The First Month - Conception
The doctor or midwife will calculate a woman’s due date and the baby's gestational age by working back to the first day of her last menstrual period. This is the starting point for the 40 weeks of pregnancy, since it is almost impossible to find the exact date that the baby was conceived.
During the second week, estrogen triggers a woman’s uterus to form a blood-rich lining of tissue. Rising levels of the progesterone prepare the uterus to support a fertilized egg. At the same time, the ovaries ripen eggs in fluid-filled sacs called follicles. During this brief period, conception can result if a sperm meets the egg.
By the third week, the woman will ovulate. This means that one egg is swept into the fallopian tube. In the following 12 to 24 hours, that egg can be fertilized, depending of course on if one of the 350 million sperm (an average ejaculation) manages to swim from the vagina through the uterus to the fallopian tubes to penetrate the egg.
Once the egg is fertilized, it is called a zygote. The zygote will immediately close its outer membrane to the rest of the sperm that have made it this far. Then it will begin dividing into identical cells as it is swept down the fallopian tube to the uterus, where it will continue to grow.
During the second week, estrogen triggers a woman’s uterus to form a blood-rich lining of tissue. Rising levels of the progesterone prepare the uterus to support a fertilized egg. At the same time, the ovaries ripen eggs in fluid-filled sacs called follicles. During this brief period, conception can result if a sperm meets the egg.
By the third week, the woman will ovulate. This means that one egg is swept into the fallopian tube. In the following 12 to 24 hours, that egg can be fertilized, depending of course on if one of the 350 million sperm (an average ejaculation) manages to swim from the vagina through the uterus to the fallopian tubes to penetrate the egg.
Once the egg is fertilized, it is called a zygote. The zygote will immediately close its outer membrane to the rest of the sperm that have made it this far. Then it will begin dividing into identical cells as it is swept down the fallopian tube to the uterus, where it will continue to grow.
Facts
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Myths
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"I believe that every personality is complete at conception and comes in the soul of every child."
- Taylor Hartman