symptoms in pregnancy symptoms in pregnancy

15 Little-known Symptoms In Pregnancy

Symptom In Pregnancy

Missing a menstrual period or two or more consecutive periods is the most common sign of pregnancy. However, many women experience other symptoms of pregnancy as well before they miss menstruation.

A woman’s missed menstruation does not always indicate that she is pregnant. Menstrual abnormalities are widespread and can be caused by various factors, including contraceptive pills, diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome, anorexia1, bulimia, and some drugs. Ladies who miss their period should visit their doctor to determine if they are pregnant or have other health issues.

Symptom in pregnancy differs from one woman to the next. A woman may have all of the common symptoms in pregnancy, or only a few symptoms, or none at all.

Symptom in pregnancy
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How Does Pregnancy Take Place?

Ovulation occurs halfway through your menstrual cycle when one developed egg leaves the ovary and travels through the fallopian tube to the uterus. The egg remains in the fallopian tube for 12 to 24 hours, slowly migrating through to see if any sperm are there. Sperm cells can swim up through the cervix if semen gets into your vagina.

The sperm and the uterus collaborate to transport the sperm to the fallopian tubes. If an egg and sperm are both passing through your fallopian tubes at the same time, the sperm and egg may fuse. Before dying, the sperm has up to six days to unite with an egg.

Fertilization is the process of a sperm cell joining an egg, and it does not occur immediately. It takes up to 6 days between intercourse and fertilization because sperm can stay in your uterus and fallopian tube for up to 6 days after sex. The fertilized egg goes down the fallopian tube toward the uterus if a sperm cell joins up with your egg. It starts to split into more cells, eventually producing a ball.

About 3–4 days after fertilization, the ball of cells (called a blastocyst) reaches the uterus. For another 2–3 days, the bundle of cells floats in the uterus. This is called implantation when the ball of cells connects to the lining of your uterus, and that is when pregnancy officially starts.

In short, for a pregnancy to occur, sperm must come into contact with an egg; when a fertilized egg implants in the uterine lining, pregnancy officially begins. Pregnancy might take up to 2-3 weeks following a sexual encounter.

How Long Does it take for a pregnancy test to come back positive?

If a high sensitivity home pregnancy test is used (able to detect hCG levels as low as 10 mIU/mL or lower), a positive pregnancy test can be obtained as early as 7 days after ovulation is not very common. The majority of women can not get a successful pregnancy result until 10-14 days after ovulation, if at all. Every home pregnancy test is done to determine accuracy about a week following a missed period.

Be warned that if you examine too early, your hormone levels might have been too low to appear on the test, resulting in a negative pregnancy test even if you are truly pregnant. It’s good to study more about it when you’re not aware of how the hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) hormones rise in early pregnancy. This can assist you in avoiding testing too soon and getting false-negative results.

When you take a fertility test early on, and it comes back negative. Still, you’re experiencing any of the initial symptoms in pregnancy listed here, take an additional sample a few weeks later with your early morning urination.

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What Are The Early Symptom in Pregnancy?

As your body prepares for your baby’s growth and development during the early stages of pregnancy, it undergoes significant hormonal changes. According to the Office of Women’s Health (OWH), such hormonal imbalances can cause various symptoms as early as the first week of pregnancy.

Although many people think of morning sickness and delayed menstruation as early pregnancy symptoms, there seem to be a few other signs that you might not be aware of. some of the early pregnancy symptoms are:

Symptom In Pregnancy Includes:

1. Spotting Light Bleeding

It’s fairly uncommon to experience minor spotting or light bleeding early in pregnancy; in fact, it happens in about 20% of conceptions.

It is one of the earliest pregnancy symptoms and, subsequently, is usually called implantation bleeding when the fertilized egg attaches to the uterus wall. Between 6 and 12 days following conception, the embryo normally implants.

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“However, not all women will have spotting, so don’t be concerned — it’s not a measure of how great the implantation was!”

