What are the first signs of being pregnant?

In: Pregnancy Symptoms

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Top 10 signs of pregnancy

If you're extremely tuned in to your body's rhythms, you may begin to suspect you're pregnant soon after conception. But most women won't experience any early pregnancy symptoms until the fertilized egg attaches itself to the uterine wall, several days after conception. Others may notice no signs of pregnancy for weeks and begin to wonder "Am I pregnant?" only when they miss a period. Below is a list of some of the first signs of impending motherhood. You may experience all, some, or none of these symptoms of pregnancy:

1. Food cravings: Sure it's a cliche, but food cravings sometimes can be a sign of pregnancy. Don't rely on them as a sure symptom (it may be all in your head, or even a sign that your body is low on a particular nutrient), but if cravings are accompanied by some of the other symptoms on this list, start counting the days from your last period.

2. Darkening of your aureoles: If the skin around your nipples gets darker, you may have successfully conceived, though this may also signal a hormonal imbalance unrelated to pregnancy or be a leftover effect from a previous pregnancy.

3. Implantation bleeding or cramping: About eight days after ovulation, you may experience implantation spotting, a slight staining of a pink or brown color, as well as some cramping. You might also see some spotting around the time you expect your period; this is caused by the egg burrowing into the endometrial lining.

4. Frequent urination: Once the embryo implants and begins producing the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), you may find yourself going to the bathroom more often.

5. Fatigue: Feeling tired? No, make that exhausted. High levels of the hormone progesterone can make you feel as if you've run a marathon when all you've done is put in a day at the office. Fatigue is a hallmark of early pregnancy, though probably not a surefire symptom on its own.

6. Tender, swollen breasts: If you're pregnant, your breasts will probably become increasingly tender to the touch, similar to the way they feel before your period, only more so. Once your body grows accustomed to the hormone surge, the pain will subside.

7. Morning sickness: If you're lucky, morning sickness won't hit you until a few weeks after conception. (A lucky few escape it altogether.) But as early as a couple of days following conception, you may begin feeling nauseated and queasy. And not just in the morning, either pregnancy-related nausea can be a problem morning, noon, or night. You may also notice that your sense of taste changes. Some women say they have a metallic taste in their mouth, others that they cannot stand the taste of coffee, tea, or a food they usually like.

8. Your basal body temperature stays high: If you've been charting your basal body temperature and you see that your temperature has stayed above the coverline for 18 days in a row, you're probably pregnant.

9. A missed period: If you're usually pretty regular and your period is late, it's worth trying a pregnancy test. A missed period is the surest sign of pregnancy in a woman of childbearing age who usually has regular periods.

And finally ...

10. A positive home pregnancy test: If you've waited to test until at least the first day of a missed period and a blue line appears in the test window, you're most likely in the family way. Make an appointment with your doctor to confirm the good news, and head on over to our pregnancy area. Congratulations!

Signs of Pregnancy

Here is some advice from contributors:

For many the first clue of pregnancy usually lies with their tastes changing. For example the things you normally love to eat suddenly taste awful or make you sick. Also things you don't typically like become more appealing to you. There are many other signs of pregnancy to look for as well. Dizziness once in a while, excessive tiredness and getting tired doing the activities you do on a regular basis.

It takes about two or three months, but it depends on you. Signs of pregnancy: late period, BBT curve elevated for 18+ days (if you monitor that), morning sickness (however, it does NOT always occur in the morning), breast tenderness, and changes in food (aversions/cravings).

