How Do You Know If You Might Be Pregnant

Calculate Using A Pregnancy Test With Weeks Indicator

How to Know If You’re Pregnant

All pregnancy tests are designed to detect the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin in urine, but some pricier tests offer a weeks indicator that promises to tell how far along you are. Unfortunately, these tests are pretty vague, stating only one to two weeks, two to three weeks or three-plus weeks pregnant. In addition, the tests measure from implantation, not from your LMP. A test might say that youre one to two weeks pregnant but youre actually four weeks pregnant, according to standard pregnancy calculations.

How Far Along Am I

Knowing how far along you are in pregnancy is helpful for both you and your healthcare provider. Your provider will use this information to check on your babyâs growth and development, keep an eye on your health, and schedule tests and exams.The weeks of pregnancy can be grouped into three trimesters:

Check out the illustration below to see how far along you are in your pregnancy:

Vivid Dreams And Nightmares

Those pesky hormones have been blamed for an increase in vivid dreams and nightmares too. But there is also another explanation. A pregnant woman’s sleep is often broken during pregnancy, whether it’s from those midnight bathroom runs, baby movement or cramps. And the more recent a dream is, the more likely it will be remembered.

A study published in Sleep Medicine reported that 43.5 percent of pregnant women experienced “vivid dreams” during pregnancy.

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Morning Sickness Nausea And Vomiting During Early Pregnancy

Nausea and morning sickness usually develop around weeks 4 to 6 and peak around week 9.

Although its called morning sickness, it can occur anytime during the day or night. Its unclear exactly what causes nausea and morning sickness, but hormones may play a role.

During the first trimester of pregnancy, many women experience mild to severe morning sickness. It may become more intense toward the end of the first trimester, but often becomes less severe as you enter the second trimester.

Swollen And Tender Breasts

Early Signs of Pregnancy You Can

Soreness or tingling in breasts is one of the most common signs of being pregnant. Early in pregnancy breasts will fill out and change shape as they prepare to produce milk. Breasts may become very tender and sensitive for a few months as a result. But, Teresa Pitman, doula and lactation expert, notes: that not all women experience these changes, especially if they have been on birth control pills.

It is possible to know youre pregnant in those first few weekssome women even know from the moment of conception. Here are the very earliest signs of being pregnant, that you might not notice.

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Signs Of Pregnancy With Irregular Periods

If you are pregnant, you may experience any or all of the following symptoms of early pregnancy:

Implantation bleeding

Some women bleed at the time of implantation, which occurs about one or two weeks after fertilization. It can be easy to mistake the signs of implantation, which include cramps and bleeding, for a light period. Some things that can help you tell the difference are:

  • Unlike some periods, implantation bleeding never includes clots of coagulated, or semisolid, blood and tissue.
  • Implantation bleeding is very light in flow.
  • While period blood is reddish, implantation bleeding is pink or brown.
  • Implantation bleeding should only last one to three days.

Nausea

Due to hormonal changes, nausea is one of the most common symptoms of early pregnancy, often starting as early as two weeks after conception. It may or may not be accompanied by vomiting. Low blood sugar levels in the morning often react with the hormones, leading to more frequent nausea in the morning.

Swollen or tender breasts

Some women first notice the effects of pregnancy hormones on their breasts, which can become swollen or tender.

Fatigue

During early pregnancy, your body is changing to accommodate the fetus, which can make you feel tired. Rising levels of progesterone can also contribute to fatigue.

Other symptoms

The following symptoms are less common in the first few weeks of pregnancy but may still occur during the first trimester:

Physical Changes In A Pregnant Cat

Looks for these signs in your cat’s body indicating pregnancy:

  • Heat cycles cease: This may be the first sign you notice of a cat’s pregnancy. If a cat has been going through heat cycles every 10 days to two weeks, and suddenly stops, it is likely she is pregnant.
  • Nipples swell and become rosier in color: Breeders call this “pinking-up,” and it may be the first visual sign you will see in a pregnant cat.
  • Appetite increases: A pregnant cat will show an increased interest in food. After all, a pregnant cat is not only eating for herself, but for several fetuses.
  • Weight gain: Most pregnant queens will gain about 2 to 4 pounds of body weight over the course of pregnancy.
  • Vomiting: Pregnant queens may be subject to a few bouts of “morning sickness,” much as human mothers-to-be. This in itself is not necessarily a reason to worry, but if the vomiting continues or is frequent, contact your veterinarian for help.
  • Enlarged abdomen: Sometime around the fifth week of pregnancy, a pregnant cat’s abdomen will start to swell noticeably. It will continue to enlarge until time for birthing.

