Prenatal Development: Week 2

Despite the fact that it is counted as part of pregnancy, you are not 2 weeks pregnant at this point. You haven't even ovulated yet! At the end of this week, though, the egg will be released into the fallopian tube. As the egg divides, your uterine lining and your body start to secrete follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) which stimulates an egg to mature. Now that you are at the midpoint of your menstrual cycle - if you have a regular 28-day cycle - you are ovulating and you're most likely to conceive. If you have sexual intercourse without protection during this week, you can become pregnant.

Pregnancy Tip   Prenatal Vitamins Even if you're not yet pregnant, you should start taking supplements to help ensure a healthy pregnancy. Biotegrity's Stage 1  give you extra folic acid and vitamin B12 to help reduce the chances of improper fetal development.

What's Happening
After your partner ejaculates, millions of sperm will travel from the vagina to the fallopian tube where your egg is waiting. An enzyme is released that allows one sperm to penetrate the egg and fertilization then takes place.

During fertilization, the genetic material of the sperm and egg are combined. You are now pregnant - although your body is not yet letting you know that just yet. Fertilization has just occurred so by the end of this week, your baby's sex will be determined. Depending on whether the father's sex chromosome is an X or Y, your child will be a girl or a boy respectively.

During this week, the fertilized egg goes through a process of division from one cell to two cells to four cells and more. By the time it gets to the uterus, this group of cells numbers 32 and is called a morula. And at just one week after fertilization, there are already 250 cells! Read up on the fascinating subject of the reproductive process.

Select a week of development to read detailed information:

Week 1	Week 11	Week 21	Week 31
Week 2	Week 12	Week 22	Week 32
Week 3	Week 13	Week 23	Week 33
Week 4	Week 14	Week 24	Week 34
Week 5	Week 15	Week 25	Week 35
Week 6	Week 16	Week 26	Week 36
Week 7	Week 17	Week 27	Week 37
Week 8	Week 18	Week 28	Week 38
Week 9	Week 19	Week 29	Week 39
Week 10	Week 20	Week 30	Week 40

Wondering if you're pregnant? Visit the forum to get a recommendation on a home pregnancy test from other women