In my experience these are signs of pregnancy for me; tender and swollen breast (nipples), the change in eating habits is a big sign for me example I loved coffee, I literally can not even be in the presence of the smell of it now, I hated hot dogs I love them and crave them now, discharge that you are not accustomed to for example I personally have a thicker milky discharge, missed period or irregular period it is possible to get a period when you are pregnant if you experience the same type of period consistently and then seem to have a different cycle that could be a sign, going to the bathroom a lot, I have something I call the pregnant belch I am on my 3rd child right now and every time I have gotten pregnant I suffer from the same type of belch accompanied by a very distinct smell I only get when I am pregnant it is my I am pregnant with out a doubt sign. I don't even need to take a test. I have had a few miscarriages and with them I had this belching issue. I get morning sickness in the am and pm; and I suffer horribly from gas, bloating and pressure, don't worry most of it does subside, sounds horrible but all worth while when you hold that baby in your arms.

Well, I thought I had a stomach virus, but I later found out I was pregnant. I had a missed period but, I was irregular any way. My boobs were sore, I was tired and started having nausea and vomiting. I also had small cramping.

My urine had a sweet smell. The smell was familiar to me from previous pregnancies. I knew that I was pregnant long before home pregnancy test could even work because of this familiar smell. I would also have to wake-up early and go; when I'm not pregnant, I can wait until morning.

The first signs of being pregnant are usually period-like cramping, spotting/light bleeding, missed period and tiredness.

is it normal to be hungry at beginning of pregnancy but not be able to eat as everything makes you feel sick.

For me, it was a missed period, a little soreness in my stomach and inexplicable emotional issues -- mostly, getting angry really quickly for the silliest stuff (at work, of all places). I took a test and it was neg, then I waited a week and it was positive.

For everyone it is different but some of the signs are tiredness , feeling sick this does not have to be only in the morning , breast are sore and sensitive to the touch .

Abdominal bloating, urination and belching are early signs of pregnancy -all are very big signs for me. They were in my case. I had these signs on the second week of my pregnancy.

I suffered the most painful indigestion up til week 9 in my first pregnancy. Absolute agony. Thought I would die. Then it eased right off and didn't come back! Past couple of weeks, I've had the same thing, but was on the pill (and antibiotics), then got a period a week early. Tested negative couple of days after period ended. Don't know what to think.

When I was pregnant the last time, bloating was my first sign I was pregnant! It started before my period was due and it was bad! It lasted for about 6 weeks - I felt very gassy as well. I know many women experience more frequent urination during early pregnancy as well.

"During pregnancy you have higher levels of progesterone, this hormone relaxes smooth muscle tissue throughout your body, including your gastrointestinal tract. This relaxation slows down your digestive processes, which can lead to gas, bloating, burping, and flatulence"

Pregnancy Symptoms - All women are different. Some start to feel symptoms right away. Others never really feel any symptoms.

Might be because you stopped taking the pill rather than being pregnant; this has happened to me before. I always get sensitive/sore nipples when I stop taking the pill or change it. But take a test if you miss your period. It took 5 weeks before my nipples got sensitive when I was pregnant. But only 1 week for me to start drinking loads of water milk and fruit juice, and eating cornflakes which I never normally do.

Well, I started to feel most of the symptoms about 2 weeks after I conceived.

Many women begin noticing slight symptoms within a day or two of implantation, which usually occurs 7-10 days after conception (not necessarily the same as 7-10 days after sex!). The pregnancy hormone, HCG, is not present in the bloodstream until after implantation, and can be detected by an early home-pregnancy test as soon as 10 days past ovulation if pregnancy has occurred. After implantation, some women begin to feel the typical signs of early pregnancy -- sore breasts, slight nausea, etc.

A friend of mine swears she always knew she was pregnant even before she missed her period, because her sinuses started acting up for no reason with all three of her pregnancies -- several days before her period was due. It's really very different for every woman. Having no early symptoms is normal, but having several is normal, too.

I have been pregnant 4 times and have 3 children. With the first 2 I knew within about 6 six weeks, up until I missed my period. With my 3rd however, I knew immediately after conception. We had a road trip the next morning and I was sick as a dog. We had to pull over about 6 times during a 3 1/2 hour drive. Aside from that my breasts were extremely sore and sensitive and my pelvis was very sore (pubic bone area) It all depends on how well you know your body.