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Do All Women Get Early Symptoms Of Pregnancy

Every woman is different. So are their experiences of pregnancy. Not every woman has the same symptoms or even the same symptoms from one pregnancy to the next.

Also, because the early symptoms of pregnancy often mimic the symptoms you might experience right before and during menstruation, you may not realize you’re pregnant.

What follows is a description of some of the most common early symptoms of pregnancy. You should know that these symptoms may be caused by other things besides being pregnant. So the fact that you notice some of these symptoms does not necessarily mean you are pregnant. The only way to tell for sure is with a pregnancy test.

Natural Ways To Help Labor Along

How To Know If You Are Pregnant | In The First Week Of Pregnancy

Not in labor just yet … but full-term and itching to get things moving along? There are a few natural tricks that may help induce labor that you can try at home yourself, including walking, sex, spicy food and acupuncture.

That said, there’s not a lot of research to back any of these methods up, and you should always talk to your doctor first before trying anything intended to expedite baby’s birthday.

From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When You’re Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

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When Will You Start Feeling Symptoms Of Pregnancy

Some women experience symptoms of pregnancy very early on, though many women do not. According to one study of 136 women who ended up having babies, 50% had some symptoms roughly eight days after their missed period, 70% had some symptoms roughly two weeks after their missed period, and 90% had some symptoms one month after their missed period.2

Many early pregnancy symptoms are also very similar to PMS, which can be confusing. I go into more detail about the early symptoms of pregnancy below.

Morning Sickness Or Nausea

That telltale, queasy feeling known as morning sickness can hit you at any time of day and it typically begins when you’re about 6 weeks pregnant, though it can vary and strike even earlier. For most women, nausea starts by week 9.

Hormones, mainly increased levels of progesterone , can cause the stomach to empty more slowly, resulting in this early pregnancy symptom resembling seasickness.

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Smell Sensitivity And Food Aversions During Early Pregnancy

Smell sensitivity is a symptom of early pregnancy thats mostly self-reported. Theres little scientific evidence about smell sensitivity during the first trimester. However, it might be important, since smell sensitivity may trigger nausea and vomiting. It may also cause strong distaste for certain foods.

You may experience either a heightened or lessened sense of smell during pregnancy, according to 2017 research. This is especially common during the first and third trimesters. Heightened smell is more common than lessened smell. Some smells that never bothered you before may become less pleasing or even trigger nausea.

The good news is that your sense of smell usually returns to normal after delivery, or within 6 to 12 weeks postpartum.

Can I Be In Labor And Not Know It

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Every labor, like every pregnancy, is different. For most women, labor will follow along a somewhat predictable path, even as they progress at a different pace. And most often, a moms contractions will help guide her along the way, sending her packing to the hospital when things start getting real.

Will you know labor when you feel it? Will those contractions tell you what you need to know? Chances are, yes. But if you’re unsure, call your practitioner and get your cervix checked out, so you can run what youre feeling or experiencing by a professional.

Got a gut feeling that its labor, even though your sources and even your doctor or midwife or the triage nurse at the hospital tell you its likely not? Still get it checked out.

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Other Early Signs Of Pregnancy

These early pregnancy symptoms tend to appear around or after the time that you miss your period, usually sometime between weeks 4 and 9. But again, every woman and every pregnancy is different, so you may not experience these symptoms at all, while other moms-to-be may notice them a little earlier.

A Personal Note: What My Pregnancy Symptoms Were Like

Some of these pregnancy symptoms are hard to quantify, especially when it’s something like “feeling different.” But, you may well feel different somehow even though you can’t explain how you feel different.

In my first pregnancy, the earliest signs for me were the enlarged nipples and breasts and breast tenderness as well as feeling dizzy, sick and extremely tired. And yesâI did feel different!

During my second pregnancy, the most noticeable early symptoms were a metallic taste in my mouth, an aversion to drinking tea and a heightened sense of smell. This last symptom got worse and worse throughout my pregnancy and it became difficult to manage all of the smells that made me either feel sick or actually be sick. Smells I couldn’t handle were anything soapy such as body wash and deodorant, perfume, aftershave and alcohol. There were a lot more, but these were the main ones.

For my third pregnancy, me, my husband and our daughter were away traveling around Europe in our motorhome. We’d stopped to work on a farm for a few weeks, when I started to feel incredibly tired.

I couldn’t work out why I felt that way after a good night’s sleep and I had no other symptoms of illness, so I tried drinking extra coffee to keep me awake . Then a few days later I started feeling really unwell to the point I spent around four days laying down resting, but no real symptoms as suchâI might describe them like the flu without the sore throat and cough.

