In the third week of pregnancy, the expectant mother is not always sure of her new condition. But it is this period that is dangerous for the unborn baby. The embryo has not yet had time to properly attach to the lining of the uterus, so any stress, fall, cold can lead to the loss of pregnancy. We will tell you what to do if discharge and pain in the lower abdomen appear at the 3rd week of pregnancy.
How to count?
3 weeks of embryonic pregnancy corresponds to one week of delay in menstruation.
Obstetric and true gestational age usually differ by about 2 weeks. This is due to the fact that doctors do not count the gestational age from the date of conception, but from the date of the beginning of the last menstruation, as from a certain moment.
In reality, pregnancy begins later - after ovulation, fertilization of the egg with a sperm and implantation of the ovum into the wall of the uterus. However, it is not possible to accurately determine the time of all these events. It remains to fix the date of the last menstruation, add 280 days to it and get the estimated date of birth.
But at 3 weeks of gestation, it is still far from giving birth. If a woman has a cycle of 28 days, then ovulation occurred on day 14, and pregnancy came a little later. It is already 3 weeks of pregnancy, and the woman is just beginning to worry about the delay. Of course, if the pregnancy is planned or was the result of IVF, then a woman may know about pregnancy at 3 weeks more definitely.
In fact, pregnancy has not yet occurred, since this will happen only after implantation of the ovum, but the corpus luteum has already begun to produce progesterone, so the next menstruation does not come. The fertilized egg, if conception has occurred, moves into the uterine cavity and looks for a convenient place for implantation.
Progesterone has already done everything necessary for this:
- relaxed the muscles of the uterus to avoid spontaneous contractions;
- prepared the mucous membrane;
- weakened the immune system for successful attachment;
- affects the central nervous system of a woman to make her less nervous.
Other hormones, such as estrogen, also prepare the body for pregnancy.
If the countdown is from the date of conception, that is, the moment of fertilization of the egg by the sperm, then even in the case of late implantation, it has already definitely happened. This means that a rapid pregnancy test will definitely show two stripes. By this time, the level of hCG hormone, which is produced by the membrane of the ovum, had already increased so much that the pharmacy test would recognize it. Also, a woman's blood test will show a higher level of hCG: pregnancy has come and is developing.
Feelings of a woman
With the embryonic counting method, 3 weeks is the period when a woman begins to notice the first changes in her condition. For example, the sense of smell is exacerbated, taste and olfactory preferences change. This is the very period when a woman really wants salty, she is drawn to those products that she usually does not like, and smells and tastes that previously seemed attractive are annoying to nausea.
Another definite sign of pregnancy at week 3 is chest pain. The mammary glands become denser, hardened, and increase in size, and the nipples become more sensitive. Sometimes, already at this time, a woman begins to worry about ailments in the morning, weakness, nausea. Appetite can change, and how to improve, and a woman almost constantly experiences a slight hunger, a desire to eat, and, conversely, because of morning sickness, she does not want to eat at all.
With the counting method from the first day of the last menstruation, there are no sensations yet. The third obstetric week corresponds to one week of missed period.
Child
In the third week, according to the embryonic method, the future organs and systems important for vital activity are already laid in the child's body. The neural tube, notochord, neural crest, as well as the heart, vertebrae, rudiments of arms, legs, spinal cord and brain, liver, lungs, intestines and kidneys are formed. The gill slits are already visible, from which the neck, lower jaw and tongue will then arise. The first blood cells of the future baby are produced, and where the head and face will later be, the eye pits, the rudiments of the auricles and some glands appear.
During the third week, the uteroplacental circulation is formed: this means that now the development of the child completely depends on the mother, her nutrition and lifestyle. And if a woman, for example, abuses alcohol, then this causes serious damage to the forming embryo and most often ends with its death and rejection.
Therefore, if a woman is planning a desired pregnancy, you need to carefully listen to your feelings already in the second phase of the cycle, when conception may have occurred.
Allocations
In the third obstetric week of pregnancy, women are sometimes worried about small pulling pains in the lower abdomen and pink discharge. This may be due to the process of implantation of the ovum, which prepares a place for itself in the mucous membrane of the uterus, as if scraping out part of the epithelial cells in order to penetrate deeper and more reliably. Since this process takes about 40 hours, the woman may feel discomfort. But most often they are mistaken for the harbingers of the next menstruation. Actually, this will happen if the implantation fails.
Modern medicine believes that these are up to 75% of attempts at implantation of the ovum. The woman does not know about the conception that has occurred, there are no physiological signs of it. The rejection of the ovum occurs if any genetic defect arose during conception, the woman at that moment was sick, took medication, was nervous, or underwent heavy physical exertion. In some cases, a perfectly healthy ovum is rejected for no apparent reason.
If bleeding appeared in the third week of the embryonic count, that is, after conception, when the development of the embryo has already begun, then they are sometimes a symptom of miscarriage. Especially if such discharge is accompanied by cramping pains in the lower abdomen.
A woman needs to be concerned if even small spotting, possibly brown, appears at 3 weeks from the moment of conception. They do not necessarily look like bleeding; the discharge may be smearing.
Pain
Lower abdominal pain for many women is a sign of approaching menstruation. Especially often pulls the lower abdomen in those women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome, as well as those who have anatomical features of the structure of the pelvic organs. Also, pain in the lower abdomen on the eve of menstruation can also be caused by natural causes. In this phase of the cycle, a woman's body produces less endorphins - hormones of pleasure, which causes a decrease in the level of potassium and magnesium in the blood, hence pains, cramps, deterioration of mood and well-being are possible.
But if a woman's periods have already been delayed for about a week, and then there are pains in the lower abdomen, this may indicate a possible miscarriage in a short period. If the pregnancy has already been determined, and the period is 3 weeks according to the embryonic method, then the pregnancy can be saved.
If, in the early stages of pregnancy, a woman pulls the lower abdomen or hurts, as before menstruation, or pains in the lower abdomen, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Expert advice
According to gynecologists, mild pain, even in combination with pink, but not bloody, discharge does not necessarily indicate the threat of termination of pregnancy. But in any case, it is better for a woman to stay in bed for several days and follow the doctor's prescriptions. This will help preserve the pregnancy if it has already occurred, or create favorable conditions for implantation. Doctors advise to give up these days from physical activity, sports and try to maintain a good mood.
If the discharge has turned brown, the pain has intensified, blood has appeared, you need to contact either the doctor who helped the woman prepare for pregnancy, or seek emergency medical help at the antenatal clinic or a private clinic.
The arsenal of modern medicine has tools that can prevent miscarriage.
See what happens at the 3rd week of pregnancy in the next video.
