From the seventh to the tenth week, the placenta ranges in diameter from ½ - 1¼ in. (15 – 30 mm). The uterus contracts and closes off the blood vessels after the products of conception have passed. The bleeding slows and then gradually stops. Spotting may be present for up to three weeks.
After the abortion, signs of pregnancy begin to disappear. Breasts begin to revert back to their original size. Breasts may be tender and tingly for a few weeks during this transition. The cervix and uterus may be tender for a few weeks as well. An over-the-counter pregnancy test will show negative results around three weeks after the abortion.
Understanding Gestational Age and Self-Induced Abortion
Week 1: Menstrual Period
The first day of the last normal menstrual period (LMP) is used to calculate the degree of gestational age. This week a woman is not pregnant and is experiencing a menstrual period.
Week 2: Estrogen Increases
During the second week, a woman is not yet pregnant, her menstrual period has ended, and the ovum in the ovary is beginning to gradually produce estrogen to prepare for ovulation.
Week 3: Ovulation and Conception
The third week begins with ovulation, the monthly time when a follicle in an ovary releases a mature ovum (an egg enclosed in follicle cells) into the abdominal cavity. Ovulation occurs approximately 14 days before the first day of the next expected menstrual cycle (or between 10 - 16 days after the first day of the last menstrual period - LMP). The fallopian tube, moves around the abdominal cavity in search of the released ovum. Fallopian tubes are so agile, that a tube has the capacity to find an ovum released by the opposite ovary, if the nearest fallopian tube is damaged or blocked for some reason. When a fallopian tube finds the ovum floating around in the abdominal cavity, wave-like movements of the cilia (tiny finger-like projections inside the fallopian tube) draw the ovum into the flower-like opening and down the funnel of the fallopian tube. The ovum is ripe for fertilization for about 24 hours when the ovum is at the mouth of the fallopian tube. If unprotected intercourse occurs, millions of sperm can swim up the vagina, through the opening of the uterus (called the cervical os), and into the fallopian tube toward egg within its folds. The folds of the fallopian tube that surround the ovum sense the closeness of the sperm and secrete enzymes which loosen the protective follicle cells around the ovum to expose the egg to the sperm for fertilization.
After fertilization, the fallopian tube nourishes and protects the growing and dividing group of cells as the fallopian tube muscles gently contract to make waves that move the fertilized egg along its 4½ in. (11.25 cm) length to the uterus. Meanwhile in the ovary, the follicle that released the ovum develops into the corpus luteum, whose function is to produce the hormone, progesterone. The progesterone secreted by the corpus luteum causes rapid cell division of the endometrium (lining of the uterus) to make a fertile bed for the growing embryo. A woman’s basal body temperature, which normally fluctuates a bit higher during ovulation, remains elevated when an ovum is fertilized.
Week 4: Embedding of the Embryo
The rapidly dividing fertilized egg floats around in the uterus at the beginning of the fourth week. With the corpus luteum’s secretion of progesterone, the endometrial lining is becoming rich and nutritive. During the first two to three days of the fourth week, the endometrium is prepared, and the fertilized egg implants. The cells of the fertilized egg that touch the endometrium begin to divide rapidly to form a spongy network which reaches an increasing number of maternal blood vessels. Blood begins to flow freely through this thick spongy layer of cells, called the chorionic villi. The chorionic villi begin to absorb nourishment from the blood to support the growing embryo and chorionic shell, which at the end of this week has a 2.5 mm diameter. The progesterone secreted by the corpus luteum also causes growth of the milk ducts in the breasts. Some women may begin to notice a tingling sensation in their breasts at this time. Pregnancy tests cannot detect pregnancy yet, for the chorionic villi have yet to develop and begin to produce human chorionic gonadotropin.
Weeks 2, 3, and 4: Promoting Menstruation
Fertility regulation methods utilized during weeks two through four are emmenagogual. Emmenagogual means to promote menstruation. Methods, if used, are used without definitive knowledge that a woman is pregnant, for technology has yet to create a test that can detect pregnancy at this early stage. Emergency contraception can be used during these weeks to interfere with the hormones required to sustain a pregnancy (see Appendix J). Medical abortion using mifepristone plus prostaglandins can be done as soon as woman knows she may be pregnant. Menstrual extraction is used to extract the menstrual fluids. Self-induced abortion with herbs is believed to be easiest and safest to accomplish during these weeks. Estrogenic herbs taken in week two by women in the ancient world are believed to have worked to provide contraception by increasing estrogen when estrogen is normally at its lowest level. The use of implantation inhibiting herbs (like Queen Anne’s lace, cotton root bark, or Vitamin C) in week four blocks, alters, or interferes in the production of progesterone, a hormone on which the pregnancy depends to stimulate the development of the nutritive lining of the uterus. Without progesterone, the lining of the uterus does not grow to be supportive to the fertilized egg, the fertilized egg does not implant, and a woman menstruates as usual. Also, herbs called emmenagogues may be used during weeks three and four to promote menstruation. Most emmenagogues have a direct effect on the uterus. Many emmenagogual herbs are believed to be teratogens, substances that cause the development of abnormal structures in the embryo. Teratogens in the woman’s system during the fourth week of pregnancy usually causes the pregnancy to terminate. Hyperthermia, acupuncture, homeopathy, massage, and yoga may also help to bring on menstruation at this early stage of pregnancy. The appearance of the menstrual blood is usually normal to heavy, possibly with more clotting than usual. The very tiny fertilized ovum passes unnoticed amidst the menstrual blood.
Weeks 5 and 6: “Am I pregnant?”
During the fifth week, the absence of menstruation may be the first indication of the possible pregnancy. The uterine wall is nourishing the fertilized ovum which now measures about 3 mm in length and is covered with the fine root-like threads of the chorionic villi. No human characteristics can be seen on the 2 mm length of the rapidly forming embryo. The chorionic villi begin to produce quantities of a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).
Pregnancy tests taken during the fifth week or later, detect the presence of hCG in the urine. If hCG is present, then the test will indicate that a woman is pregnant.
Physical signs of pregnancy may also become evident. A woman may have morning nausea; her breasts may be feeling tender to the touch; and her vagina and cervix may be turning a bluish to violet color. Pressure on the bladder and increased urination may be noticeable now.