All About Pregnancy

3rd Week Pregnant

Your Growing Baby:

Fertilization occurs in one of the fallopian tubes. Cell division begins at breakneck speed.

Though it's very early in your pregnancy, things are definitely happening! Once the "winning" sperm (one of 200 million or so contenders) has penetrated your egg, the egg shuts down, admitting no more sperm. Two sets of cell nuclei fuse together inside the egg, assigning your baby—now called a zygote—a gender, eye and hair color and more than 200 other genetically determined characteristics.

Your Growing Belly:

Be sure that you're taking good care of your baby. Now, if not before you started trying to conceive, you should:

Quit smoking.Avoid alcohol.Avoid drugs: the legal, the illegal, and those labeled "herbal supplements," and those that come as skin creams (such as acne medication) and in beverages (like caffeine). Immediately tell your care provider about any prescription or other medications you currently take or were taking at the time you conceived. Avoid taking large amounts of vitamins: an over-the-counter prenatal or even daily chewable (like a Flintstone) is enough and is recommended for all women who are trying to conceive or who could possibly become pregnant.If you have any kind of medical appointment with a doctor or dentist, inform them that you may be pregnant.Eat five servings of different fruits and vegetables daily.Drink plenty of water.

Tip's And To-Do's:

Does Age Matter

Ask several women what they think is the ideal age for pregnancy, and you'll get wildly different answers. "Everything depends on the woman's health, energy, personality and perspective on life." While you can't change your age, there are steps you can take to boost your odds of having a happy and healthy experience, no matter how old you are. 

Thing's To Think About This Week

If you haven't started already, you should be taking a prenatal multivitamin with 400 micrograms of folic acid daily (take 600 micrograms when you get pregnant).