10 Signs of Pregnancy
- By Declan Tobin
- Published 06/27/2008
- Pregnancy
- Unrated
There are signs that indicate you might be pregnant. Here are 10 signs of pregnancy that you can look out for. You might only experience one or two of these signs, but you may experience more. Every woman’s body is different and every pregnancy is different. It takes about a week from conception for a fertilized egg to implant in the uterus. After this, you might start to experience some of the 10 signs of pregnancy. Your body will react to the change in your hormone levels at this time.
1. Fatigue
Feeling very tired could be an early sign of pregnancy. It’s not known the reason for this, but it is thought that the rapid increase in your progesterone levels can lead to you feeling sleepy and having a general lack of energy. You should start regain a little energy in your second trimester, but will more than likely feel tired again at the end of your pregnancy. This will be due to the extra weight you are carrying around.
2. Tender breasts and nipples
Once again, due to the change in hormone levels, you will experience breast and nipple tenderness similar to how your breasts feel before your period. This feeling of tenderness will more than likely go away as your body gets accustomed to the hormone levels.
3. Darker Areolas
The skin around your nipples will become darker and the bumps on the areolas may be more prominent.
4. Nausea
Not all women experience nausea or vomiting with pregnancy, but if you are one of the woman that do, you could experience it as early as two weeks after conception. The term used is ‘morning sickness’, but if you speak to anyone who has experienced this, they will tell you that it can occur at any time of the day!
5. Frequent Urination
Around six to eight weeks after conception, the embryo secretes a pregnancy sustaining hormone. This hormone is called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). The amount of blood and other fluids in your body increases during pregnancy, which leads to extra fluid being processed during pregnancy and ending up in your bladder.
6. Light spotting
Around 11 or 12 days after conception, you might have a small amount of vaginal bleeding. This could be caused by the fertilized egg burrowing into the blood-rich lining of your uterus. This process starts just 6 days after fertilization. The bleeding will be pinkish brown and will be very light and will only last a day or two. If you experience pain with the bleeding, consult your practitioner, as this can be a sign of an ectopic pregnancy.
7. Lower backache and headaches
The sudden rise in hormones in early pregnancy can cause you to have headaches and lower backache.
8. Elevated body temperature
During ovulation it is quite normal for your body temperature to increase. If it remains increased after ovulation and through to when your period should begin it could be a sign of pregnancy.
9. Missing a menstrual period
This is one of the obvious signs of pregnancy. There might be other reasons for missing a period too, such as illness, stress, reactions to medication or food or a hormone imbalance.
10. Positive pregnancy test
The most definite sign that you are pregnant is a positive pregnancy test. To ensure that there is an adequate amount of hCG, you can wait until at least the first date of a missed period to take the pregnancy test.
1. Fatigue
Feeling very tired could be an early sign of pregnancy. It’s not known the reason for this, but it is thought that the rapid increase in your progesterone levels can lead to you feeling sleepy and having a general lack of energy. You should start regain a little energy in your second trimester, but will more than likely feel tired again at the end of your pregnancy. This will be due to the extra weight you are carrying around.
2. Tender breasts and nipples
Once again, due to the change in hormone levels, you will experience breast and nipple tenderness similar to how your breasts feel before your period. This feeling of tenderness will more than likely go away as your body gets accustomed to the hormone levels.
3. Darker Areolas
The skin around your nipples will become darker and the bumps on the areolas may be more prominent.
4. Nausea
Not all women experience nausea or vomiting with pregnancy, but if you are one of the woman that do, you could experience it as early as two weeks after conception. The term used is ‘morning sickness’, but if you speak to anyone who has experienced this, they will tell you that it can occur at any time of the day!
5. Frequent Urination
Around six to eight weeks after conception, the embryo secretes a pregnancy sustaining hormone. This hormone is called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). The amount of blood and other fluids in your body increases during pregnancy, which leads to extra fluid being processed during pregnancy and ending up in your bladder.
6. Light spotting
Around 11 or 12 days after conception, you might have a small amount of vaginal bleeding. This could be caused by the fertilized egg burrowing into the blood-rich lining of your uterus. This process starts just 6 days after fertilization. The bleeding will be pinkish brown and will be very light and will only last a day or two. If you experience pain with the bleeding, consult your practitioner, as this can be a sign of an ectopic pregnancy.
7. Lower backache and headaches
The sudden rise in hormones in early pregnancy can cause you to have headaches and lower backache.
8. Elevated body temperature
During ovulation it is quite normal for your body temperature to increase. If it remains increased after ovulation and through to when your period should begin it could be a sign of pregnancy.
9. Missing a menstrual period
This is one of the obvious signs of pregnancy. There might be other reasons for missing a period too, such as illness, stress, reactions to medication or food or a hormone imbalance.
10. Positive pregnancy test
The most definite sign that you are pregnant is a positive pregnancy test. To ensure that there is an adequate amount of hCG, you can wait until at least the first date of a missed period to take the pregnancy test.
