So you’re week two into your pregnancy with only 38 weeks to go before your bundle of joy arrives! We hope you enjoyed the excitement of Week One 🙂

And while you might not be ‘pregnant’ yet (In the clinical sense) – your body will soon rapidly change as the new life inside your belly transforms from a tiny ball of cells into a fully-fledged human. 

Stick with us for week-by-week updates on your baby’s development and the physical changes you’re going through. As the new resident in your womb takes up more room by the minute, we’ll answer all your burning questions about baby size, progress, what’s happening inside your body and more. 

Here’s what to expect this week.

At A Glance: Week Two Pregnancy

• Ovulation is a day in your cycle when you’re most likely to conceive. But you’re also highly fertile five days before ovulation.
• Ovulation occurs when a matured egg is released from your ovaries and pushed into your fallopian tubes.
• The exact date of ovulation during a standard 28-day cycle is day 14, but this is only the case for some.
• Your body shows signs of ovulating – like thick, jelly-like discharge, boob tenderness, increased libido and more.
• If you haven’t made lifestyle changes in week one, start now! Prenatal vitamins, a healthy diet, and exercise are essential for healthy conception and pregnancy.
• At the end of the week, you might have a fertilised egg barrelling toward the uterus. Fertilisation happens when a sperm joins with an egg and their genetic material fuses.

Week Two Pregnancy Overview (Ovulating – Watch This Space)

If you’re sure you conceived two weeks ago or if two lines show up on your home pregnancy kit, you’re further along in your pregnancy journey! At two weeks, your baby isn’t even a speck yet. But you’re days away from ovulating, which could make conception real.

Ovulation is a phase of your monthly cycle where you’re highly fertile – knowing when increases your chances of falling pregnant this month. While ovulation might happen on day 14 of a standard 28-day cycle, all women are different. Yours can occur anytime from day ten to 22.

During ovulation, a fully matured egg will be thrust out from your ovaries and into your fallopian tubes, awaiting a potential suitor, i.e. sperm. But how does it get there? Before ovulation, the egg releases oestrogen to thicken your uterus. In turn, this stimulates the production of LH or the luteinising hormone, which causes your egg to burst through the follicle and into the fallopian tube.

Now let’s talk fertilisation. The egg will only survive up to 24 hours before the body reabsorbs it, so there’s no time to waste for the millions of sperm racing through the female reproductive system. Only a few hundred meet the egg, with just one winner crossing the finish line. When a sperm penetrates the outer membrane of the egg happens, fertilisation will occur shortly.

While you’re most likely to fall pregnant when ovulating, you can also be impregnated five days before. Sperm can swim around the cervix, waiting for the egg for several days! If you’re not pregnant yet and you’ve been trying for a while, don’t immediately think there’s a problem. You might be missing your pregnancy window.

Body Changes For Week Two Pregnancy

At the start of ovulation, you may notice a few changes as your body prepares for pregnancy.

If you identify these signs, let the sexy time commence!

1. An Increase in Vaginal Secretions

Your vaginal secretions, known as discharge, change in frequency, appearance and texture during ovulation.

Your body releases the most discharge at this time. You might notice increased amounts of stretchy, clear, and wet fluids in your underpants, which tells you it’s time for sex. Interestingly, the slippery discharge makes the path toward the egg smoother for competing swimmers. 

2. Heightened Sense of Smell

You might mistake a keen sense of smell for pregnancy, but it could be a symptom of ovulation instead. 

Olfactory sensitivity might be linked to the reproduction system, where our noses are easily affected by certain odours, particularly the stench of male pheromones. In other words, we’re no different to others in the animal kingdom, guided by our base instincts and urges to reproduce.

3. Mittelschmerz

Huh, pardon me? 

Mittelschmerz is German for “middle pain” or “pain in the middle of the month”, which references a one-sided, lower abdominal pain associated with ovulation. These pangs of pain signal when your ovaries release an egg.

4. Increased Sex Drive 

If you’re in the mood and find your partner extra desirable, it might be the hormones associated with ovulation talking. That, coupled with the fact that your libido might be experiencing a high because you’re excited about procreating.

Week Two Pregnancy Tips: Continue To Get Your Body Ready

You can do a lot to increase your likelihood of falling pregnant. If you haven’t already – lay off the booze, quit smoking and keep coffee consumption at a minimum.

Make these key changes to your lifestyle if you’re expecting to ovulate soon.

