Conception Process: Back to Basics

Many people spend a fair amount of time and energy actively trying not to get pregnant. If a school teaches any sort of sex education these days, it is generally regarding abstinence or utilizing condoms and pills to prevent pregnancy. Do you understand and know what happens during the conception process?

What most women do not learn during these classes, is how their reproductive system truly works. What the chances of a pregnancy actually are each month and what to look out for within their body systems. In order for you to become pregnant, there is more to know than just ‘have sex’. There is actually only about a 20% chance of conception each month. For a healthy couple, it can take up to one year to conceive a baby. Anything beyond a year to get, and stay pregnant, is considered infertility at that point.

Ovulation must occur to release an egg for the conception process. You may be thinking, of course! But many women may not be actually ovulating each month and not realize it. If you are not tracking your cycles each month, you may miss the signs of pending ovulation.

Ovulation

A baby girl is born with approximately 1-2 million eggs in her ovaries. Most will die off immediately and others will as she ages. Only a few of these eggs are actually released between the start of her having cycles and entering menopause.

Once a new cycle begins, 1-3 egg follicles begin to mature in the ovaries. Each follicle will contain 1 egg to be released. When it is time, the most mature egg will be released into the fallopian tube. The egg will live for 12-24 hours. It will need to be fertilized during this window by healthy sperm in order for conception to occur. If conception does not occur during this window, the egg will disintegrate and the lining of the uterus will shed about 14 days after ovulation has occurred.

The stages of ovulation include the follicular phase, ovulation, luteal phase. During these times your hormones fluctuate in order for the proper balance of the cycle. FSH levels are going to rise as soon as a new cycle begins to support the growth of mature follicles and peak at ovulation. Your estrogen/estradiol will raise during the follicular phase when the follicles are maturing. Progesterone will rise immediately after ovulation occurs and will stay elevated during the luteal phase. If conception does not occur, then it will drop just before your next period begins.

Conception

When conception occurs, the sperm meets the egg in the fallopian tube during the ovulation process. The fertilized egg, called a zygote, will then travel into the uterus. The follicle that is fertilized from the egg released is called the corpus luteum and begins to release progesterone to begin the build-up of blood and nutrients to the uterine wall to support implantation. The zygote begins to divide within 24 hours of fertilization. It then forms a blastocyst. The inner portion of cells becomes an embryo, while the outer layer will become the placenta.

It takes about 4 – 5 days for the zygote to travel down the fallopian tube into the uterus. Once there it will connect to the endometrium wall and then begin the implantation process. Some women can experience light bleeding when this occurs. A mucus plug will then form in the cervix, closing it off to protect the pregnancy.

Aren’t our bodies amazing? All this happens without us even realizing it!

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