Intuitively you may already suspect you are pregnant. Whether you desire or fear the answer, look for these tell-tale signs even before your period is due. Remember too, worrying about being pregnant can play tricks on your menstrual cycle, delaying your period further.

Nausea or morning sickness

Nausea, vomiting, or what feels like motion sickness, occurs in most pregnant women as early as the first week. Usually it starts when you get out of bed and your blood sugar levels are low, but may occur at any time of day or night. The reason seems to be the rapid increase in estrogen produced by the fetus and placenta.

Headaches

Increased blood volume sometimes elicits tension headaches with throbbing in your head and neck in the first few weeks of pregnancy. Lack of sleep, poor posture, stress, dehydration and low blood sugar levels worsen them. Instead of taking an aspirin, take Tylenol, just in case you are pregnant.

Dizziness and fainting spells

The growing uterus squashes major arteries in your legs, which causes your blood pressure to drop and you to feel light-headed. Eat frequently to ensure your blood sugar levels remains constant, since that is the primary food source for your baby.

Increased irritability and mood swings

Elevated levels of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone made by the developing embryo soon after conception) result in you feeling tired. Together with the discomfort of bloating, constipation, tender breasts and headaches, it is no surprise you are crabby.

Fatigue

If you feel exhausted for no apparent reason and sport dark circles under your eyes irrespective of how much you sleep, it could mean your foetus is already using your calories, leaving you with no energy. Added to this, the extra progesterone circulating in your body causes sleepiness and is known to be a natural central nervous system depressant.

Food cravings and aversions

Suddenly you may find yourself being drawn to foods unusual for you, for example, pickles and anything containing vinegar. Or you may inexplicably dislike something you used to enjoy, such as drinking coffee.

Heightened sense of taste and smell

Your keen sense of smell may be repulsed by raw and frying meat, perfume, smoke, household odors; any of which can trigger a bout of morning sickness.

Weight gain and bloating

You feel hungrier than usual and when you ignore the pangs, you feel nauseous. Your increased appetite, together with the growing foetus mean your jeans fit more tightly. Increased progesterone slows down your digestive tract and causes lower abdomen bloating, similar to what happens during a period, except your period does not come. You may look and feel thicker around your middle and in the hips, without yet gaining weight.

Heartburn

Your swollen uterus pushes upwards as it grows. Together with slower digestion, it means your tummy takes longer to empty and the amount of stomach acid increases. Furthermore, hormones sometimes relax the lower esophageal sphincter, allowing stomach acids to flow upwards and cause a burning sensation.

Lower back pain

The weight of your growing baby pulls your spine to the front of your body, causing lower back pain.

Constipation

The same hormone responsible for your bloating slows down your bowel function to ensure maximum absorption of nutrients. This results in constipation which worsens as your pregnancy progresses.

Constant urination

With your kidneys working harder to flush fluid more efficiently, together with the extra pressure on your bladder exerted by the growing uterus, you need to urinate more often, even in the middle of the night.

High Basal Body Temperature (BBT)

Measure your temperature orally or vaginally when you are at rest and before you speak or rise in the morning, with a digital basal thermometer available from Amazon or a drugstore. Very accurate and normally used to show when you ovulate, your temperature rises half a degree or more when an egg is released, and remains high until your period starts. Chart your BBT and if it remains elevated for more than two weeks, you may be pregnant.

Cramps

Similar to menstrual cramps, cramping or tugging sensations in the lower abdomen occur as your uterus and pelvic ligaments stretch in preparation for the next nine months. Did you know your uterus grows until it is capable of holding 1000 times more than when you are not pregnant?

Spotting

Also called implantation bleeding. When the fertilized egg attaches itself into the uterine wall, you are officially pregnant. Occurring 3 to 14 days after conception, you may bleed slighting at the same time you would normally start your period. Often women mistake it for their period, when in fact they are pregnant. If your period seems lighter, shorter or different, perhaps mixed with a yellowish discharge and without cramping, you may be spotting; sometimes so scant, it can be size of a pinhead.

Your areolae darken

The circle of colored skin surrounding your nipple is called the areola and roughly indicates where the mammary gland ducts are. Pregnancy hormones affect cells in the nipple responsible for their color, causing your areolae to darken and increase in diameter as your body prepares to produce milk. Darker complexion women may only notice this later. This change in color could also indicate a hormone imbalance or be from a previous pregnancy.

Tender breasts and/or nipples

Your breast tissue is very hormone sensitive and when progesterone and hCG flood your body and increase the blood volume, your breasts feel fuller and heavier than usual. In a matter of days they become sore, swollen, tingly and tender to the touch; similar to the sensations before your menstrual period, except with your period you seldom experience tingling. The blue veins within the breast may also become more prominent and puffy.

Metallic taste in your mouth

A dry mouth with a metallic taste can be a symptom of pregnancy.

Saliva

You suddenly begin producing a lot of saliva.

Vivid and unusual dreams

Hormonal changes often give rise to vivid and usual dreams.

Stuffy nose

Unlikely as it sounds, a stuffy nose can be a symptom of pregnancy, especially in combination with other symptoms.

More emotional

You may feel overly emotional, sometimes bursting into tears for no apparent reason other than hormonal fluctuations.

Missed periodsStress, sudden weight loss, coming off the contraceptive pill, a bug or a longer menstrual cycle when you reach your thirties, can also cause late periods. But if your cycle is normally regular, you have been sexually active and now miss a period, you may be pregnant.

Positive home pregnancy tests

When your anticipated period is due but fails to arrive, take a home pregnancy test. 99% accurate and available over the counter at most drugstores, follow the instructions exactly. All it takes is a drop of urine, then wait for the results. It measures the amount of hCG, which increases from 0 to 250,000 mIU/ml in only 12 weeks, in your urine.

Rarely is there a false positive, and if there is, it could be caused by over-hydration; so if a second line appears within the time frame, you stand a good chance of being pregnant. If the line only appears after the 10 minute development time, it could be an evaporation line, in which case wait a day or two and take another test. It the test is negative and a week later, you still have not started menstruating, test again.

Because your hormones fluctuate, the most reliable time to test is first thing in the morning when your urine contains enough hCG.

Conclusion

The likelihood of falling pregnant depends on whereabouts in your monthly cycle you had unprotected sex. Women are most likely to fall pregnant in the two middle weeks of their cycle.

Although not everyone experiences a classic 28 day cycle, if you have an idea when your period is due, count back 14 days to when you ovulated. If you had unprotected intercourse 3 to 5 days before and after that day, you could be pregnant.

Some women experience none of the symptoms above, but most do. So if your period is late, together with two or more of the above symptoms, do not hesitate to see your physician, gynecologist or Planned Parenthood. They will do a blood or urine test, confirm the results and if positive, the levels of hCG in your body will indicate how far along you are. Hopefully, the result is the one you want.

How to Tell If You Are Pregnant

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