Are you wondering whether you are pregnant? The only way to know for sure is by taking a pregnancy test.
But there are early symptoms which may point to the possibility that you’re pregnant. Here are the signs of pregnancy that you need to look for.
Signs of pregnancy you can check yourself
- Raised body temperature
- Sensitivity to smell
- Changes in breasts
- Fatigue
- Light bleeding
- Changes in cervical mucus
- Frequent urination
- Fluctuating emotion
- Missed menstrual period
- Bloating stomach
- Heartburn and indigestion
- Morning sickness or nausea
- Food aversions
- Excess saliva
Before you take a pregnancy test, you may notice some early signs in your body, or the first pregnancy symptoms. But because many of these early signs of pregnancy are similar to symptoms you have right before you get your menstrual period, it can be hard to tell the difference.
Although the only way to know for sure that you’re pregnant is by taking a pregnancy test at home (then going to see a doctor to confirm the result), these early symptoms may provide clues that you’re pregnant. Some of these symptoms occur before a missed menstrual period.
When do pregnancy signs start?
Very early pregnancy signs (like sensitivity to smell and breast soreness) may show up before you miss a menstrual period and a few days after conception. Other early signs of pregnancy (like light bleeding) might appear around one week after sperm meets egg. Other symptoms (like frequent urination) often appear 2-3 weeks or so following conception.
However, early pregnancy symptoms show up at different times in different people. You may not notice other early pregnancy symptoms for a few weeks. Some women experience very few (if any) of these signs, when they have been pregnant for several weeks. And though some women never feel any early pregnancy symptoms, other women experience all of the symptoms.
If you’ve missed your menstrual period and are experiencing fatigue, morning sickness, light bleeding and breast soreness, you should take a pregnancy test at home, and then go to see a doctor to do a blood test or ultrasound to confirm it.
Explain signs of pregnancy
Keep in mind that having some of these symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean you’re pregnant. The only way to know for sure is taking a pregnancy test.
Raised body temperature
If you use a special body thermometer to track your temperature in the morning, you might notice that the temperature rises around 1 degree when you conceive and stays elevated throughout your pregnancy.
Although this is not always an early pregnancy symptom (there are other reasons which make your body temperature rise), it could give you advance notice that you’re pregnant.
Sensitivity to smell
Becoming more sensitive to smell is an early pregnancy symptom. You will feel that previously mild odors now become strong and unappealing. Many women have reported this sign.
Changes in breasts
Breast soreness, swollen breasts and darkening areolas are some changes in your breasts early in pregnancy. The hormones estrogen and progesterone cause this symptom. You may feel that your breasts are fuller or heavier, because it’s part of your body’s preparation for making milk.
Your areolas (the circles around your nipples) may get darker and increase in diameter. You’ll also likely start to notice tiny bumps growing in size and number on your areolas. These tiny bumps were always there, but now they’re becoming bigger to produce more oils that lubricate your nipples once baby starts nursing.
Fatigue
During early pregnancy, levels of the hormone progesterone increase — which might make you feel sleepy.
When you get pregnant, a big amount of energy is used to build a placenta. It’s the life-support system for your baby.
Light bleeding
Light bleeding usually occurs 6 to 12 days after conception.
Light bleeding before your menstrual period is sometimes an early pregnancy symptom. It signals that an embryo has implanted itself into the uterine wall. So you will feel menstrual-like cramps.
This is a difference from your menstrual blood: In the bleeding when embryo has implanted itself into the uterine wall, you will notice that the blood is medium pink or light brown; it’s rarely red like menstrual blood.
Changes in cervical mucus
If your cervical mucus becomes creamy and stays that way after ovulation, it’s a good sign you’ll have a positive pregnancy test.
As your pregnancy progresses, you’ll also notice increased vaginal discharge, called leukorrhea. This vaginal discharge is thin, milky-white and is normal and healthy; if it appears lumpy or thick, you need to talk to a doctor.
Frequent urination
Two to three weeks after conception, you may notice an increased need to pee. This new feeling is due to the pregnancy hormone hCG, which increases blood flow to your kidneys, helping the kidneys to more efficiently rid your body (and, eventually, your baby’s body) of waste.
Your growing uterus is also beginning to put some pressure on your bladder, leaving less storage space for urine and making you head for the toilet more frequently.
Fluctuating emotion
If you’re pregnant, the pregnancy-related hormonal changes will cause the mood swings. As early as 4 weeks into your pregnancy, you may feel a moodiness.
Aside from hormone changes, your life is about to change in a big way, so it’s completely normal for your moods to go up and down. Do what you can to give yourself a break, eat well, get enough sleep and pamper yourself.
Missed menstrual period
The most common and clear-cut sign of pregnancy is a missed menstrual period. Once conception has happened, your body produces hormones that stop ovulation and stop the shedding of the lining of your uterus. This means that your menstrual cycle has stopped, and you won’t have a menstrual period again until after the baby is born.
Bloating stomach
This is an early pregnancy symptom that many women feel soon after they conceive. After a woman conceives, the hormone progesterone will slow down digestion, giving the nutrients from foods she eats more time to enter your bloodstream and reach the baby.
Unfortunately, bloating stomach is often accompanied by constipation. Eating enough fiber in your diet can help reduce this problem.
Heartburn and indigestion
For many women, heartburn is a frustrating symptom that can appear around month 2 of pregnancy. This problem is caused by the hormones progesterone and relaxin. These hormones relax smooth muscle tissues throughout your body, resulting in food moving more slowly through your gastrointestinal tract.
Medications like Tums and Rolaids, or hewing sugarless gum can help reduce this problem.
Morning sickness or nausea
Morning sickness typically begins when you’re about 6 weeks pregnant, though it can begin even earlier. For most women, nausea starts by week 9.
Hormones, mainly increased levels of progesterone (and possibly estrogen and hCG), can cause the stomach to empty more slowly. This process causes a feeling resembling seasickness, and it’s an early pregnancy symptom.
Food aversions
This is another early sign of pregnancy. Your nose becomes more sensitive to smell of foods.
Excess saliva
Also called ptyalism gravidarum, some women experience saliva build-up early in pregnancy. This symptom usually starts in the first trimester, and is thought to be your body’s way of protecting your mouth, teeth and throat from the corrosive effects of stomach acid.
Above are early pregnancy signs before your menstrual period. Early pregnancy symptoms appear at different times in different people. The only way to know for sure that you’ve conceived is by taking a home pregnancy test.
