Early Signs of Pregnancy

Have you ever asked yourself "am i pregnant?" " how do i know if i am really pregnant?"

"should i buy a test?, but what ones are the best?" or the best local resources for testing?", i can help you with that.

A. Physical symptoms of early pregnancy

some of the most common signs are

A missed period-are you in your child bearing years and you have gone a week or more without the start of an expected period? you MIGHT be pregnant but this symptom could be misleading if you are prone to having an irregular cycle or are under more stress than usual as that can delay your period.

tender swollen breasts- in early pregnancy there are some hormonal changes that might make your breasts more sensitive and sore, this is only temporary and will likely decrease after a few weeks as your body adjusts to the new hormonal changes.

Nausea with or without vomiting-or otherwise known as "morning sickness" wish can strike at any time of the day or night, will often begin one month after you become pregnant. though some women feel nausea earlier than others or some won't get it at all, the cause of nausea during pregnancy isn't clear, though many believe the hormones likely play a role.

Increased urination-you may find yourself urinating more than usual and the amount of blood in your body increases during pregnancy and this causes your kidneys to process the extra fluid that will end up in your bladder.

Fatigue-this also ranks high among the early signs of pregnancy and this is because during early pregnancy levels of the hormone progesterone soar which in turn may make you feel sleepy.

Some other less common signs are moodiness-The flood of hormones in your body in early pregnancy could make you unusually emotional and weepy. Mood swings also are common.

Bloating-Hormonal changes during early pregnancy can cause you to feel bloated, similar to what you may feel at the start of a menstrual period.

Light spotting-Sometimes a small amount of light spotting is one of the first signs of pregnancy this is known as implantation bleeding and it happens when the fertilized egg attaches to the lining of the uterus usually about 10 to 14 days after conception, Implantation bleeding occurs around the time of a menstrual period, though not all women will experience it, and with the implantation bleeding some women could experience mild uterine cramping in early pregnancy.

Constipation-along with the many hormonal changes( as if it wasn't enough) the hormonal changes can cause your digestive system to slow down and this leads to constipation.

food aversions- When you're pregnant, you might become more sensitive to certain odors/smells and your sense of taste might change. Like most of the other symptoms of pregnancy, these food preference changes can be chalked up to hormonal changes.

Nasal congestion-Increasing hormone levels and blood production can cause the mucous membranes in your nose to swell or dry out and bleed easily. This might cause you to have a stuffy or runny nose.

Every woman is different and So are their pregnancy experiences. Not every woman has the same symptoms as the next or not even the same symptoms from one pregnancy to the next.

ok so now you think you might be pregnant and not just getting sick, your next question will likely be "what is the best over the counter pregnancy tests and how soon do they work?

B. The best over the counter early pregnancy tests

there are some at home pregnancy tests that say they can detect if your pregnant or not up to 5 days before your period is due, but how do they do it? pregnancy tests use the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin or hCG for short to detect pregnancy levels and some tests are more sensitive than others so that's why some will work earlier when you have less of the hormone will others won't show "positive" until later in the early stages when you have a higher amount of the hormone, how do they work? as soon as an egg is fertilized your body automatically starts producing hCG and your levels double every 2-3 days and will peak by the end of your first trimester so in general home pregnancy tests are more accurate the longer you wait to take them for eg testing on the day of your expected period or just after will yield a more definitive answer than if you tested to early, like just days after ovulation when you could get a false negative/positive and would have to test again later but if you can't wait my first 5 top picks would be answer early result, confirm 1 step, equate, first response early results and once step be sure as they all can measure at 25mlU/hCG (the lower the number the higher the sensitivity and best to use your first morning pee as that is when you would have your higher concentration of hCG levels versus the rest of the day but if you can't wait then try and hold your urine as long as comfortably possible and don't flush your body with fluids as this can dilute your true hCG levels

c. Local resources for pregnancy testing

so you think your pregnant, and you don't know where to go or to turn, your first step is a pregnancy test with your local doctor for confirmation along with your estimated due date, if you can't see your doctor then a local walk in clinic can also help you with this, another route is mission.fetchbc.ca, healthlink and fraserhealth( mission public health unit) and the early pregnancy assessment clinic at bc women's hospital, when i was pregnant i always went to my family dr as we didn't have as many options known to us then, i am here to help you make the informed choices for yourself, that i didn't have or know about