Your two week wait - day by day

Gunce • Head of research at Glow. Unwilling infertility expert. 2 kids after 6 IVF treatments.

The day after I ovulated, I would almost inevitably start feeling pregnancy symptoms. And they would DRIVE ME CRAZY. So in the interest of keeping a few of you sane - I compiled what happens the first 14 days past ovulation - and what you can expect if you are pregnant.

Day 1 - Ovulation: Your newly released egg will only survive 24 hours, but hopefully in that time, it will meet a sperm and be fertilized. Only about 300 sperm (out of millions) reach the right tube at about the right time, but only one is needed.

Day 2 – Your fertilized egg is busy dividing.

Day 3 – Vital cell divisions are now taking place as the fertilized egg is traveling towards implantation.

Day 4 – The embryo is now at the 16 cell stage.

Day 5 – Five days after fertilization, the embryo is now at the blastocyst stage. It has still not implanted.

Day 6 – The blastocyst is not preparing to implant into your uterus lining. This is crucial. If this does not happen correctly, the fertilized egg will simply be flushed out with your next period. It is thought that as much as 50% of pregnancies miscarry before implantation even occurs.

Day 7 – It happened! Your fertilized egg has implanted. Congratulations, you are officially pregnant. A placenta will now begin to develop. This is the earliest that you may experience a small amount of implantation bleeding.

Day 8 – Your fertilized egg will signal its existence to your pituitary gland and switch of your menstrual cycle. Click. Just like that – no periods for the next nine months.

Day 9 – Pregnancy hormones are now being produced. (Though they may be difficult to detect at this point.) Your embryo is less that .5mm long.

Day 10 – More growth. More hormones. Now your breasts may start to hurt. You could have cramps or bloating. Although it is still VERY early to be feeling pregnancy symptoms – but some women are just very in tune with their bodies.

Day 11 – Progesterone surge in your body is helping your lining thicken. It’s also playing all sorts of mind-tricks on you and driving you crazy as you analyze every twinge.

Day 12 – This is usually about the latest that you will experience any implantation bleeding. About 25 percent of women will experience some bleeding on early pregnancy.

Day 13 – The ball of cells is now firmly embedded in your uterus. Most pregnancy tests will pick up on the fact that you are pregnant by this point.

Day 14 – You might feel you have your usual PMS symptoms – but this time around they will be pregnancy symptoms in FULL force. Feel free to complain about them to your partner with full impunity. You’ve earned it!