You Are Sensitive To Smells
If you are noticing the smells in your home and office more, this could be a sign that you are pregnant. Being sensitive to smells is one of the most common early signs of pregnancy. Some researchers believe this may be to protect pregnant women from eating gone-off food that could be harmful to the baby.
How Soon Can You Tell If Youre Pregnant 24 Really Early Signs
So you think you may be pregnant? But how early can you tell if you really are?
Honestly, its hard to pinpoint exactly how soon you can tell if youre pregnant because each one of us is unique.
Some women get a 6th sense about it straight away , while others dont know until months down the line.
Most of us will fall somewhere in the middle of these two extremes and well start to get an inkling we may be pregnant within 2-4 weeks of conception.
Pregnancy symptoms are usually very mild in the first couple of weeks making them hard to detect without a blood or urine test. Usually, the first sign is a late period. But what other early signs and symptoms will give you a clue to whether youre pregnant or not?
And how early can you take a pregnancy test to find out for sure?
How reliable are urine pregnancy tests, what can you do to make sure you get an accurate result and what might cause a false positive?
What about super early symptoms, like before implantation? Is that even possible?
We answer all your questions below.
Loss Of Appetite For Favourite Foods
Pregnancy can really mess with your eating habits, thats for sure. As well as craving foods you may not have previously been interested in, you can actually lose a taste for some foods and drinks that are usually a big part of your normal diet. Women sometimes go off staples such as coffee, tea or fatty foods. Changes in tastes and a heightened sense of smell are very common and can persist throughout pregnancy but do tend to be strongest early on, Dr Knight explained.
What else could it be?People often experience a loss in appetite when theyre feeling anxious or stressed. This is because anxiety triggers emotional and psychological changes in your body to help you deal with the pressure, they often affect the stomach and digestive tract and can make you lose your appetite. When youre feeling more relaxed, your appetite should return back to normal.
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Very Early Signs Of Pregnancy
Think you might be pregnant? Check out these early symptoms of pregnancy that can show up one week before your missed period. If you’ve already experienced a few, it may be time to head to the drugstore to pick up a pregnancy test or schedule an appointment with your OB-GYN.
Your breasts may be extra tender as early as one or two weeks after conception. Youre making so much estrogen and progesterone in early pregnancy that the glands in the breasts start growing, explains Jasbir Singh, M.D., an OB-GYN at Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie in Texas. This hormone surge causes breasts to retain more fluids and feel heavy, sore, or more sensitive than normal PMS tenderness.
Many women mistake these early signs of pregnancy for PMS symptoms, but theyre actually caused by hormonal changes and the growth of the uterus. About 30 percent of women experience cramping after conception, which is triggered by implantationwhen the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine wall. Your uterus may be stretching a little now to prep for its massive expansion over the next nine months
When a fertilized egg implants into the plush lining of the uterus about six to 12 days after conception, light vaginal spotting may occur. You might mistake this “implantation bleeding” for your period, but it’s generally lighter than menstruation and brown or pink in color.
Recognizing The Early Signs
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What Other Changes Can I Expect During The First Trimester
Frequent urination. Towards the end of the first trimester, you will feel like urinating more often. This is because your growing uterus pushes on your bladder. You may even leak a little urine when you cough or sneeze.
Lightheadedness. Your body is working overtime to make extra blood to support your baby. This can cause you to feel dizzy or lightheaded. Hunger, weakness, or stress can cause these symptoms as well.
Heartburn. The muscles that break down food become more relaxed during pregnancy. Hormone changes also slow down this process. Food also stays in your stomach longer to give your body more time to absorb nutrients. All these things can cause or worsen heartburn.
Constipation. You should be taking a daily prenatal vitamin that contains iron. The iron in the vitamin can lead to constipation. The slow process of breaking down food also can cause constipation, gas, and bloating. Your doctor may suggest taking fiber supplements or a stool softener to provide relief. Make sure you drink plenty of water . Tell your doctor if you have severe problems. They may switch you to a different prenatal vitamin.
Visible veins. Your body makes extra blood and your heart pumps faster to meet the needs of pregnancy. This can cause the blue veins in your belly, breasts, and legs to become more noticeable. You may develop spider veins on your face, neck, or arms. These are tiny blood vessels that branch out from a central area, like the legs of a spider.
