Becoming pregnant is a joyful experience and a major milestone in women’s life, but it is also a period of uncertainties including trying to determine first signs of pregnancy. If you identify these signs early enough you are in a position to get the right attention needed for a healthy conceived pregnancy. You will find out how to differentiate the first signs of pregnancy from other phenomena in this pregnancy week by week guide.
1. What Are the Early Signs of Pregnancy?
The body actually undergoes lots of transformation from as early as the conception. A lot of times women can have symptoms that are physical and emotional before even realizing they are pregnant. First signs of pregnancy differ with different women but there are general features of early pregnancy seen in most cases.
Sometime when the woman discovers she has missed her period, thereby being a sign that something is happening. And other symptoms such as nausea, Anorexia, & fatigue also point to the fact that the body preparing to accommodate a developing fetus.
2. Missed Period: The Most Common Early Sign
The first and commonest sign of early pregnancy is the failure to experience menstruation as it occurs at the usual time. If your periods are on a fixed schedule and there is missing period, it is high time to think about pregnancy. But only having a missed period doesn’t automatically mean pregnancy, as stress, fluctuations in hormones can disrupt the cycle.
If you have missed your period and some other signs such as change in breast size, nausea during the mornings, consider taking a pregnancy test. You might observed that in some cases of course there may be what is termed as light spotting or implantation bleeding at the time when you are due for your period. This light bleeding occurs when the fertilized egg starts to implant on the inner lining of the uterus and is usually mistaken for a small period.
3. Morning Sickness: Not Just for Mornings
Vomiting during early pregnancy is probably one of the most recognized pregnancy symptoms, though the symptoms are not necessarily limited to the morning. Most women experience nausea at some point in the day and some right through the afternoon or evening. Hormonal increase of estrogen and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) that are necessary for maintaining pregnancy are associated with morning sickness during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Morning sickness usually starts at around the fourth week of pregnancy, it may start earlier and last until the sixth week. Even if it may be definitely uncomfortable for mom, morning sickness is generally not dangerous for the baby. However, if the vomiting is frequent and prolonged, or if the traveller starts to dehydrate, advice should be sought from a health care provider.
4. Fatigue: Feeling Tired Even Without Doing Much
Another typical symptom associated with pregnancy in its early stages, is tiredness. This is because hormonal change, which is a sign of pregnancy may leave you feeling exhausted even after rest. Progesterone also tends to increase during the initial weeks of pregnancy, and this can lead to, for instance, increased fatigue at work, during what would normally be comparatively easy tasks. It is experienced even before the onset of missed menstrual periods, and it is extremely common during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Some of the discomforts of pregnancy may actually subside in the second trimester of pregnancy, including the fatigue. But the pregnant woman needs to ensure that she has enough rest and consumes a proper diet that will help her as well as the baby during these initial weeks.
5. Breast Changes: Tenderness and Swelling
The first physical symptom that many women experience is breast changes during pregnAnys. By the second week after conception your breasts may begin to be sore, tender, or swollen. This is normally so because the level of oestrogen and progesterone are high especially in preparation to breastfeeding.
It is also common to see the skin surrounding your nipple-coloured areolas-become darker and wider. These breast changes may be one of the earliest sign of pregnancy if other early sign and symptoms such as missed period are present.
Discomfort is always manageable, and all you need is to ensure that you are wearing a supportive bra and not wrestling into clothes that are too tight.
6. Frequent Urination: A Sign of Hormonal Shifts
At this time in pregnancy, a woman may feel the urge to pee than she used to and this is as a result of changes that are taking place in her body system due to pregnancy. This is so because hormonal factors affect concentration of blood flow to kidneys hence leading to enhanced urine production. Pregnant women can however experience the urge to urinate often as from the first couple of weeks of pregnancy.
At later stage of pregnancy, a growing uterus also tends to compress the bladder as well as the nerves that control micturition, which would lead to more frequent visits to the bathroom. Another still simple rule that is easily forgotten is to drink a lot of water, but you should abstain from products containing caffeine.
7. Food Aversions and Cravings
The other common sign of early pregnancy is to note whether you get cravings or even vomiting for certain foods. Cravings and aversions are very common in pregnant women; where they will start to desire foods they have never eaten before or else be repulsed by foods they used to take. Such changes in the appetite are attributed to hCG — the pregnancy hormone, which is credited for causing many early pregnancy symptoms.
For some, these cravings might mean such things as pica, whereas in others case it might be such things as phobias related to certain smell and/or tastes. The change in smell and taste is another sign your body gives that you are pregnant, a sign that the pregnancy is underway. Cravings and aversions might be extremely uncomfortable but mostly they are not life threatening. But it’s advisable to take balanced diet and avoid unhealthy foods such as taking too much of junk food.
