Guest Author - Stephanie Cummings

You would think that with billions of people walking around the planet that it would be simple enough, but it’s actually a fairly complicated system that happens almost unnoticed every month. Understanding exactly what’s going on in your body is the best way to successfully get pregnant. Plus, it’s good information to have if you are trying to avoid pregnancy.

Every single pregnancy started with an egg and a sperm and they had to meet in the most perfect of circumstances and then all kinds of wild things started happening. But let’s start at the beginning.

A woman begins the process of creating life on the first day of her menstrual cycle or her period as many call it. During this time her body naturally cleans itself, sloughing off her uterine lining to prepare for a pregnancy in the upcoming month.

Meanwhile, upstairs in the pituitary gland, a small gland at the base of your brain, messages from the hypothalamus, a another gland in the brain, are received signaling that it’s time to start making a baby. The pituitary gland then starts to release hormones called Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing Hormone (LH.) These hormones then travel through the blood stream and eventually make their way to your ovaries, small oval shaped organs measuring about 3cm and located on either side of your uterus, where eggs begin to develop in fluid filled sacs called follicles.

These follicles begin to release large quantities of estrogen, another hormone, that then stimulates the endometrium, or uterine lining, to begin to thicken. A nice thick uterus is key to a successful pregnancy. This process is aptly called the Follicular or pre-ovulatory phase and lasts about 12 days (**Please note that this is based on a typical 28 day cycle. Individual cycles can vary by several days.)

On approximately day 13, the pituitary gland releases a larger amount of LH. This is commonly referred to as your “LH surge” and is what creates a positive home ovulation kit. When your ovary recognizes the LH surge, it releases the egg (also called an ovum) that it has been busy growing, rich with proteins and nutrients as well as half of the possible baby’s DNA. This is called ovulation. You are now officially in the Fertile Phase.

If you are trying to have a baby, now would be when you should have intercourse. During intercourse, the man releases a fluid called semen into your vagina. Inside this fluid are millions of tiny cells that resemble tadpoles called sperm. The sperm carry the other half of the possible baby’s DNA as well as their own proteins and nutrients necessary to create a healthy baby. These sperm then begin a long and tiring journey in search of your egg. Many will die along the way, but it only takes one to reach your egg in order to make a baby. Of course, if you do not want to become pregnant, you should avoid intercourse for several days surrounding ovulation or use a reliable form of birth control.

The egg, ready to be fertilized, is swept into the fallopian tubes; long skinny shoots that lead to the uterus, after it burst from your ovary. If you have had intercourse at the right time, it is here in the fallopian tubes that the sperm are anxiously waiting. When they meet, the sperm will swarm the egg, each one trying to penetrate the eggs thick outer mucus membrane. Once one sperm achieves this, the eggs chemistry changes, hardening its mucus membrane and making it impossible for any other sperm to get in. Inside, the egg, the DNA from the egg and sperm mix to create your baby’s DNA and your baby is made.

If no fertilization takes place, the egg disintegrates within 24 hours and no pregnancy will occur.

The fertilized egg, now called a zygote, quickly starts to divide and multiply cells. While it begins to grow, it also travels through the fallopian tubes, toward the uterus, which should by now have a nice thick lining just waiting for a baby to implant. This journey takes between 6 and 12 days.

Back at your ovary, the now empty follicle where the egg had been developing is called the corpus luteum. The corpus luteum is now a fluid filled sac that is releasing Progesterone, a hormone necessary to sustain pregnancy. It will continue to release progesterone for another 14 days. This is called the luteal (or post-ovulatory) phase.

Now, the zygote, or fertilized egg, has traveled through the fallopian tubes and divided many times over, making a multi-celled organism called a blastocyst. The blastocyst will find a nice, comfy spot and attach itself to the uterine lining. This is called implantation. Some women experience light, pink spotting during this time often referred to as implantation bleeding. It is nothing to worry about.

Over the next few days it grows at a rapid rate forming an embryonic sac (the sac of fluid where your baby will live and grow until birth), a yolk sac (a small ball of nourishment to help your baby survive these first few days) and a placenta (this is how your baby will get it’s nourishment and oxygen from you) and the embryo (the baby itself.)

You should now be reaching the time of the month when you are expecting your menstrual cycle. If no pregnancy has taken place, then the corpus luteum will shrivel and stop producing progesterone. This decrease in progesterone tells your uterus that there is no baby and it begins to shed its lining, starting your period and the whole process begins again.

If you did conceive a baby during this cycle, the placenta will release progesterone, keeping your uterus for beginning it’s shedding and you will not have a period. For many women, missing her period is the first sign that she might be pregnant.

In addition, the embryo produces another hormone called Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This is the hormone that home pregnancy tests look for in a woman’s urine. If hCG is present in the urine, it is almost certain that you are pregnant. These tests should be taken on the day that you expect your period (usually about 28 days after your last period started), although there is new technology that is creating ultra-sensitive home pregnancy tests that can detect hCG even earlier.

There are other early signs of pregnancy. Fatigue, nausea (especially in the morning), sore or tender breasts, and extreme emotions are all caused by the hormonal overhaul that is taking place inside your body.

For the next 36 weeks, your baby will continue to grow in your uterus and your body will experience a magnitude of changes. You can learn more about these changes at the Bella Pregnancy site.