First Signs of Pregnancy

Some women claim they 'just knew' they were pregnant, for the rest of us the first signs of pregnancy may be more of a challenge to identify.  There are of course the obvious signs that we have all come accustomed to, but there are many other subtle hints your body will offer you to help you notice the first signs of pregnancy.

In order to help you recognize these signs, here is a list of the top ten ways to distinguish if you may be pregnant or not.  Remember do not get carried away and look too hard for the first signs of pregnancy.  If you look too hard you may convince yourself you are pregnant when in fact you are not.  Good luck.

1)      Missing a period

This has got to be one of the biggest signs and should start alarm bells ringing.  Commonly this is the most well know of the first sings of pregnancy, but can easily be misinterpreted

Other possibilities: Stress, illness and coming off the pill can cause a late period.  Also you could have your dates wrong, or just not be regular this month.

2)      Nausea or Vomiting

Otherwise known as morning sickness, being nauseous is one sign of pregnancy that women could do without.  Be warned though, morning sickness is really an old wives tale; the nausea can be felt throughout the whole day and is not specific to the morning.  It is caused by the hormones that surge round your body readying it for carrying a baby also vomiting can sometimes occurs but not always.  This is not common to all women though, if you are one of the lucky ones you may not get any nausea at all and you can thank your lucky stars.  If you are not so lucky you may experience nausea after around week 2-6 and may last until the end of the first trimester.

Other possibilities: An upset stomach and food poisoning will give similar symptoms.

3)      Implantation bleeding

This is one of the first signs of pregnancy and occurs between 6 to 12 days after conception.  The reason for the bleeding is due to the embryo 'implanting' itself in the uterine wall and is not cause for alarm.

Other possibilities: This 'spotting' could be due to changes in the birth control pill, menstruation, sex or infection.

4)      Fatigue and tiredness

To some women this is more like total exhaustion and makes your day to day life that much harder.  Some women rate this as the thought of the first signs of pregnancy and can be experience as early as 1 week after conception.

Other possibilities: Cold and flu symptoms can give a similar experience

5)      Tenderness of the breast

Your breasts may feel sensitive or tender to touch and can occur about 2 weeks after conception.

Other possibilities: These feeling may be due to the type of pill you are taking, or could be due to hormonal changes or imminent menstruation.

6)      Food cravings

This is one of the funny sides of the first signs of pregnancy.  In some case women have cravings for such odd things.  In my case it was oranges, I just couldn't stop eating them!  Each woman is different and some women may have no cravings at all, but if you do they could last all the way through pregnancy.

Other possibilities include nutritional deficiencies leading to cravings for minerals the body requires and may not have anything to do with pregnancy.

7)      Headaches

Being pregnant means your body is awash with hormones which are allowing your body to ready itself for pregnancy.  As you can imaging there is a lot of re-organising to be done, and so all these hormones can bring on headaches.

Other possibilities: Eye strain can bring on headaches as well as stress and dehydration.

8)      Backache

This is another symptom of the first signs of pregnancy which is all too well known.  Pregnant women holding their backs is a common sight when the baby becomes a bit larger but can start early on and continue all through the pregnancy.

Other possibilities: Existing back problems may cause your back to hurt, another possibility could be imminent menstruation or even in a few cases stress has been known to cause back ache!

9)      Frequent urination

This can cause you to dread travelling anywhere.  You move from toilet to toilet not knowing when you will suddenly need to go. This feeling is due to the movements going on inside your body pressing on you bladder which cause a frequent and unwelcome need to pee.  This is not strictly one of the first signs of pregnancy but can occur as early as weeks 6 to 8.

10)  Pregnancy Test

The best way to tell if you are pregnant is use a pregnancy test.  They are around 99% accurate so are pretty dependable.  Note that they are only 99% accurate, meaning 1 in 100 women will have a false result.  However, if you have identified any of the above first signs of pregnancy then this is the best ways to tell you are pregnant.  It can be carried out in the privacy of you own home and usually involves peeing on a small stick and then waiting for the result which is full explained in the test pack.  The test is basically looking for hormones in your body to tell if you are pregnant.  They are cheap and can be picked up in any drug store or for simplicity and privacy why not order your test online?

I hope this list of the first signs of pregnancy has helped you identify the result you want.  Good luck.