Enjoy Healthy Pregnancy

There are several early signs of pregnancy. Let’s take a look at them in the order they might appear.

Before You Know You’re Pregnant

Within the first week after conception you might notice that you are more tired than usual. Having naps is the best way to combat this early sign of pregnancy.

A week to two weeks after conception, you might have implantation bleeding. This is also referred to as “breakthrough bleeding” because it is caused by the fertilized egg breaking through the uterine wall and affixing itself there. This can also be accompanied by some cramping, but the spotting should be minimal.

Many of the early pregnancy symptoms could be something else. Of course, if you have several symptoms of early pregnancy, there’s a very good chance you are expecting a baby!

Symptoms? Or Something Different?

One symptom of pregnancy is a missed period. Can there be another explanation for a missed or delayed period? Of course there is – excessive weight gain or loss, hormonal problems, stress, exhaustion, ending taking birth control pills, and breastfeeding can all change your normal monthly cycle.

Many women who are in early pregnancy and having back pain wonder why they are already feeling the pinch in their lower back. Logically, they think the back pain shouldn’t be early in pregnancy, since the baby is still small and not putting that much pressure on the back muscles. And yet their back hurts.

Sorting It All Out

When a woman becomes pregnant, the egg in her fallopian tube has become infiltrated by the little squiggly sperm. The egg finishes its trip down the fallopian tube and implants itself somewhere along the wall of the uterus. If the egg doesn’t make it to the uterus, but instead implants along the wall of the fallopian tube – trouble! There isn’t enough room within the fallopian tube to grow a baby! That pregnancy is doomed. The mother will experience abdominal cramping and bleeding, as her body works to expel the “misbehaving” egg.

Probably every woman knows at least one woman who had a miscarriage during her early pregnancy. Spotting is usually something the woman noticed. When we hear that there is spotting in early pregnancy and a miscarriage was the result, we worry if we have spotting during our early pregnancy, understandably!

The Facts – Worry or Not?

It is true, spotting can be a precursor to a miscarriage. About 15% of pregnancies end in a miscarriage. But the bigger picture is that a full 25-30% of pregnant women have some spotting in early pregnancy, and still carry their baby to term. Spotting in early pregnancy is very common, and not necessarily something to worry about! There are other stages of pregnancy less early that would have other reasons for spotting, such as early labor or issues with the placement of the placenta.

For any woman, whether the pregnancy was planned or not, it is important to take good care of your body while it is growing another body. As soon as you suspect you might be pregnant, there are things you should do to help your body be as healthy as it can be.

Your midwife or doctor will want you to be taking prenatal vitamins, and often extra folic acid, at this early pregnancy stage. It is important that you get enough of “the right stuff” to help prevent birth defects. It is also wise to stop smoking and taking birth control pills, if you are still doing either.

There are many signs of early pregnancy. You’re probably familiar with some of them already. Let’s take a look at them and why they occur. For some of them, there are ways to make them easier to deal with. Others just “are.” Most are caused by the change in hormones coursing through the body. Some you can expect if your mother had them with her pregnancies, others are totally individual.

Tell-Tale Signs of Pregnancy – What To Watch For

One of the first ways to know you are in early pregnancy is if you have morning sickness – the classic nausea that women warn other women about. Unfortunately, it can come all day long, so it is somewhat optimistically named. Lucky mothers-to-be don’t have morning sickness at all, others worry that they won’t ever get over it. Most find that by the end of the first trimester it has gone away. This sign usually starts between 2 and 8 weeks after conception. Mothers who manage morning sickness recommend eating saltines just before getting up in the morning and eating many smaller meals instead of large ones.

You might think that now that you’re an adult you shouldn’t get acne anymore – I only wish that were true! For a teen pregnancy, acne is often par for the course. But for adults getting acne can come as a surprise. Acne still affects us, even as adults, and acne can be particularly common in times of stress or hormonal upheaval. And thus we see why those in early pregnancy might get acne – is there any time more laden with stress and emotional upheaval?

Acne…And – What Else?