Early Signs of Pregnancy in Focus

There are a number of symptoms that indicate early pregnancy. Your body tells you that sooner than any test, so learn to listen to it.

 

Tiredness, dizziness, and nausea can be solved if pregnant women rest and avoid stress at work. (jlp)

Once they are pregnant, a lot of women say that they felt when it happened. They already felt a change in their bodies when the lucky sperm cell entered the egg. Maybe there is some truth in that, but there are also some reliable signs indicating pregnancy. None of the signs is reliable on its own, but if considered together, you can almost certainly confirm whether you are pregnant.

Full and soft breasts

The breasts of pregnant women become larger and fuller, and the change is visible within a week or two after conception. Levels of progesterone and oestrogen are so high that they cause retention of fluids in your breasts, which makes them softer and heavier as well as tender.

Slight vaginal bleeding

Such bleeding often confuses women because it looks like a weak period. Despite unprotected sexual intercourse, women think they have menstruation and ignore the fact that they may be pregnant. Bleeding indicates attachment of a fertilised egg to the wall of your vagina, taking place 6 to 12 days after conception. If you bleed unexpectedly, you have to see your physician, particularly in case of pregnancy. Your physician will take into consideration three possible complications: abortion, ectopic pregnancy and certain types of infections.

Tiredness

Pregnancy can cause great stress to your body. Body temperature and your heart rate increase, and your body has to work harder. It also causes hormone imbalance and consequently tiredness. It's important that you drink a lot of water to balance your blood pressure. A light healthy diet containing a lot of vitamins helps you adapt to the confusion inside your body in the first weeks of pregnancy.

Full breasts are very tell-tale. (jlp)

Frequent urination

Frequent urination is caused by increased blood flow in your kidneys. Late in pregnancy, frequent urination is caused by the pressure of the baby on your bladder. Make sure you drink enough water, and if you feel a burning sensation when passing urine, you have to see your physician because it could be a sign of an infection.

Problems with digestion and nausea

The fault lies again in hormones. Progesterone slows down a lot of processes in your body, digestion processes among them. Too much food accumulates in the stomach, which results in vomiting or diarrhoea. Morning sickness is the consequence of the hormone called human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), which is in the mother’s blood before her missed period. If levels of the hormone in your blood are high, you will feel more nauseated (e.g. in case of twins). The reactions of your body to certain foods or even most foods could also be considered as the defence mechanism of your body that is trying to eliminate anything that could harm your baby (free radicals, nitrates, etc.).

During pregnancy, you have to drink a lot of water. (jlp)

Mood swings, swollenness, cramps and pain in the back

 

These signs are all caused by hormones. They can be easily mistaken for the premenstrual syndrome.

Dizziness and fainting

Progesterone causes an increase in body temperature, which consequently expands vessels and decreases blood pressure. In addition, it takes your body longer to pump blood from your womb back to your head when you stand up. Dizziness can also be the result of the low blood pressure. For that reason, pregnant women have to eat a lot of good food, stand up slowly, and, once again, drink a lot of water.

Headaches

Women often have more headaches than usually in early pregnancy and less in later stages of pregnancy. As most other symptoms, they're caused by progesterone. You can also have headaches if you're dehydrated or anaemic.

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