Upset stomach, light cramping, sore breasts, tiredness. Lots of symptoms can happen. All women are different. Some don't get any symptoms. Stress rarely causes a late period, but it is possible. You should take a test to find out for sure.

Here goes, keep in mind, you could have many symptoms or have none and still be pregnant: sore breasts, darkening of the aureoles (area circling the nipple), exhaustion, loss of appetite or increased, nausea, constipation, bloating, light cramping, metallic taste in your mouth, heightened sense of smell, food aversions, lightheaded

Missed period, Feeling sick/actually throwing up. Headache, Blocked nose, Extremely tired/exhausted, Very light spotting for 1-2 days, Dizziness

I always noticed about 10-14 days after conceiving. Spotting which resulted from implantation is the first sign for me.

The early symptoms of pregnancy are the following:- Implantation bleeding;- Cramps in lower stomach - Breast tenderness- Feeling tired/ fatigued/ light headed- Missed period

A couple of symptoms you could possibly notice in early pregnancy are: missed menstrual period; nausea, with or without vomiting;fatigue; breast changes and breast tenderness; frequent urination. If you have missed your period, then I suggest you see your family physician. Symptoms are not really noticeable until around the 5th week of conception, but your first big hint would be of course a missed period.

Your breasts will hurt and tingle a lot. I would wait until your period was due and if you don't get it go get a pregnancy test.

About 3 or 4 days after (estimated) conception I experienced strong symptoms of nausea, tender and sensitive nipples. This occurred for about 2 to 4 days.

I had cold-like symptoms.

About a week before my period was due I noticed that the veins on my breasts were very prominent.

My earliest symptoms is always excessive salivation, I have to swallow and swallow, this usually hits me about 3-4 days before my period is due. Everyone reacts differently to HCG (pregnancy hormone) and has different symptoms, some people don't even know they are pregnant until they feel something moving around at 20 weeks, others seem to know the exact moment of conception!

Two weeks prior to my finding out I was pregnant I noticed that my breast seemed to be very swollen. They were also very tender and sore to the touch. My nipples were always hard and I seemed to be hungry after I had eaten a full course meal.

You don't have to miss a period you can be pregnant and still have a period.

The following are early symptoms of pregnancy: Missed period. Abdominal cramping or PMS cramping. Sore, swollen or tender breasts. Nipple soreness or changes to your nipples. Veins appearing on your breasts. Increase in vaginal discharge. Spotting or light bleeding 6-14 days after having unprotected sex.

Every woman is different, so there will be a huge variety of symptoms experienced during the first couple of weeks. For some women the symptoms mimic very closely the symptoms they would get right before their period (like tender breasts, mild cramping and irritability). For others the signs are so different they can't help but suspect they are pregnant! And the rest don't have any noticeable symptoms during the first view weeks.

I had terrible bloating that started well before my period was due and lasted several months!

A few more common symptoms: Bloating, Cramps, Gas. Heartburn, Backache, Tender Breasts, Sore Nipples, Irritable, Bleeding Gums, Headache, Dizziness, Cold/Flu-like Symptoms, Fatigue, Vivid Dreams, Frequent Urination, Increased Cervical Fluid, Spotting, Nausea, Increased or Decreased Appetite

I have read many message boards about early sign of pregnancy and they include all the things listed above. I have not yet missed my period but 5 days after my husband and I had intercourse, I experienced nausea. It came out of no where. I have only been off the pill for about 2.5 months and it was the first time that I had seen CM. So...not I am just waiting. I am having very sore and tingling breast/nipples, headaches, PMS cramps, eating less, slight fatigue, bloating and losing my temper very easily. The waiting game stinks but there isn't much you can do until you miss your period but wait. I have been on the pill so long, I can't even remember PMS is like off the pill. It is all very confusing because most people say it takes 2-4 weeks after you miss your period before you have signs like these. It is very early but something is going on with my body. I wish you the best of luck!

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