During this week you will ovulate, and you will find yourself facing your most fertile period. What happens during this second week of pregnancy and why is it so important?
The most important
You are in the second week of pregnancy. This week something important will happen in your body: you will ovulate and if you practice unprotected intercourse on the day of ovulation, the days before or after, you can get pregnant.
Week 2 of pregnancy (The week of ovulation). Your most fertile days: ovulation takes place 14 days after your last period. From here on, your fertile period will be 3 days before and 3 days after.
If you are planning pregnancy, you probably know what days you could ovulate. If so, remember that starting a folic acid supplement now is essential.
It is still too early to take a pregnancy test. But you can use an ovulation test to find out what your most fertile days are.
You start an extremely important week for the future development of your baby, especially if you are planning your pregnancy and obviously want to get pregnant. If so, and you keep track of it, it is quite likely that you already know that you will ovulate during this week.
That is, during this week your ovaries will release an egg that, if it meets a healthy and strong sperm, could become fertilized and start gestation.
To do this, your uterine tissue begins to thicken these days, preparing to host the implantation and subsequent development of the embryo in case of fertilization, thanks to the maturation of the different ovarian follicles. One of them will become the strongest and will be the one destined for ovulation.
How does ovulation occur?
Before talking about ovulation itself, we must mention the presence of a very important hormone in this entire process: the one known as follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). This hormone causes the growth of a follicle, while the hormone of the corpus luteum (LH) triggers ovulation, thus completing the second phase of the cycle.
This follicle ‘bursts’ causing the ovum to detach, heading towards the fallopian tube while the rest of the follicular structure is transformed into what is known as the yellow body.
From this moment on, the egg can be fertilized by the winning sperm in the fallopian tube.
When the sperm meets the egg
For fertilization to be possible, it is necessary that the ovarian follicle has previously released the ovum. But for it to be fertilized it is necessary that, first, you have unprotected sex during the days before or after – or on the day – in which you ovulate (they are known as the most fertile days).
And, to achieve this, it is necessary for one of the sperm to travel the 18 centimeters that approximately separate the vagina from the fallopian tube, where the egg is ‘waiting’.
For this, the sperm has passed through the mucous barrier of the cervix, and through the uterine cavity, has reached a part of the fallopian tube. Finally, when it penetrates inside the ovum, something wonderful occurs: the mother’s genetic heritage merges with that of the father, beginning a new life.
At this time, the surprising cell division begins, while the natural movements of the tube transport the embryo to the uterine cavity for 4 to 5 days after conception. The embryo then nests in the mucosa of the uterine wall and what is known as implantation occurs. Right at this moment the pregnancy begins.
From this moment in the body of the future mother, one of the most important hormones is released during the first months of pregnancy: the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which will be responsible for the next 8 weeks to stimulate the yellow body in the ovary, and that it will be one of the ‘culprits’ of the first symptoms of pregnancy. In turn, the yellow body produces progesterone.
How to calculate the most fertile days?
Calculating your fertile period is actually very simple. In most cases, when your cycle is regular and lasts around 28 days, we must bear in mind that conception occurs around day 14 of the cycle.
With this in mind, you must count 14 days from the date of the arrival of the last menstruation. Then, ovulation will take place from 3 days before and 3 days after this date. That is, these 6 days are considered your most fertile period during this week.
