Pregnancy Symptoms — Early Signs of Pregnancy

Pregnancy symptoms differ from woman to woman and pregnancy to pregnancy; however, one of the most significant pregnancy symptoms is a delayed or missed menstrual cycle. Understanding the signs and symptoms of pregnancy is important because each symptom may be related to something other than pregnancy. Some women experience signs or symptoms of pregnancy within a week of conception. For other women, pregnancy symptoms may develop over a few weeks or may not be present at all. Below is a listing of some of the most common pregnancy signs symptoms. If you have been sexually active and experiencing any of the following symptoms it is important to take a pregnancy test.

Implantation Bleeding:
Implantation bleeding can be one of the earliest pregnancy symptoms. About 6-12 days after conception, the embryo implants itself into the uterine wall. Some women will experience spotting as well as some cramping.

Other Explanations: Actual menstruation, altered menstruation, changes in birth control pill, infection, or abrasion from intercourse.

Delay/Difference in Menstruation:
A delayed or missed menstruation is the most common pregnancy symptom leading a woman to test for pregnancy. When you become pregnant, your next period should be missed. Many women can bleed while they are pregnant, but typically the bleeding will be shorter or lighter than a normal period.

Other Explanations: Excessive weight gain/loss, fatigue, hormonal problems, tension, stress, ceasing to take the birth control pill, or breast-feeding.

Swollen/Tender Breasts:
Swollen or tender breasts is a pregnancy symptom which may begin as early as 1-2 weeks after conception. Women may notice changes in their breasts; they may be tender to the touch, sore, or swollen.

Other Explanations: Hormonal imbalance, birth control pills, impending menstruation (PMS) can also cause your breasts to be swollen or tender.

Fatigue/Tiredness:
Feeling fatigued or more tired is a pregnancy symptom which can also start as early as the first week after conception.

Other Explanations: Stress, exhaustion, depression, common cold or flu, or other illnesses can also leave you feeling tired or fatigued.

Nausea/Morning Sickness:
This well-known pregnancy symptom will often show up between 2-8 weeks after conception. Some women are fortunate to not deal with morning sickness at all, while others will feel nauseous throughout most of their pregnancy.

Other Explanations: Food poisoning, stress, or other stomach disorders can also cause you to feel queasy.

Backaches:
Lower backaches may be a symptom that occurs early in pregnancy; however, it is common to experience a dull backache throughout an entire pregnancy.

Other Explanations: Impending menstruation, stress, other back problems, and physical or mental strains.

Headaches:
The sudden rise of hormones in your body can cause you to have headaches early in pregnancy.

Other Explanations: Dehydration, caffeine withdrawal, impending menstruation, eye strain, or other ailments can be the source of frequent or chronic headaches.

Frequent Urination:
Around 6-8 weeks after conception, you may find yourself making a few extra trips to the bathroom.

Other Explanations: Urinary tract infection, diabetes, increasing liquid intake, or taking excessive diuretics.

Darkening of Areolas:
If you are pregnant, the skin around your nipples may get darker.

Other Explanations: Hormonal imbalance unrelated to pregnancy or may be a leftover effect from a previous pregnancy.

Food Cravings:
While you may not have a strong desire to eat pickles and ice cream, many women will feel cravings for certain foods when they are pregnant. This can last throughout your entire pregnancy.

Other Explanations: Poor diet, lack of a certain nutrient, stress, depression, or impending menstruation.

Signs of Ovulation

The time of ovulation is different for every woman. Some women ovulate like clock work on the same day of their cycle every month. Other women may ovulate on varying each month. Narrowing down the window of time when ovulation may occur is the first step to tracking your ovulation. Your next step is to pay attention to signs that may indicate that you are ovulating.

Common Signs of ovulation that occur in most women:

1. Change in cervical fluid. Cervical fluid that resembles “egg whites” is a sign that you are near ovulation or are ovulating. Every woman can experience her own type of cervical fluid, and not all cervical fluid looks the same. Ovulation usually takes place on the day a woman has the most amount of wet fluid.
2. Change in basal body temperature. For most women, you will see that prior to ovulation, the basal body temperature is rather consistent. As you get closer to ovulation, you may have a slight decline, but it will be followed by a sharp increase after ovulation. The increase in temperature is the sign that ovulation has just occurred. Tracking your basal body temperature accurately over a few months can help you predict when ovulation is going to occur.
3. Change in cervical position or firmness. The cervix goes through many changes as a woman ovulates. A woman may notice the clear signs of ovulation; her cervix will be soft, high, open and wet. For most women it will take some time in studying her body to be able to differentiate between what her cervix normally feels like and the changes it goes through during ovulation.

Secondary signs of ovulation

There are other ovulations signs that women may experience in addition to the 3 main signs. These are called secondary signs and may not happen as consistently, if at all, for many women.

These may include:

• Light spotting
• Slight cramping or pain on one side of the pelvis
• Breast tenderness
• Abdominal bloating
• Increased sex drive
• Heightened sense of smell, taste or vision

Learning to track your ovulation and pay attention to your signs can be a challenge for some women at first. But over time, many women come to recognize these common signs very easily and are able to use them to gauge where they are in their cycle.

You Are What Your Mother Ate

Researchers have known that a pregnant mother’s diet can have a lasting impact on her child’s susceptibility to cancer, diabetes, obesity, and depression. Randy Jirtle, an oncologist at Duke University, is the first to decode the reason why. He and his colleagues studied dietary effects on two groups of genetically identical mice. The researchers fed one group of pregnant mice a normal diet. The second group ate the same food but also received a cocktail of B12, folic acid, choline, and betaine. The mice that got the extra nutrients had reduced expression of a gene that causes obesity, diabetes, and cancer. Jirtle says the nutrients probably help by providing a ready supply of methyl molecules, which act as stop signals at key places in the genome. “Roughly half of our DNA is junk—leftover bits of unnecessary genes and DNA fragments introduced by viruses. If we expressed all these genes, we’d be a mess, so we evolved an effective off switch. But the switch doesn’t work if it doesn’t have just the right amount of raw materials it needs,” he says.

The methyl molecules have the greatest impact during periods of rapid cell division, such as when an embryo is only a few cells old. If the mother is nutritionally deprived or oversupplemented at those times, the expression of some genes in the child will be permanently altered. Methyl markings are then passed on along with the rest of the DNA, so the effects of malnutrition could be passed along for generations. “This is the first example of how early environment can alter gene expression without mutating the gene itself,” Jirtle says.

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