Archive for October 5th, 2009
Pregnancy Symptoms: Determining Whether Or Not You Are Pregnant
October 5th, 2009 | 
Author: Welcome back!
Identifying if a symptom experienced is related to pregnancy can be challenging because many symptoms could be signs of other things. If more symptoms are experienced at the same time, this could be a clearer indication.
Some women experience pregnancy symptoms within a week of conception, while others don’t experience any symptoms until weeks into their pregnancy. There are those that hardly experience symptoms at all - other than a missed period and a growing belly!
The following is a list of the most common pregnancy signs and symptoms:
Missed Period
This is one of the most obvious tell-tale signs of pregnancy, especially if your cycles are regular.
Fatigue
This is one of those very early pregnancy signs that is challenging. There is no other kind of exhaustion like it! Bedtime may be 7pm for many! Being tired is due to the rapid change in hormones in the body.
Tender/Swollen Breasts
Many women experience tender breasts even before/during their menstrual period, so sometimes this sign may not necessarily point to pregnancy. However, if other symptoms on this list are occurring, then this symptom is more likely to be related to pregnancy. This discomfort should decrease after 12 or 13 weeks as your body adjusts to the changes in hormone levels.
Darkened Areolas
This is also a sign of pregnancy.
Nausea
This is a very common - and awful - early pregnancy symptom. Some lucky women don’t experience nausea at all! “Morning sickness” is a deceiving term, because nausea can occur at any time of the day, and in some cases, it lasts ALL day! Nausea can last part of the pregnancy, and sometimes during the entire pregnancy.
Sensitivity To Smells
Particular odors you used to enjoy may actually make you sick when you’re in early pregnancy.
Implantation Bleeding
This happens when the fertilized egg buries itself into the lining of the uterus, which can cause slight bleeding. This may happen a few days after fertilization, which can cause some women to think that they are having their period. The bleeding is usually very light, is pinkish, and lasts just a day or two.
Frequent Urination
Pregnant women find themselves running to the bathroom more often. This is largely because the amount of blood and other fluids increases during pregnancy. The extra fluid that is processed by the kidneys ends up in your bladder. This may start around 6 weeks of pregnancy, and may escalate as the baby grows and starts putting pressure on the bladder.
Higher Body Temperature
A basal body temperature that remains elevated more than 18 days after ovulation could be a sign of pregnancy.
If you checked off many of the above pregnancy symptoms, you may want to take a pregnancy test - especially if you have missed your period after having unprotected sex!
A home pregnancy test will show a positive a few days after a missed period (if you are pregnant, of course!). The extra few days will allow the pregnancy hormone - hcg - to build up in your system, which is what the urine test is testing for.
A blood test can actually detect hcg in the system days before a home pregnancy test could. A blood test measures the amount of hcg (which is short for “human chorionic gonadotropin”) in the blood to determine pregnancy. Blood tests done 48 hours apart will show if the pregnancy is progressing at a normal rate.
You may experience most or all of the pregnancy symptoms listed above, while some lucky women may hardly experience any of these symptoms! If you have these pregnancy symptoms, and a test has a negative result, wait a few days and test again in case it was too early.
For more information, visit us at: http://www.complete-pregnancy-guide.com
- Lisa Simonelli Rennie, author of complete-pregnancy-guide.com. This website has all the info you need on conception, pregnancy, childbirth and labor, including a week by week guide. http://www.complete-pregnancy-guide.com Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/pregnancy-articles/pregnancy-symptoms-determining-whether-or-not-you-are-pregnant-1291813.html
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