Story of an Unborn Human-Pregnancy Week 1

I have not even commenced my journey as a whole human being as yet. My mother has released one half of me, and hopes the other half comes in the next few days, while I make my way to the fallopian tubes. Otherwise, I will disappear in her menstruation and she will have lost her chance this time to form a baby.

She feels a little more sexy than usual, when she releases me, and looks at her partner. He is always ready, so he releases his halves of me into her vagina. There are over one million of them, but I am fussy, and choose only the one that seems the strongest and most vigorous. The others are disappointed, but I need to choose only the best. My skin stretches, and his head buries in me. I am now whole, and forming a zygote, which looks a little like a tiny blood clot.

When the egg is released, the mother-to-be is not even aware of it. She may notice a little more clear discharge and maybe a quick little cramp, then it is over. She also feels a little more sexy, and may initiate sex with her partner. He is usually in tune with her mood, and intercourse happens.

The combination of ova or egg and sperm is called a zygote. The sperm have one to sometimes three days to reach the egg, and fertilise it, and become the other half of the zygote. It is floating free at this point, but must embed somewhere soon in order to survive.

At this stage, the zygote looks very much like a tiny blood clot. It has much to do in the first week of its existence. As the ova and the sperm fuse, each brings half of the potential foetus with them. These, among other things, are twenty-three chromosomes, carrying the start of the foetus’s sex, eye colour, growth potential, bone arrangements and other parts. These are the main pieces of the foetus, and the most important to begin with.

These two halves also carry a message from who-knows-where to say where each piece will go where, like an instruction book for a jigsaw puzzle. It also possesses the ability to metabolise and grow by dividing itself, each division holding exactly the right amount of chromosomes. The zygote’s cells respire and it can react to very basic stimuli.

In the first week, the zygote makes immense growth, although very little is noticed by the mother-to-be. She may feel a little off colour, and her breasts may feel very itchy and tingle. There may be a few feelings of strangeness, but, although she is undergoing much change inside, she usually barely registers it.

If she is very regular with her menstruation pattern, then she may expect a period and it not appear at the expected time. The uterus thickens further, but does not shed, thanks to changes in the hormones, and therefore gives the zygote a perfect place to attach itself and gain nourishment. Like a leech, it grabs hold, and begins a further spurt of growth, which will continue for the whole of the pregnancy.

By the end of the first week, the zygote has manufactured a sac around itself. This sac will grow with the zygote and protect it from nearly all harm. The zygote has arm and leg buds forming, but no real emotions, only a need for food, and to grow.