Missed a period? Wondering if you might be pregnant? Everyone knows that the sure shot way to know if you’re pregnant is to take a test. However, if you are experiencing these symptoms, chances are, you could be pregnant! From headaches, tasting metal to weird discharges, here’s a collection of 70 early signs of pregnancy for you!
How soon can you get symptoms of pregnancy?
Some women can feel changes like nausea, tender breasts, fatigue, bloating or sensitivity to smell about a week before their period is due. Others might not notice changes until they are well into their first trimester.
How does your lower stomach feel in early pregnancy?
The lower stomach is the focus of major changes throughout pregnancy and its symptoms begin right from the start. Light bleeding, cramps and bloating can be felt in the lower stomach during the early pregnancy stages.
How can I tell if I’m pregnant after 1 week?
Here are some classic pregnancy symptoms that most women exhibit during the early pregnancy stage:
- Implantation bleeding: Unlike a menstrual period, you might see a small spot of pink discharge or a light bleeding. It occurs when the fertilized egg embeds itself onto the uterus wall.
- Cramps: Mild cramps in the low pelvis, back and abdomen that feels like pricking, puling or tingling can also occur when the egg embeds into the uterus and the ligaments get ready for some stretching! This can last for a few hours or a few days.
- Breasts: This is often the most noticeable symptom for pregnancy that is impossible to miss. Tenderness of breasts, swelling, soreness, with bright blue veins occur during early pregnancy.
- Nausea: Vomiting or feeling nauseous is another very common early pregnancy symptom.
- Temperature: If you are someone who tracks your basal body temperature, you might notice a rise in your basal body temperature starting from week 1 of pregnancy.
- Urination: Frequent urination is a common early pregnancy symptom.
- Headache: The sudden increase in blood volume can trigger headaches in early pregnancy stages till your body acclimatizes to the new changes.
- Bloating: Pregnancy hormones slow down digestion, leaving you feeling gassy, blocked and constipated.
- Fatigue: As a pregnancy begins, your body is constantly at work, rolling out changes to every part of your body. It is normal to be exhausted and feeling tired during the first week of pregnancy.
- Cravings and aversions: If you see yourself suddenly craving for some treats and weird combinations that you wouldn’t normally care about, chances are you might be pregnant.
First Months of Pregnancy – Symptoms
As you progress on to pregnancy week 5, the changes and symptoms become more apparent and distinguishable.
11. Mood swings: The ups and downs in your hormone levels can push and pull you through an emotional roller-coaster through the first week. Mood swings are most common during 6 to 10 weeks and again in the last trimester.
12. Metallic taste: Termed dysgeusia, it is the work of the hormones again. You might have a sour, metallic tasting mouth that does not go away.
13. Heartburn: Digestive changes like bloating and feeling constipated are one of the most common early pregnancy symptoms. Likewise, heart burn is a very common symptom that often lasts through the whole pregnancy until your baby is born.
14. Heartbeat: As your blood volume increases, your heart will begin to pump faster, usually around week 8 to 10. Feeling palpitations and hearing heartbeat in your ears are common symptoms of early pregnancy.
15. BP: If you’re not one with BP problems, a sudden high or low BP onset can mean you are pregnant. It is common to both see elevation and a drop in blood pressure in the first 12 weeks of conception.
16. Breakouts: More than half of pregnant women experience pregnancy acne at some point. Some women have it harsher than others.
17. Discharges: Clear or milky white discharges are common in early pregnancy, but this might be one of the harder things to keep note of. We often have discharges for a million other reasons. If you notice a foul odour, you might have a yeast infection, which can cause miscarriage. Take to your doctor right away.
18. Motion sickness: The hormone overload from pregnancy can increase your stimuli sensitivity, making you feel motion sick.
19. Nipples: As your body gets ready to feed a baby, your areolas darken and their texture changes to accommodate milk flow.
20. Gaining weight: If your clothes have been feeling snug lately, you might be pregnant! By the end of first trimester, it is common to gain around 2 kgs (4 lb).
What are some unusual signs of early pregnancy?
While we all know the classic pregnancy symptoms, there is a lot that often goes unsaid. Pregnancy is a phase of so many new changes that it can give way for some weird symptoms. Here are some unusual signs of pregnancy.
21. Stuffed nose: Termed pregnancy rhinitis, it usually onsets in the second trimester and continues till birth. This condition is brought upon by the expanding blood vessels in the nose.
22. Sore gums: Inflamed, sore and painful gums, a puffy face and even nosebleeds are all common symptoms of early pregnancy.
23. Excessive saliva: The progesterone secreted during pregnancy can increase saliva production. If you find yourself drooling uncontrollably all of a sudden, you might be pregnant.
24. Fainting: Dizziness, feeling light headed and fainting are common symptoms of pregnancy in the early weeks. Low blood pressure, low blood sugar or low iron are the most common triggers for fainting spells during pregnancy.
25. Puffing up: Swelling in the legs, ankles and feet is a common symptom of pregnancy that can last till birth.
26. Low immunity: As your body is busy working on growing a baby, the immune system drops its protection shield. Even a normal flu can knock you down. If you find you’re catching cold too often, you might be actually pregnant.