2. Mood Swings

Pregnancy may be both a joyous and bright moment in a woman’s life as well as an emotionally draining time. Mood swings might occur when your body undergoes hormonal and physical changes. Even while morning sickness usually appears around week 6-8 of pregnancy (pregnancy is counted from the first day of your last menstrual cycle), some people experience nausea much, much sooner.

Sickness in pregnancy seems to be linked to hCG 2(human chorionic gonadotropin) concentrations, which is something the body begins making the moment the embryo attaches into the uterine wall; thus, it’s not unlikely to notice these pregnancy symptoms as soon as your missing period.

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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

According to the American Pregnancy Association, fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone 3levels might affect your neurotransmitters, which are brain chemicals that influence your mood. These pregnancy hormones are responsible for early signs of pregnancy.

3. Vaginal Discharge Variations

Since many women have vaginal discharge whether or not they are pregnant, the majority of pregnant women will notice a shift in vaginal secretions throughout the first trimester. According to the American Pregnancy Association, this discharge, known as leukorrhea, is a milky, white, mild-smelling mucus.

Some of our forum moms have noticed a shift in their cervical mucous, with more mucus than usual.

Early pregnancy symptoms, the mucus may appear thin and slick for longer than usual (its texture changes throughout your typical monthly cycle), but it will thicken as progesterone levels rise.

4. Having To Use The Restroom More Frequently

If you’re expecting a child, the bathroom may become your new closest friend in the coming months. Urine recurrence, or the need to pee frequently, affects 77% of pregnant women, according to many types of research.

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Photo by Tim Mossholder from Pexels

It isn’t the strain of your expanding baby on the bladder that causes you to urinate a lot early in pregnancy (that specific joy comes later!). Conversely, pregnancy increases the blood flow to the kidneys by 35 to 60%, which means more pee collects in your urethra because the kidneys must create urine.

5. Structural Changes In The Breasts

Breast tenderness and sensitivity are two of the most striking and early indications of pregnancy. Just before your menstruation, your breasts may feel sore, sensitive, and tender to the touch. As early as one week after conception, changes in the breasts related to pregnancy might become glaringly visible.

This is about a week before your period is expected, so breast tenderness is another early indicator of pregnancy that you may feel before your menstruation is missing. Breasts can feel fuller, heavier, and even scratchy in early gestation, in addition to being painful. Veins in your breasts may also become more visible.

When you’re pregnant, your nipples may become extremely sensitive, and your areolas (the darker part of the breast surrounding the nipple) may become bigger and darker.

Montgomery tubercles, small little bumps surrounding the areolas are also strange symptoms in pregnancy. While Montgomery tubercles aren’t always predictive of pregnancy, since you’ve never had them any time before and they appeared out of nowhere, there’s a chance you’re expecting.

6. Excess Saliva In The Mouth

Another oddity: when you fall asleep, you may discover that you have extra saliva in your mouth or that you drool a little.

Ptyalism is the medical term for this, and specialists believe it occurs since your body is aware that you are pregnant. The nerves that control salivation are stimulated more than usual.

7. Having Dry Mouth

Having a dry mouth is another weird symptom in pregnancy. Excessive saliva, on the other hand, might result in a dry mouth. You may also notice that you’re thirstier than usual, which is typical but can occasionally indicate gestational diabetes4.

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8. Dizziness

Feeling like jumping off a Ferris wheel cart after just getting out of bed? For you, that’s dizziness. A variety of factors could cause dizziness, and it is not always linked to pregnancy.

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Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

This symptom in pregnancy normally doesn’t appear until about week 6 (approximately 2 weeks after your missing period); however, some women report feeling dizzy from day one of their pregnancy. Blood changes in pressure, increasing hormones, dehydration, and low blood sugar levels can induce dizziness during pregnancy.

9. Strong Sense Of Smell

The hormone estrogen is considered to be responsible for an expectant woman’s increased ability to smell.

Please remember that you don’t have to be pregnant to detect changes in the way objects smell (your upcoming menstruation can do the same thing), and the way things smell doesn’t have to change for you right away when you are pregnant. All I’m suggesting is that if you smell water droplets about 12 days after ovulation, it’s probably time to take a pregnancy check to make sure.

