeding, fever, call an “ambulance” and try to wait for the medical team in a lying position on your side.