You’ve sailed into the third week of pregnancy after completing your first and second week of pregnancy and are itching to find out what exactly is happening or what you should be expecting. Externally, there aren’t too many visible changes even now. But rest assured, there’s a lot of activity going on inside your body. Let’s dive deeper.
3 weeks pregnant – signs
Hormonal changes lead to nausea, loss of appetite and cramps, which in turn result in weight loss. The spike in progesterone will also leave you feel tired all the time, as if you’ve just done some intense physical activity. You will also feel extra sensitivity and tenderness in your breasts, and find your nipples darkening. Get ready to pretty much camp in your washroom, as all of a sudden, you’ll feel like peeing all the time!
This is also a difficult time for your diet as your sense of smell and aversion to food will be heightened, making it hard for you to enjoy even the foods you actually love.
You will have missed your period. However, some women experience a small amount of spotting – red or pink staining – around this time, as the fertilised egg makes itself at home in the uterine wall.
Your Basal Body Temperature, which has been high since Week 1, will continue to stay elevated.
3 weeks pregnant – What’s happening to the baby?
It is amazing how very little is seen on the outside, yet there is just so much development happening within your body. At this stage, your baby is still a group of cells that are dividing like crazy. This group of cells is called a Blastocyst, and is now travelling from the fallopian tubes to the uterus and will lodge itself into the endometrium.
The endometrium provides the embryo with nourishment, and some parts of the baby are already beginning to form! The heart starts beating. By now, the gender (although, remember that gender identification is illegal in India), eye, hair and skin colour have also already been set; although you won’t know this until months later or until the baby is actually born. The brain, spinal cord and gastrointestinal tract are into their developmental stages too!
3 weeks pregnant – What should the expecting mother be doing?
You don’t have to give up on your regular, day to day activities just yet. However, it is definitely time to up your nutrient intake.
Include a lot of whole fat dairy products, green veggies, legumes and meats in your diet. Foods rich in Folic Acid, calcium, iron and protein are your best friends, since they help in healthy bone, muscle and tissue development of your baby.
The time for dramatic changes isn’t here yet, so you don’t have to worry much. Just continue following a healthy, wholesome lifestyle that you’ve already put in place by week 2, viz. no junk food, no smoking and drinking, getting plenty of sleep and regular exercise!
Contact us if you have any doubts / queries or have your pregnancy story to share with us.