10. Infection Of The Urinary Tract (UTI)

Numerous visits to the bathroom, misleadingly, can also be an indication of a urinary or kidney infection. Even more perplexing, due to your fluctuating hormones, both can be more common when you’re pregnant.

symptom in pregnancy
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A UTI5 can cause burning when you urinate and acute, low abdomen pain and, in some cases, blood in your feces. As soon as it detects these symptoms, make an appointment with your doctor.

Read more about urinary tract infections during pregnancy.

11. Increased Sweat Production

This is completely normal because hot flushes are accompanied by excessive blood supply, blood circulation, and hormone production. The body’s temperature goes up, which is offset by hyperhidrosis, which helps cool the body down.

Keeping hydrated by consuming enough water can assist in alleviating this issue. However, as your pregnancy advances, you might need ice chips and air conditioning to stay cool. Covered in sweat hands and feet is another possibility.

12. Gums that are bleeding

Gum bleeding may be one of the first signs of pregnancy at 5 weeks. Many pregnant women mostly address this symptom in pregnancy. Those who have never given birth may be unaware of the significance of dental care during pregnancy. Gums become particularly prone to plaque development due to hormonal fluctuations, which can contribute to inflammation. This could lead to bleeding. To help you with this condition, you should consult with a dentist.

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Photo by Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels

13. Bloating

Bloating is one of the most common 3-week pregnant symptoms and indicators. The embryo’s implantation might cause the uterus wall to enlarge, resulting in bloating. Furthermore, since metabolism slows due to physiological hormonal changes, gas tends to accumulate in the intestines. As a result, your stomach may feel firm and round, causing physical pain. This can be mitigated by drinking plenty of water, avoiding caffeine, and avoiding hot or oily foods.

14. Backache

Back discomfort troubles expectant mothers from the start, whether it is a symptom in pregnancy at 5 weeks or 5 months. It begins early as the body loosens ligaments and joints to extend the body in preparation for the baby’s development. The muscles in the lower back may be strained as a result of this. The weight of the newborn can put greater strain on this area as the child grows. For this reason, keeping proper posture is critical, and you should visit a physician about how to do this to avoid any problems and increased strain.

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Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

15. Hemorrhoids

The formation of hemorrhoids in the first trimester is one of the issues that women face during pregnancy. It has become the most common symptom in pregnancy. The hormonal changes and imbalances can lead to severe constipation, resulting in large lumps near the anus. They can be very painful, so you should consult a doctor as soon as possible if you have them.

Read more about the remedies for hemorrhoids.

Conclusion

Many of the signs of becoming pregnant are similar to the symptoms of Post Menstrual Symptoms. This is due to the body’s increased amounts of estrogen and progesterone. There are several ways to discern the difference among similar problems, but the best option is to use a pregnancy test. The first four weeks after conception are critical for the implantation of the fertilized egg, which causes various physiological changes in the body as it prepares for the embryo’s development into a child.

Suggested reading: Benefits of Heel Touches

10 Tips For A Healthy Pregnancy
Icy Health
  1. Dobrescu, Sandra Rydberg, et al. “Anorexia nervosa: 30-year outcome.” The British Journal of Psychiatry 216.2 (2020): 97-104. ↩︎
  2. Hu, Kai-Lun, et al. “GnRH agonist and hCG (dual trigger) versus hCG trigger for follicular maturation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.” Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 19 (2021): 1-10. ↩︎
  3. Trabert, Britton, et al. “Progesterone and breast cancer.” Endocrine reviews 41.2 (2020): 320-344. ↩︎
  4. Sweeting, Arianne, et al. “A clinical update on gestational diabetes mellitus.” Endocrine reviews 43.5 (2022): 763-793. ↩︎
  5. Mattoo, Tej K., Nader Shaikh, and Caleb P. Nelson. “Contemporary management of urinary tract infection in children.” Pediatrics 147.2 (2021). ↩︎

Last Updated on by Sathi Chakraborty, MSc Biology

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