While there are many signs of early pregnancy, the most obvious and easiest indicator is a missed period. By the time you miss your period, you are only about 2 weeks pregnant. The problem is that many women do not know when their last period started or their periods are not regular. So how do you know if she is 2 weeks pregnant, 4 weeks pregnant or more? This question needs to be answered first before we can begin discussing what to expect in early pregnancy.

To understand how far along you are in your pregnancy and what to expect at 2 weeks pregnant, you first need to understand how fertilization takes place. Then you will know how to calculate your due date. Most women ovulate in a 28-day cycle. So for simplicity we will say that this cycle starts on the first day of your period. What this really means is that your body released an egg, but it couldn’t be fertilized by a sperm before either the sperm or the egg died. Therefore, the uterus must begin again to prepare a new egg to release it and slowly re-line the uterus during the next cycle. But first, you will go through 5 to 7 days of what is known as your period.

So, on Day 1 of your cycle, or period, you will go through around 5 to 7 days of the inconvenient expulsion of an overripe egg and the mucous membrane lining the uterus from your body. Around day 10 to day 15, ovulation takes place. This is when the body releases hormones from various glands, making the timing perfect for the sperm to fertilize the egg. However, the unfertilized egg cannot survive more than 24 hours. Sperm have a half-life of about 48 hours while inside the female tract. Ideally, the sperm should be waiting for the egg to arrive. So if the sperm begins its journey more than 48 hours before the egg reaches the oviduct, the sperm’s lifespan will expire. But, if the journey begins more than 22 hours after the egg reaches the egg, the life of the egg will be over and a new period will start again. Therefore, there is only a 72-hour window of time each month during which a woman’s egg can be fertilized and she is considered fertile.

Assuming a woman’s egg was fertilized around day 15 of the cycle, the egg will move along the oviduct and finally implant in the wall of the uterus around day 24. There it will remain for the next 260 days of pregnancy. This is the day that the embryonic heart begins a slow, irregular beat, which will smooth out to a consistent rhythm in about another week. The actual date of conception would be day 15, the day fertilization occurred. This means that from the date of conception to the date she first misses her period is 13 to 15 days. She is now 2 weeks pregnant. Even so, doctors will still calculate her due date from the first day of her last menstrual cycle. So when they say she’s 2 months pregnant, she’s actually only about 6 weeks pregnant.

Now you know exactly when you are 2 weeks pregnant, but how do you know exactly what to expect at 2 weeks pregnant? You’ve probably wondered what to expect in early pregnancy, but are you ready to know what to do next? Considering the many obstacles to getting pregnant, it would seem that the hard part would be over. In fact, in a recent study of women who wanted to get pregnant, only 33 percent were able to get pregnant in the first month, 60 percent at three months, and 75 percent at six months. But actually getting pregnant was the easy part compared to the changes that will occur in your body over the next year.

One of the first changes in what to expect in early pregnancy is that food will not taste the same. Along with changes in the taste of food, there is the common morning sickness, even if you are only 2 weeks pregnant. Also, you will most likely have an increased appetite or cravings for specific foods. This can trigger unwanted weight gain early in pregnancy.

Other symptoms and what to expect in the first two weeks of pregnancy include swelling, minor aches and pains, and even possible pregnancy cramps. These occur quite frequently in the calf of the leg as a “Charlie’s horse” type cramp and are the result of low calcium. Very early pregnancy symptoms are hard to spot unless you’re very in tune with your body. So don’t be discouraged if you don’t notice it at 2 weeks pregnant. Be patient and time will tell.