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Signs Your Cat Will Give Birth Soon

Once your cat begins active labor, try to leave her undisturbed. Watch from a safe distance to make sure she does not go into distress. These signs indicates kittens are on the way:

  • Nesting Activities: As the birth gets closer, your pregnant cat may seek out quiet, private places for the birth to take place. This typically begins up to two days prior to labor, but it may only begin a few hours prior.
  • Restlessness: About 24 to 48 hours before labor, the pregnant queen may seem restless or anxious. She may go in and out of her nesting area, almost as if pacing.
  • Vocalization: In addition to the pacing and restless behavior, the pregnant queen may meow and cry out more than usual.
  • Lowered Body Temperature: Within 12 to 36 hours of labor, your cat’s body temperature will drop below 100 degrees Fahrenheit .
  • Loss of Appetite: Your pregnant queen will likely have had an active appetite during her pregnancy. As she comes close to labor, she will have a drastic decrease in appetite.
  • Vulva Licking: As labor fast approaches, your cat will begin licking her vulva to clean a mild discharge. You will likely not see this discharge, as she will want to keep the area clean.

Other Reasons For Missing Your Period

10 signs you’re pregnant

Here are some possible reasons for missing your period but having negative pregnancy tests:

  • Menopause
  • Starting a new birth control method
  • Illness
  • Hormone imbalance

If you suspect one of these reasons may be disrupting your normal menstrual cycle, and you have a negative pregnancy, test then you should speak to a health professional.

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Lost Or Gained Weight

The fourth sign you might be pregnant and not know it is if you have either lost or gained weight. There are many reasons for our fluctuating weights:

  • – We are overweight and decide to go on a diet to lose weight.
  • – We start working out to either lose weight or tone our bodies, producing muscle mass.
  • – We start a new exercising regimen that is different from our previous one .
  • – We get depressed and eat more, which causes us to gain weight.
  • – We change our eating habits for a week or two .
  • – We move to another climate or go on vacation, and end up eating foods found in that area, which are different from the foods we normally eat.
  • – We start training for and run marathons.

Weight loss or gain can be attributed to many factors.

If you are overweight to begin with, there is a slim chance that you will notice a gain of a few pounds. As mentioned in Sign #1, babies dont weigh that much. Therefore, if you are overweight or obese, its easy to attribute a small pregnancy weight gain as being food-related.

If you have started to work out, diet, or have changed your eating habits in any way, there is a very good chance that you will attribute your weight loss or gain to these changes and not to a pregnancy, even if you are pregnant. You wont think that youre pregnant you will simply think that your body is changing because you are making it change.

This is yet another reason for you to check yourself regularly for pregnancy if you are sexually active.

Light Spotting And Cramping

Light spotting, also known as implantation bleeding, can occur when the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine lining. This can happen about 10 to 14 days after conception, around the same time that you are supposed to have your period. Light spotting may also be accompanied by cramping, which can feel similar to menstrual cramps.

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How Far Along Am I Four Ways To Figure Out How Pregnant You Are

Youre itching to know when your little one will arrive. Heres how to calculate how far you are in your pregnancy.

Its a question youll hear over and over until youre holding a baby in your arms: When are you due? Everyone wants to know that magic date, and youre probably more than a little curious about how far along you are, too. Your due date may become a beacon or a deadline , but its important to remember that your due date will only ever be an estimate of the week youll give birth .

That said, theres one big reason why an accurate estimate is important: in case of complications. If a woman goes into labour early, then we really want to know how far along she is, as best as we can tell, says Carol Scurfield, medical director of the Womens Health Clinic in Winnipeg. A week can make a big difference as far as the health of the baby is concerned.

Do your best to calculate your due date as soon as you discover youre pregnant. Heres how to do it.

Were You Using Birth Control

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Birth control is the best way to prevent unintended pregnancy. Contraception is available in many forms, including birth control pills, condoms, diaphragms, Depo shots, IUDs, etc. Each has its own effectiveness rate, but all are more effective than doing nothing. That said, birth control is not 100% foolproof.

For example, were you using it correctly? This means, for example, taking a pill every day at the same time, or using a condom every time you had sex. If you weren’t using birth control correctly, it greatly increases the likelihood that you could be pregnant. If you were, there is still a chance that you could be pregnant, because nothing is 100% effective against pregnancy .

Additionally, there are many things that can potentially interfere with birth control. Some medications taken can diminish the efficacy of the pill. If you have a condom slip or break, you have a greater likelihood of pregnancy.

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