No you are not pregnant yet! In fact your period has just started. Everything begins on day 1 of your cycle when you get your period. Even though your baby has not yet been conceived, ironically, this is still classed as part of the gestation period – the nine months of pregnancy.

So why is this the first week of your pregnancy? The medical profession hate unknowns and uncertainties – they prefer proof. It is known that conception takes place approximately 14 days after the start of your period – so to work out an estimated due date, they calculate it from the first day of your last period. So as you can see, even at an early stage, there is no exact science to working out your baby’s birth date – only 3-5% of babies are born on their ‘due’ date. So as far as excited family members go, it’s best to just say baby is due, ‘sometime at the end of July!’ for example, to avoid excessive anticipation of a certain day, because there is 97% chance baby wont make a move on your due date!!!

So let’s take a look at what is happening to your body. Since the end of your last period your endometrium (the inner lining of your uterus), has been thickening in preparation for implantation. This thickening has been caused primarily by an increase in the hormone progesterone. As implantation has not taken place, progesterone levels fall and your body gets rid of this thickened layer causing bleeding – your period.

At the moment, your baby is still a small, single celled egg, hiding in one of your ovaries, completely unaware of what is about to take part!