Pregnancy Symptoms

The early signs of pregnancy are so similar to the feelings you have when you are pre-menstrual that it’s difficult to know whether you are actually pregnant or whether your period is simply late. Some woman may also experience slight bleeding and mistake this for a very light period, but the blood is usually a lighter color compared to a normal period and is due to the embryo implanting into the wall of the uterus.

Swollen, tender breasts, accompanying enlargement of the little bumps or glands of the nipples, and darkening areolas, are also some of the early pregnancy symptoms that occur. Again, when pre-menstrual, women experience tender breasts, and so symptoms of pregnancy like those above are often overlooked.

Most women take a pregnancy test five or six weeks after their last period but if you can’t wait that long, a pregnancy test can be done when your period is just two days late. Another early symptom of pregnancy is nausea or so called “morning” sickness.

Nausea can occur at any time of the day and can be triggered even by smelling certain foods or other things that before you were pregnant you did not react to. Pregnancy symptoms in early pregnancy include more heightened senses and your acute sense of smell will be responsible for your reaction to certain odors.

Abdominal bloating, again similar to the pre-menstrual experience, is also a symptom of pregnancy due to the changes taking place in your uterus and some women may also put this symptom down to constipation not realizing that constipation too, can be a symptom of pregnancy as the body slows down digestion during pregnancy and more water is absorbed by the colon.

Frequent urination, headaches, tiredness, increasing temperature, a metallic taste in the mouth, can all be pregnancy symptoms but the only way to be sure that you’re pregnant is to have a test done and the sooner the better for the health of both you and your baby.