Early Signs of Pregnancy

Learn From the Specialists

You've missed a period and you think you might be pregnant. But how do you know for sure? What are the early signs of pregnancy?

Generally, the earliest sign is, of course, skipping your menstrual cycle. However, since many women occasionally skip their cycle for various other reasons, this symptom can't verifiably tell whether a woman is pregnant or not. The best verification of pregnancy is, of course, a pregnancy test. Still, other symptoms of pregnancy do exist. Women may experience things such as cramping from implantation bleeding (internal bleeding when the embryo implants), swollen or overly sensitive breasts, a tendency toward tiredness, nausea, backaches, headaches, the need to urinate constantly, and odd food cravings.

While all these symptoms could be signs of pregnancy, they could also be signs of other things. Cramping can come from an approaching menstrual cycle. Swollen breasts can come from birth control pills. A variety of different factors lead to tiredness. Things such as food allergies or poisoning often lead to nausea. Backaches and headaches can come from stress. Frequent urination is often a result of an increased liquid intake or diabetes. And food cravings are a common complaint associated with several different possible causes.

With these different possible reasons for pregnancy symptoms, women should take a pregnancy test and/or see a doctor if they think they are expecting.

Links:

americanpregnancy.org

American Pregnancy helps potentially pregnant women understand the symptoms of early pregnancy. Not only does the site give a list of these symptoms, it also provides a list of other reasons besides pregnancy that a women could be experiencing them. Women who think they may be pregnant should look into this site.

womens-health-questions.com

Women's Health gives information on early pregnancy symptoms. The site provides a list of 17 possible symptoms and gives several paragraphs of description on each symptom. Also, the site offers other pages explaining the symptoms and stages experienced throughout pregnancy. In addition, information about various other health problems experienced by women is offered on Women's Health.

mayoclinic.com

The Mayo Clinic's site provides women with the information they need to know in order to tell whether they are pregnant. This article entitled "Symptoms of Pregnancy: What Happens Right Away" explains many of the early signs of pregnancy and gives tips on knowing whether you are pregnant or not. Of course, the only true way to know is through a pregnancy test.

surebaby.com

Sure Baby gives links to a different sections on their site. These sections offer information on signs and symptoms of pregnancy and also provide a week by week description of pregnancy stages and the symptoms that go with them. Women who think they may be pregnant and want to stay informed should look at Sure Baby.

© 2012 Pregnant.com