8. Mood Swings: How Hormones Affect Your Emotions
Another early pregnancy symptom is the swings in the emotion of a woman; many women get irritated easily. This pregnancy symptom arises because hormones prostegrenone, estrogen and others change their levels very quickly. Any chemicals of the above hormones act on the neurotransmitters in brain leading to mood swings and variability in emotional response.
You may be blithesome, eager, apprehensive, annoyed and puffy all in one day, or even in a few hours. Here is why pregnancy mood swings are normal but when the feeling is overwhelming it becomes a problem. You have to understand that these feelings are normal and talk to your partner, family, or a healthcare provider if you feel stress.
9. Spotting or Light Bleeding
Another sign that may be expected early in pregnancy is light bleeding or implantation bleeding. This usually happens when the fertilized egg buries itself into the wall of the uterus which happens about between the 10th and 14th days of conception. This type of bleeding is normally lighter than the normal flow and should last for one to two days at a most.
It’s very probable that many women mistake implantation bleeding for a regular period, but if it is much lighter and if accompanied by other signs like breast soreness or nausea then it is a sign of early pregnancy. If you are not so sure of this, one can take pregnancy test to know the situation more evidently.
10. Cramping: Is It Normal in Early Pregnancy?
It is not at all uncommon for a woman to have some lighter cramping during the first weeks of pregnancy, and may even resemble pre-menstrual cramping. However, they experience sometime light cramping due to the stretching of the uterus to accommodate the implantation of the embryo. These pains are commonly known as implantation pains and aren’t usually very painful at all.
As much as some level of cramping during pregnancy is considered normal, sharp or persistent cramping should be a cause for concern. Making sure of the fact that cramping is a normal part of menstruation, such pains along with heavy bleeding must be a cause for concern, and it’s best to see a doctor.
11. Heightened Sense of Smell
Another strange sign that a woman might experience in early pregnancy is the increase in the sense of smell. Some of the symptoms could be a pregnant woman claiming that she had not been sensitive to smell before but as the pregnancy advances, odours become offensive to her. The increased sensitivity of the olfactory system is believed to be due to increased levels of circulating hormones such as estrogen during early pregnancy.
Suddenly everything: fragrances, odors, flavours, even smells of cleaning detergents may become too sharp or even cause nausea. This increased sensitivity can also lead to nausea or dehydration during pregnancy especially when pregnant women wake up in the morning craving for some foods that they forcefully pushed away during evening. This is common and normally not an indication of some major issue, and normally will disappear after the first three months.
12. Bloating and Constipation
Another early sign that many women have is swelling associated with the menstrual cycle. Early pregnancy hormonal changes may affect your digestive tracts, resulting to the formation of gases and constipation. This swelling during pregnancy is like the pre menstrual syndrome other women go through but it can be worse and for longer periods.
Progesterone, which is needed for maintaining pregnancy, affects the muscles of the human gastrointestinal tract by making them to relax. This is what causes the consumer to experience both bloating as well as constipation through the slowing down of digestion. These symptoms can be relieved simply with water intake, fiber consumption, and exercising whenever feasible.
13. Pregnancy Tests: When to Take One
If you happen to miss your period, have morning sickness or experience a high frequency in the bathroom, you might wish to take a pregnancy test. In fact, the majority of pregnancy tests are based on the ability to assess the levels of hCG which is produced after the embryo buries itself on the uterine wall.
Pregnancy tests are most accurate when done after you have had your next expected period or, preferably, a week after that. However, if you take the test too early and the concentration of hCG is still low, you will get a negative result although you are indeed pregnant. If you are Pregnant Negative and you still feel like you are pregnant, do not test again for a week or so.
14. Seeing a Doctor for Confirmation
Even though DIY tests are really effective, they need to consult a specialist to provide them with the precise results. A doctor can conduct a blood test and an ultrasound to determine the pregnancy that you are pregnant, and how many weeks pregnant you may be. It is very important to attend an antenatal clinic as early as possible to enhance a good pregnancy and birth.
He or she will also speak to you on necessary changes in behaviour patterns and take the opportunity to recommend prenatal vitamins needed in the pregnancy duration. This way, the health status of the baby will be assessed, and any concerns you may have, will be attended to by the pediatrician.
It will be equally important to be able to identify the earliest signs pregnancy so as to get the appropriate intervention. Even the physical symptoms like tender breasts, cramps and many others, and the psychological changes like the pregnancy mood swings, all the symptoms are pointers that the body is preparing for a new trip. If you find that you have these symptoms, you should take a pregnancy test and visit the doctor to start prenatal care if pregnant.
Unfortunately, many women fail to note these first signs of early pregnancy relying on the few symptoms mentioned above to guide them through the exciting phase of life. Pregnancy screening is critical to the overall management of pregnancy so that there are minimal complications during delivery and after confinement.