3 week of pregnancy: discharge and pain in the lower abdomen

In the third week of pregnancy, the expectant mother is not always sure of her new condition. But it is precisely this period that is dangerous for the future baby. The embryo has not had time to properly attach itself to the uterine mucosa, so any stress, a fall, a cold can lead to a loss of pregnancy. We will tell you what to do if discharge and abdominal pain appeared at the 3rd week of pregnancy.

3 week of embryonic pregnancy corresponds to one week of delayed menstruation.

Obstetric and true gestation usually vary by about 2 weeks. This is due to the fact that doctors do not count the term of pregnancy from the date of conception, but from the date of the beginning of the last menstruation, as from a certain moment.

In reality, pregnancy begins later - after ovulation, fertilization of the egg with a spermatozoon and implantation of the ovum into the uterine wall. However, it is not possible to accurately determine the time of all these events. It remains to fix the date of the last menstruation, add 280 days to it and get an estimated date of delivery.

But at 3 weeks of pregnancy before birth is far away. If a woman has a cycle of 28 days, then ovulation occurred on the 14th day, and the pregnancy came a little later. It is already 3 weeks of pregnancy, and the woman is just beginning to worry about the delay. Of course, if the pregnancy is planned or was the result of IVF, then the woman may know more about pregnancy at week 3.

In fact, pregnancy has not yet come, as this will happen only after the implantation of the ovum, but the corpus luteum has already begun to produce progesterone, so the next menstruation does not come. If the conception occurred, the fetal egg moves into the uterine cavity and is looking for a convenient place for implantation.

Progesterone has already done everything necessary for this:

• relaxed the muscles of the uterus to avoid spontaneous contractions;
• prepared mucous;
• weakened immunity for successful attachment;
• It affects the central nervous system of a woman so that she is less nervous.

Other hormones, such as estrogen, also prepare the body for the onset of pregnancy.

If the counting is conducted from the date of conception, that is, the moment of fertilization of the egg by the spermatozoon, then even in the case of late implantation it has already occurred. This means that a rapid pregnancy test will definitely show two bars. By this time, the level of hCG hormone, which produces the shell of the ovum, has increased so much that the pharmacy test recognizes it. Also, a woman's blood test will show a higher level of hCG: pregnancy has come and develops.

With an embryonic counting method, 3 weeks is the time when a woman begins to notice the first changes in her condition. For example, the sense of smell is aggravated, taste and olfactory preferences change. This is the very time when a woman really wants something salty, she is drawn to those products that she usually does not like, and the smells and tastes that earlier seemed attractive irritate to the point of nausea.

Another accurate sign of pregnancy at 3 weeks is pain in the chest.The mammary glands become more dense, coarsen, increase in size, and the nipples become more sensitive. Sometimes already at this time a woman begins to be disturbed by the ailments in the morning, weakness, nausea. The appetite can change, and how to improve, and the woman almost constantly experiences a slight hunger, a desire to eat, and, conversely, because of morning nausea, I do not want to eat at all.

With the method of counting from the first day of the last menstruation, there are no sensations yet. The third obstetric week corresponds to one week of menstruation delay.

In the third week, according to the embryonic method, the future organs and systems important for vital activity are already laid in the child's body. A neural tube, chord, neural crest, as well as heart, vertebrae, rudiments of arms, legs, spinal cord and brain, liver, lungs, intestines and kidneys are formed. Gill slits are already noticeable, from which the neck, lower jaw and tongue will later emerge. The first blood cells of the future baby are produced, and where later the head and face will be, the eye fossa, the rudiments of the ears and some glands appear.

During the third week, the uteroplacental circle of blood circulation is formed: this means that now the development of the child is completely dependent on the mother, her nutrition and lifestyle. And if a woman, for example, abuses alcohol, it causes serious damage to the forming embryo and most often ends with its death and rejection.

In the third obstetric week of pregnancy, women are sometimes disturbed by small pulling pain in the lower abdomen and pink discharge. This may be due to the process of implantation of the ovum, which prepares for itself a place in the mucous membrane of the uterus, as if scraping a part of the epithelium cells to penetrate deeper and more reliable. Since this process takes about 40 hours, a woman may feel discomfort. But most often they are mistaken for harbingers of the next menstruation. Actually, this will happen if the implantation fails.

Modern medicine believes that up to 75% of attempts at implantation of the ovum are such. A woman does not know about the conception that occurred, there are no physiological signs of it. Rejection of the ovum occurs if at conception any genetic defect arose, the woman was sick at that moment, was taking medication, was nervous, or had suffered heavy physical exertion. In some cases, a perfectly healthy fertilized egg is rejected for no apparent reason.

If the blood discharge appeared on the third week of the fetal method, that is, after conception, when the development of the embryo had already begun, then they are sometimes a symptom of a miscarriage. Especially if such secretions are accompanied by cramping pain in the lower abdomen.

Abdominal pain for many women are signs of an approaching menstruation. Especially often the lower abdomen in women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome, as well as having anatomical features of the structure of the pelvic organs. Also, pain in the lower abdomen on the eve of menstruation can be caused by natural causes. In this phase of the cycle in the woman’s body, less endorphins are produced - pleasure hormones, which causes a decrease in the level of potassium and magnesium in the blood, hence pain, convulsions, worsening of mood and well-being are possible.

But if a woman's menstruation has already lingered for about a week, and then there is pain in the lower abdomen, this may indicate a possible miscarriage in the short term. If the pregnancy is already defined, and the period is 3 weeks by the embryonic method, then the pregnancy can be saved.

According to gynecologists, weak pain, even in conjunction with pink, but not bloody, discharge does not necessarily indicate the threat of abortion. But in any case, a woman is better to stay in bed for several days and follow the prescription of a doctor. This will help preserve the pregnancy if it has already arrived, or create favorable conditions for implantation. Doctors advise giving up physical activity, playing sports and trying to keep a good mood these days.

In the arsenal of modern medicine there are tools that can prevent miscarriage.

About what happens at 3 weeks of pregnancy, see the following video.