As long as I’ve been married, I was under the impression that immediately upon conception you could have pregnancy symptoms. After having a kid, and lots of google “research”, I’ve learned several things that might be helpful to you if you are in that horrendous 2-week wait!

1. You cannot have pregnancy symptoms until the fertilized egg has implanted in your uterus (day 19-25 of cycle). After ovulation, progesterone gets higher and higher in your system each day until your period, when it drops suddenly (causing your uterus to shed). This means that your body ASSUMES you are pregnant until implantation. If an egg successfully implants, progesterone continues to get higher, as well as HCG (the pregnancy hormone). If an egg does not implant, progesterone decreases until your period comes. All this to say, your symptoms between ovulation and implantation are irrelevant and actually identical whether or not you are pregnant.
2. You probably won’t have symptoms until after your missed period. Though, it is possible. Once the egg has implanted, HCG begins to rise. Every women is different in how quickly, as well as how much, that hormone multiplies.
3. It’s debatable whether it’s possible to feel implantation cramping. I swear to you that I felt the exact moment my son implanted. It was 12 days after I ovulated and I felt a very sharp and unusual cramping. The next morning I took a positive pregnancy test. But, many experts say it is totally impossible to feel something that small. Maybe I was crazy. Who really knows.
4. There are little things that could point towards being pregnant, but you CANNOT know for certain unless you have a positive pregnancy test (urine or blood). Yes, there are definitely classic signs of pregnancy that can happen in that week before your period. Some women get them all, some don’t get any! It’s really a thing of chance.
5. The very best things you can do for successful pregnancy is to be patient, calm and wait it out. The truth of it is that you will get your period or you won’t. You’ll save yourself a lot of anxiety and $$ if you don’t test unless you miss your period.

While it’s well known that you should just wait to test until your missed period, we are all women and we all want to know NOW! If that means that you just want to pee on a few tests because you can’t control yourself, that’s totally fine. You will know soon enough. Until then… breathe mama. 🙂 Good luck!