Pregnancy - Early Signs

A lot of couples who are hoping to have a baby will likely react to the very slightest discomfort that they hope might signal that the woman is finally pregnant. Of course, pinpointing pregnancy so early on is typically not easy, as some of the discomfort that the lady feels may be credited to something other than pregnancy.

The following symptoms may be present but they may not necessarily be caused by a pregnancy:

1. Tiredness or fatigue – Extreme tiredness can happen as early as a week following conception. But this is more difficult to use as a gauge because fatigue can be caused by many other things, such as lack of sleep or a general physical exhaustion from a busy week or weeks.

2. Breast tenderness – You may notice your breast starting to feel tender, swollen, or simply more sensitive than usual. Although this also happens just before you get your period, as a sign of pregnancy, it can happen about one to two weeks following conception.

3. Irritability or moodiness – Hormonal changes can cause mood swings that are more pronounced than usual. Of course, you need to remember that you may also feel moody when your period is approaching. As such if this is a symptom of pregnancy it is usually disregarded in the absence of the other symptoms.

4. Headaches – Raised levels of hormones may cause headaches; as such, some women experience headaches early on in a pregnancy. But this symptom is a little too common to attribute directly to a pregnancy, as it can be caused by any myriad of factors.

5. Food cravings – Although cravings are generally joked about around someone who is pregnant, it may not be an accurate gauge of pregnancy minus other confirmation. After all, a woman may just happen to have a mood-directed choice of food, such as yearning for comfort food like ice cream during a particularly depressed moment. Women happen to be among the most emotionally-driven eaters, so this may not be too accurate.

6. Frequent urination – Some women experience a need to empty their bladders more frequently than usual.

However, this is usually not noticed as a sign as many women feel it to be too normal a change.
However, there are also early signs that are more definite in telling you that you are indeed pregnant. Among these are:

1. Missing a period – This is typically the main sign that women take before they buy a pregnancy test. Of course, an important thing to remember is that you may also miss your period, if you have it regularly, due to hormonal changes in rare cases, such as if you suddenly lost a lot of weight. It may also happen when you are taking anti-pregnancy pills, as some of them curb the production of egg cells, which eventually result in amenorrhea.

2. Morning sickness or nausea any time of the day – This is the most commonly portrayed symptom for pregnancy in movies and books. This is because you don’t normally undergo this when you are about to have your phase except for severe cases of dysmenorrhea. This can happen at about two to eight weeks following conception as your hormone levels reach top levels than usual.

3. Implantation bleeding – When the fertilized egg cell is implanted onto the uterus, some women knowledge implantation bleeding. This typically happens between six to twelve days following conception, and the bleeding is not as pronounced as a period. It is aptly described as spotting.

Although these are typical early signs of pregnancy, with the immunity of a missed period, not all women experience them, as every pregnancy is exclusive So if you find yourself experiencing most, if not all, of these symptoms, it might be the best time to buy yourself a pregnancy testing kit. If you don’t and yet confirm yourself to be pregnant, do not be anxious, as these signs are in no tactic an sign of a healthy pregnancy. In any case, just celebrate the new life rising within you and enjoy each step of the journey as you welcome a new member into your family.

Categories: Early , General Medicine , Pregnancy , Signs