When Will Your Baby Be Born
When you find out youâre pregnant, one of your first questions might be âwhen will I get to meet my baby?â For an estimate, try our Due Date Calculator, where you can simply enter the first day of your last period or the date of conception.
Keep in mind, only about 5 percent of babies are born exactly on their due date. Itâs totally normal to give birth in the two weeks either side of your due date. Your healthcare provider can also give you an estimate of when your little one will be born.
Due dates are typically calculated as 280 days, or 40 weeks, from the first day of your last menstrual period. When calculating a due date and the weeks of pregnancy in this way, the first week of pregnancy is actually the week you had your period, and were not pregnant yet. Itâs hard to wrap your head around but, based on how due dates are calculated, you are not actually pregnant yet in the first couple of weeks of the 40 weeks of pregnancy.
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Can You Tell Pregnancy At 3 Weeks
While some people feel no difference at all at this early stage, others may start to notice 3 weeks pregnant symptoms. The experience at 3 weeks pregnant can really vary, so dont fret if you dont feel anything out of the ordinary. However, if you feel nauseous and your breasts are sore, thats normal too.
You Have A Sneaking Suspicion
The old wives’ tale that double yolks are a sign of twins may ring true for some! Start noticing any potential signs and tapping into your early maternal instincts. Dreams, premonitions, intuition, hunches…many moms of twins look back in hindsight and realize they encountered these serendipitous signs shortly before they found out they were pregnant with more than one baby.
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Can You Feel Pregnant A Few Days After Conception
Some women may notice symptoms as early as 5 DPO, although they wont know for certain that they are pregnant until much later. Early signs and symptoms include implantation bleeding or cramps, which can occur 56 days after the sperm fertilizes the egg. Other early symptoms include breast tenderness and mood changes.
When Should You Take A Pregnancy Test
Its usually recommended that you take a pregnancy test after youve missed your period. This is because pregnancy tests measure the level of human chorionic gonadotrophin in your body, which is a hormone that starts to build up when you conceive. It can take around three to four weeks from the first day of your last period for there to be enough hCG in your body to show up on a test.
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What Happens During Week 1
These are the first 2 weeks of your menstrual cycle. You have your period. About 2 weeks later, the egg thats most mature is released from your ovary this is called ovulation. Ovulation may happen earlier or later, depending on the length of your menstrual cycle. The average menstrual cycle is 28 days.
After its released, your egg travels down your fallopian tube toward your uterus. If the egg meets up with a sperm, they combine. This is called fertilization. Fertilization is most likely to occur when you have unprotected vaginal sex during the 6 days leading up to and including the day of ovulation.
When To Take A Pregnancy Test
A pregnancy test measures the amount of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin hormone in the urine. This hormone is only present when a woman is pregnant. As the egg grows into an embryo, the cells that surround it and later become the placenta produce hCG.
Planned Parenthood indicate that it is best to take a pregnancy test as soon after a missed period as possible. A pregnancy test may return a positive result as early as 10 days after a person has had sex without contraception. However, it typically takes about 3 weeks before theres enough hCG in the urine to produce a positive pregnancy test.
There are many affordable and reliable pregnancy tests available over-the-counter or online. A home pregnancy test can tell whether you are pregnant in a few minutes, with most claiming to offer almost 99% accuracy .
To help ensure an accurate result, the best time to take a pregnancy test is 1 week after a missed period. Results of a pregnancy test are either positive or negative.
If a woman takes the pregnancy test earlier than 1 week after a missed period, it may give a negative result, even if the person is actually pregnant.
If a person believes they are pregnant despite a negative test result, they should repeat the test after 1 week.
To avoid a false negative result, check the pregnancy tests expiration date, and carefully follow the written directions.
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What Are The Signs Of Depression
Depression can come on slowly. The symptoms are different for everyone. They can be mild, moderate or severe. Some of the more common signs are:
- changes in appetite, like eating too much or having little interest in food,
- changes in sleep, such as trouble sleeping or sleeping too much,
- lack of energy,
- feeling sad, hopeless or worthless,
- crying for no reason, and
- loss of interest or pleasure in activities you normally enjoy.
New moms with depression may have trouble caring for their baby. They might not want to spend time with their baby, which can lead to a baby who cries a lot.