1. Prenatal Vitamins

If you’re hoping to be a mother soon, you probably know the importance of prenatal pills. But you might not know when to start taking them. Healthcare providers recommend that you start them a month before you conceive. It’s okay if you haven’t started taking them yet, but be quick about it!

Incorporating prenatal vitamins into your daily life during the first trimester is crucial, as these months are the most critical for your baby’s development. If you’re not getting enough vitamins and minerals, your baby won’t either, and the health consequences might be significant. 

Prenatal vitamins are specially formulated for the unique needs of mums-to-be, packed with key ingredients to support your pregnancy and growing baby. Learn about these key ingredients.

Many practitioners might suggest taking the pills throughout your pregnancy and breastfeeding, indicating that if you’re getting all the necessary nutrients and healthy, so is your growing baby. However, chat with your doctor before making this decision. 

Typically, you’ll find over-the-counter multivitamins at any pharmacy, but you can ask your practitioner for recommendations if you don’t know which to take.

2. Get Healthy

Your body’s about to take on the most prominent role of its lifetime: pregnancy. Treat it like a temple. Eliminate unhealthy habits like smoking and drinking from your diet, which can disrupt your baby’s development once you’re expecting.

Start exercising and get more sleep. These changes increase your chances of growing a healthy baby once they inhabit your womb.

3. Have Plenty of Sex

You’re highly fertile at this stage of your cycle, so you’ll need to turn up the heat in the bedroom. But how much sex should you be having? Must it be all the time?

Some studies show high pregnancy rates among couples that engage in sexual activity every day or every other day. In addition, experts advise that you plan for the most sexual activity during the peak of ovulation.

But for some, having that much sex isn’t possible or takes the fun out of trying.

It can feel like a chore, pressurising or tiresome if you’ve been trying for a baby for a while and have yet to see results.

So instead of going at it like rabbits all the time, a more manageable number is two-to-three times a week after your period.

4. Buy An Ovulation Kit

While you might wait for ovulation symptoms, a failproof way to prepare for ovulation is with a home ovulation kit.

The kit is used to detect increased levels of a hormone called luteinising hormone or LH. A surge of LH signals that the ovaries have released an egg.

A home-ovulation kit works like a home pregnancy kit – you’ll urinate on a stick and wait on the results. If the stick changes colour or displays a positive symbol, a rise of LH has been detected.

When should you start testing during your cycle? It depends. The best time during a standard 28-day cycle is day 11, roughly three before ovulation, after which you should test daily to avoid missing that surge.

Once you obtain a positive result, ovulation should occur within 24 to 36 hours, but that’s not the case with every woman.

Baby Size And Latest Developments For Pregnancy Week Two

At the start of week two, your baby isn’t any size yet, because he or she might not exist. But if fertilisation occurs with ovulation, a lot of development is already in motion.

The fertilised egg or zygote forms when the sperm and egg cells fuse. Although tiny, the zygote has all the genetic material it needs to form a human being. Amazingly, the sex of the future foetus has already been determined based on the X and Y sex chromosomes received by the egg and the sperm. However, you have a while to go before you learn if you’re having a boy or a girl. Male and female sex characteristics take weeks to form fully!

Right now, though, the zygote exists as an invisible single cell, but it won’t stay that way for long. It will go through many changes as it travels along the fallopian tubes toward its final destination: the uterus. Stay tuned!

Is It Time for an Ultrasound During Pregnancy Week Two?

Unless you’re experiencing fertility issues or other medical conditions that could complicate your pregnancy, you won’t need to book an ultrasound appointment yet. You might be anxious to see how your teeny-tiny baby is. And while there’s a lot of activity going on, there’s nothing to see! The gestational sac will show up at roughly four weeks on an ultrasound, while the heartbeat might be detected as early as week five or six. If you’re healthy and not showing worrying symptoms, the earliest time for an ultrasound is from week eight.

Fun Facts For Pregnancy Week Two

• Over 30? You could expect double the trouble! Yes, we’re talking about twins. Once you’re 30-something, you’re more likely to release more than one egg into the fallopian tubes during ovulation. 
•  Lube might improve the quality and pleasure of your love-making, but it’s not great when you’re trying to conceive. With some brands changing the ph of your vagina, it makes it harder for sperm to swim. We know it’s not ideal, but lay off the lube for a while.

Week Two Pregnancy Checklist

• By now, you should have started taking prenatal pills
• You have scheduled an appointment with your OBGYN
• You’re on your way to becoming healthier
• You’re having regular sex
• You’ve bought ovulation kits
• You’re noticing signs of ovulation
• Get comfy, and load up our Article on what to expect During Week 3!