At week three, congratulations are due! You are officially pregnant! You will have to wait for a while for the test to show those two pink lines, but some changes are definitely in motion now.
Apart from that little cluster of cells called embryo, which is soon to become your baby, some changes are also going on with the woman’s body at 3 weeks pregnant.
Keep reading to find out more about which changes you can expect and what you need to do to prepare when you are 3 weeks pregnant.
What to expect during the third week?
There are several things that are changing during the third week of pregnancy; after all, big things are in the works regarding your developing baby, and your body is going to find ways to adjust to the big new change and prepare for the growing baby and baby’s arrival.
You are probably extremely curious about what is going on and how to handle it, especially if this is your first pregnancy. Here are some changes and early symptoms most women can expect during week three of pregnancy, and first trimester in general.
Physical pregnancy symptoms during week three of pregnancy
There is no doubt that pregnancy is going to come with some physical symptoms, which are also referred to as symptoms of early pregnancy.
The majority of early pregnancy symptoms are mild because the pregnancy hormones cause them, and you probably do not have a high level of those in your body yet, while you are the week three of pregnancy.
Here are some signs of pregnancy that you can look out for at week three:
Nausea
The notorious pregnancy hormone, or hCG, will start making its way through the pregnant body once the early pregnancy starts, and you might notice that it brings on some feelings of queasiness or nausea, making you puke. Many refer to this as morning sickness, but the unfortunate truth is that it will not stop in the morning!
If you are experiencing morning sickness at three weeks, you may be further along than you thought. You could also be three weeks pregnant with twins! Twin moms-to-be often experience higher pregnancy hormones levels, which doubles nausea.
Implantation bleeding
If the implantation has been successful, it is possible (and for many women, very likely) to see a bit of spotting as the fertilized egg gets cozy into the lining of your uterus, to make its new home there!
Breast tenderness, pain, and changes
As your body starts prepping to make milk, your breasts can start to get sore, and your nipples can become darker. They might also feel heavy and particularly big.
Missed menstrual period
If your cycle is usually on the shorter end (for example, less than twenty-eight days), three weeks pregnant is long enough for you to realize that you have a missed period and that you could be pregnant if your last menstrual period simply does not show up. Taking a pregnancy test is the only way to know for sure.
Can you take a pregnancy test at three weeks pregnant?
It is a bit too early to take a home pregnancy test at three weeks pregnant. However, do not worry, because the answer is pretty close. By the middle or later part of week four, the pregnancy hormone hCG in your urine could be detected by using a sensitive early test.
What happens to the baby inside during week three?
During week three of pregnancy, the baby you are developing is a tiny ball of several hundred cells. These cells multiply by a second, and they burrow into the lining of the uterus.
As time passes, the cells in the middle will become the embryo, and the ones on the outside will become the placenta.
What happens to a woman’s body during week three?
At three weeks pregnant, there will not be any major outward changes in a woman’s body, although some pregnancy symptoms may have started, which have been described above.
During the third week of pregnancy, the fertilized egg moves into the uterus and becomes a blastocyte, and implantation happens.
Pregnancy Checklist During the Third Week
There are some steps that you should take during 3 weeks pregnant to ensure that you are being healthy and taken care of.
None of these changes are huge; they are small lifestyle changes that will ensure that you are taking good care of yourself as a future mom and the little baby growing inside you. Some of the things that you should or should not be doing during the third week of pregnancy include:
Continue taking care of yourself
At week two, you should still be drinking plenty of water and, eating well, taking your prenatal vitamins and folic acid supplement every day, to ensure a healthy pregnancy and baby’s growth. Continue to practice self-care and get regular moderate exercise.
Remain calm and patient
At week three, you are probably boiling to find out whether your attempts to get pregnant have been successful or not. No matter how excited you are, it is essential to remain calm, patient, and stress-free at such an early point of your pregnancy; but be patient. A pregnancy test will not be able to detect pregnancy just yet.
So, resist taking the test too early and wait for the recommended period to take the home pregnancy test. If you get a negative result on the first one, keep testing every couple of days until you get a positive test or your period.
Ace that home pregnancy test
In order to get clear and correct results from the home pregnancy test, it has to be taken correctly. So when the time for it comes, take the pregnancy first thing in the morning, ensuring that the pee has a high enough concentration of hCG for the test to detect.
Another great way is taking a blood test, but you will need to contact your healthcare provider for that.