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 don’t 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 to discuss what to expect early in your pregnancy.

To understand how far along you are in the pregnancy and what to expect at 2 weeks pregnant, you must first understand how fertilization takes place. Then you will know how to calculate your expiration date. Most women ovulate in a 28-day cycle. So for simplicity, we’ll say that this cycle starts on the first day of your period. What this really means is that your body released an egg, but was unable to be fertilized by a sperm before the sperm or egg died. Therefore, the uterus must start over to prepare a new egg for release and slowly re-lining the uterus during the next cycle. But first, you’ll pass 5-7 days into what’s known as your period.

So, on Day 1 of your cycle, or period, you’ll go through about 5 to 7 days of the inconvenient expulsion from your body of an overripe egg and the mucous membrane that lines the uterus. 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 for more than 24 hours. Sperm has 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 starts more than 22 hours after the ovum reaches the ovum, the life of the ovum will be over and a new period will start again. Therefore, there is only a 72-hour time window 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 uterine wall around day 24. There it will remain for the next 260 days of pregnancy. This is the day the embryonic heart begins a slow, irregular pulsation, which will smooth out to a consistent rhythm in about another week. The actual date of conception would be the 15th, 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? Surely you have wondered what to expect at the beginning of your pregnancy, but are you ready to know what to do next? Considering the many obstacles to achieving pregnancy, 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 in fact, 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 to what to expect in early pregnancy is that food will not taste the same. Along with changes in the taste of food is common morning sickness, even if you’re 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 bloating, minor aches and pains, and even possible pregnancy cramps. These occur quite often in the calf of the leg as a “Charlie horse” type cramp and are the result of low calcium. Very early pregnancy symptoms are hard to spot unless you are 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.