How Is Your Baby Developing This Month
After conception, the fertilized egg travels along the fallopian tube to the uterus, where it will implant in the uterine lining. The egg divides into a bunch of cells, some of which become the embryo and some of which eventually become the placenta, which will provide nourishment for your baby during your pregnancy. The umbilical cord also forms between the embryo and the placenta, delivering nutrients and removing waste. The upcoming month is a time of rapid growth for your little one, as internal organs, bones, and tiny limbs are beginning to form.One quick note on the terminology you might see when reading up on baby development: During the first eight weeks, your little one may be referred to as an embryo in medica circles, whereas after this point your baby may be called a fetus until she is born.
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Things That Come Out Of Your Body During Labor
So you’ve survived the mood swings and the hemorrhoids, and you think your surprises are over. But the day you give birth will probably hold the biggest surprises of all.
During pregnancy, fluid surrounds your baby in the amniotic sac. This sac breaks at the start of or during labor a moment usually referred to as your water breaking. For most women in labor, contractions start before their water breaks. Sometimes the doctor has to rupture the amniotic sac .
How much water can you expect? For a full-term baby, there are about 2 to 3 cups of amniotic fluid. Some women may feel an intense urge to pee that leads to a gush of fluid when their water breaks. Others may only feel a trickling down their leg because the baby’s head acts like a stopper to prevent most of the fluid from leaking out.
Amniotic fluid is generally sweet-smelling and pale or colorless. It’s replaced by your body every 3 hours, so don’t be surprised if you continue to leak fluid, about a cup an hour, until delivery.
Other, unexpected things may come out of your body during labor. Some women have nausea and vomiting. Others have diarrhea before or during labor, and passing gas is also common. During the pushing phase of labor, you may lose control of your bladder or bowels.
A birth plan can help communicate your wishes to your health care providers about how to handle these and other aspects of labor and delivery.
Normal Pregnancy Symptoms: Heres What To Expect
Pregnancy is an exciting time in a womans life, but it can also be overwhelming as your body changes in new ways. As your first trimester gets underway, you might start wondering: Am I supposed to feel this way, or is something wrong?
Many pregnancy symptoms arent enjoyable, but I want to reassure you they are completely normal. Most women tend to start experiencing symptoms about 3-4 weeks after conception at a gestational age of 5-6 weeks.
To help you know what to expect, Ive compiled this list of symptoms that typically accompany pregnancy.
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Is There Anything Else I Should Do
If you are feeling any of the symptoms listed above, it is very important to tell someone. The early days of taking care of a new baby can be hard. Youre probably not sleeping much as you try to meet your babys needs around the clock. Find a friend, family member or someone else you trust who can look after your baby for short periods while you get a break. If people offer help, accept it.
There are many;support programs for new mothers. Talk to your doctor, nurse, midwife, or contact your local public health office for a listing of services in your area.
How Early Can I Take A Pregnancy Test
If youre dying to take a pregnancy test after you think you may have conceived, youre not alone. But most experts say you should wait until the first day of your missed period, which is usually somewhere around two weeks after conception.
If you take a test too early, you may get inaccurate test results. A negative test result can mean a few things, including:
- you arent pregnant
- youre pregnant but there isnt enough of the hormone hCG to detect yet
- the test wasnt conducted properly
For the earliest results, you may want to consider a blood test in your doctors office. While both urine and blood tests look for the presence of hCG, blood tests are usually more sensitive to hormone changes.
On the downside, a blood test is more expensive and must be conducted at your doctors office.
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Pregnancy Testing For An Early And Accurate Result
A pregnancy test;measures levels of human chorionic gonadotropin in your blood or urine. hCG starts to be produced after implantation in the walls of the uterus.
Implantation can occur as early as 7 days after conception.
The placenta begins to develop and produces increasing amounts of hCG.
There are no dierences between ethnicities with regard to urinary hCG increase. However, levels of serum hCG in early pregnancy following assisted reproductive technology have been seen to be slightly lower in women with a higher pre-pregnancy body mass index.
If you need early detection of pregnancy, a blood pregnancy test done at the doctors oice can detect low levels of hCG and measure the actual quantity of hCG in the body.
A blood pregnancy test can be accurate six to eight days after ovulation. A urine test is usually accurate about 14-21 days after ovulation.