27. UTI: Both UTIs and pregnancy can cause frequent trips to the loo. The reduced immunity makes you susceptible to UTIs more during early pregnancy.
28. Insomnia: Although you might as sore as if a truck ran over you, you might have trouble falling asleep. Interestingly, both trouble falling asleep and lots of snoozing are both common symptoms of pregnancy.
29. Dreams: Many pregnant women report experiencing strange, vivid dreams that can be really unusual and add to the emotional roller coaster.
30. Back pain: The slew of changes in early pregnancy can induce back pains in many women.
31. Leg cramps: A not so pleasant pregnancy symptom, this one is very common around the third trimester.
32. Dry mouth: The Exact opposite of drooling, dry mouth is and feeling parched are common early pregnancy symptoms too.
33. Appetite: Feeling hungry but don’t like how the food tastes, feeling more thirsty, feeling hungry always are most often reported during early pregnancy.
34. Peeing when sneezing: Some tiny bits of urine leakage is a common symptom of pregnancy and can sometimes last for weeks after your little one is born!
35. Shortness of breath: As your little one starts to encroach on your personal space, you may experience shortness of breath.
36. Haemorrhoids: As if all that wind and constipation isn’t enough, you may also develop haemorrhoids. This can develop right from early stages or can show up after all the pushing during birth.
37. Extra hair: When you are pregnant, hair can magically sprout in places like back, butts and chin.
38. Sweats: The hot flashes and rise in temperature because of increased blood circulation can leave you dripping in sweat. Sudden hot flashes are a common early pregnancy symptom.
39. Veins: If veins all over your body are popping, it can be a pregnancy symptom too.
40. Pregnancy brain: Some say yes and some say nay, but feeling forgetful and absentminded is a common pregnancy symptom. You might also struggle with math!
41. Shoe size: When you are pregnant, your ligaments loosen up to ease birth. This can cause your feet to go one size larger, permanently.
42.Vision: Blurry vision? Fluid build-up in the cornea can affect your eyesight when pregnant, causing blurry vision. Don’t worry; you will go back to normal after birth.
45. Breast leaks: If you’ve been waking up with wet patches on your tees, you might be pregnant! Breast leaks are common a common symptom of pregnancy.
46. Black line: If you can see a clear black line from your belly button to your groin, you might be pregnant! The line will get darker as pregnancy progresses and fade away after birth.
47. PUPPS: Short for Pruritic urticarial papulaes & plaques of pregnancy, these are small red rashes that can arise from the belly and spread to whole body. They disappear on their own after birth.
48. Spider veins: Visible blood vessels that look like spider webs are common in pregnancy, especially around thighs and calves. They might be uncomfortable sometimes.
49. Stomach itches: As your tummy grows, it can become really itchy! Itchy stomach is a sign of early pregnancy.
50. Libido: As the pregnancy hormones dance to their own rhythm, you might find yourself suddenly interested or disinterested in your partner and might even hate his smell!
51. Dark patches: Most pregnant women get dark patches around the neck.
52. Bra size: Throughout your pregnancy, your bra size will change several times. Sudden increase in breast cup size with soreness can mean you are pregnant.
53. Belly button: Your innie belly button can pop out and become an outie.
54. Stretch marks: Some women are more prone to stretch marks than others.
55. Moles and freckles: Many pregnant women develop freckles during pregnancy and their moles and grow in size.
Good Pregnancy Symptoms
Don’t rush to the conclusion that all pregnancy symptoms have been designed to torture you! Here are a few good pregnancy symptoms:
56. Hair: Pregnant women often have thick, long, luscious locks of hair. The high levels of oestrogen slow down your hair’s life cycle, making them live longer and shinier. The sad part is they will all fall out all the same time after your pregnancy hormones fade away.
57. Nose bleed
58. Glow: Most pregnant women have a beautiful gentle glow right from the early weeks!
59. Irritability or Mood swings
60. A heightened sense of smell
61. Metallic taste in the mouth
62. Raised basal body temperature
63. Brittle Nails – Pregnancy increases blood pressure and hormone level. You may find your nails becoming thinner and crack more easily.
64. Increased Vaginal Discharge – Many women experience increased sticky, white or pale yellow vaginal discharge during the first trimester.
65. Diarrhoea – Pregnancy causes shifting in hormone level, which impacts bowel movement a lot.
66. Weight Gain- Some women may find themselves gaining weight within the first few weeks of pregnancy. This may just be because of bloating and an increase in water weight.
67. Breast Soreness
68. Darkened Areolas – One week of pregnancy symptoms include darkened areolas due to the increased level of Melanin in this area.
69. Hair Loss – Hormonal changes during pregnancy causes thinning hair and increased hair loss.
70. Change in libido – Pregnancy causes a change in libido, with women finding a decrease in sexual desire in the first few weeks.
We hope you now know what early pregnancy can feel like? How did you find out you were pregnant? Share with us in the comments below!
