There are early pregnancy signs that typically occur very soon after the pregnancy takes place. Ordinarily, a pregnancy test can confirm your suspicions quickly. However, being able to recognize some of the clues that your body is giving you, can help you decide if you need to look further into the possibility that you could be pregnant. Here are some early pregnancy signs to watch for that may indicate that you are indeed expecting.
1. Tiredness
Extreme fatigue is one of the main early pregnancy signs. All of a sudden, you may feel like falling asleep during the day at times when you normally would not. For example, you may suddenly have to fight to stay awake during meetings at work.
Tiredness can be due to so many different things, that frequently it is not identified as being related to pregnancy. Many times, people will think that the fatigue they are experiencing is due to having a busy schedule and so on. If you are more tired than usual though, this could mean that you are pregnant
2. Change in Menstrual Cycle
Women who have regular periods know when they are "late." Sometimes, lateness can be caused by increased stress in your life, but it can also be another telltale sign of pregnancy.
3. Morning Sickness
This feels like you have the flu (without the fever). You may feel nauseous or may even be throwing up. Even though it is called morning sickness, you may be feeling sick any time of the day.
Morning sickness is most common in the first trimester of pregnancy, but can continue into the next two trimesters for some women.
You can reduce some of the symptoms of morning sickness by having more frequent, smaller meals. If you are not managing to keep any food down, it may be time to see your doctor for ways to reduce the morning sickness you are experiencing. Dehydration can also be a real concern, which sometimes necessitates hospitalization. In addition to seeing your doctor, you may also want to consider the advice of a registered acupuncturist or naturopath, who can provide you with some strategies to manage the nausea, etc.
4. Breast Tenderness
You have probably experienced uncomfortable breasts just prior to, or during, your menstrual cycle. This is what your breasts will feel like when you first get pregnant. They will be more sensitive to touch.
5. Abdominal Cramping
You may not even notice the cramping, as it is not usually really bad cramping. It may just feel like some pressure in your abdomen, similar to what you may feel at the start of a period. You may even mistake it for the start of a period when, in fact, you are pregnant!
This cramping reportedly occurs when fertilization occurs within your uterus.
6. Less bleeding than the usual expected period.
You may also experience a bit of spotting or notice some blood in your underwear, less than your normal period. Doing a pregnancy test to get an indication if you could be pregnant would be sensible and then seeing your doctor for advice about spotting during Pregnancy. This can relate to the cramping in point 5.
7. Enhanced Sense of Smell
This sounds weird, but it is true. Your sense of smell becomes very sharp during pregnancy. Suddenly, you may notice the scent of someone's tea from across the room or worse someone's body odour. Food smells become much stronger and you will quickly work pout which are friends and which are foe!
Walking down the cleaning aisle of the grocery store, may prove too much for your senses. Often toxic smells such as household chemicals or filling the car with petrol can be unbearable. It may feel like the scents of everything have become stronger overnight!
7. Taste Changes
You may have always enjoyed a particular food, but now it tastes bad (it may also smell bad). You may find that you develop unusual cravings for foods that never interested you much before.
8. Lightheaded
This can be very subtle, but you may suddenly feel like the room is spinning, or you may feel faint. Make sure to eat during these times, as your blood sugar is probably a bit low. Carrying a packet of crackers or a museli bar in your handbag is a well known saviour for Pregnant women.
To conclude, some of the early signs of pregnancy have been covered. There can be more, but the ones mentioned are quite common. The next thing that you need to do is find out if you are, in fact, pregnant. This means taking a pregnancy test and then following up with your doctor for confirmation and further blood tests to monitor HCG levels. The sooner you find out if you are pregnant, the sooner you can begin taking good care of that little baby growing inside of you.
For more information about how Acupuncture can help with Morning sickness, please email me at info@springfertility.com.au
