If you and your partner are actively trying to conceive, it’s quite likely that you’ve already made your way through a fair few pregnancy tests, eagerly anticipating those life-changing blue lines. Alongside a pregnancy test and early signs of pregnancy, an ultrasound is another way to find out whether you’re pregnant, and while most practitioners wait until at least 6 weeks to perform the first ultrasound, a gestational sac can be seen as early as 4 1/2 weeks after your last period.
But what if you can’t wait that long? Well, it’s true that a positive pregnancy test and a professional ultrasound is the only way to be sure that you have absolutely been successful on your quest to conceive, there are early signs of pregnancy and symptoms that you can look out for.
Missed period
Let’s start with the obvious… A missed period is one of the early signs of pregnancy notorious for leading women to believe that they might be pregnant – whether they’ve been actively trying or not. If you’ve found yourself in this situation, it means that your normal menstrual cycle or period didn’t happen when it should have happened.
Using a calendar, keep track of your menstrual cycle so that you know for sure when your period is late. What’s more, when you know your average menstrual cycle length, you can work out the timeframe you’re due to ovulate to increase your chances of falling pregnant. Alternatively, invest in a lab-quality ovulation tracker like that from Mylo.
Fatigue
Fatigue can develop any time during pregnancy, but this particular symptom is most common in the first stages. In fact, some pregnant women notice this fatigue even as early as one week after conception, making this one of the first noticeable signs of pregnancy. If this is the case, it means that your progesterone levels have soared, which can make you feel sleepy.
Frequent trips to the toilet
Have you found that you’re urinating more frequently than you usually do? Well, this is one of the early pregnancy signs that can appear as early as two weeks after conception. As the hCG hormone (human chorionic gonadotropin) flows through the pregnant body, this allows more blood flow to enter the pelvic region, thus causing more frequent urination.
Breast changes
Next on the list of early pregnancy signs – breasts! An early sign that you’re pregnant can be found in your breasts only one or two weeks after conception. Not only can an indication appear in the form of darkening skin around the nipples, you might also find that your breasts feel sore, swollen, heavy or even tingly.
The notorious ‘sore boob sensation’, the one that almost every pregnant woman can relate to or has related to, is a result of hormones flooding the body. You’re going to be growing a little human, after all, and that little human is going to be hungry…
Nausea
While the exact reason behind nausea in pregnancy is not quite clear, most evidence points to rapid changes in hormone levels. Nausea and vomiting can start two to eight weeks after conception and can continue throughout pregnancy.
While the aforementioned are most certainly early signs of pregnancy, it’s important that you remember they do not guarantee anything. To be sure that you have been successful conceiving, make sure you wait for a positive pregnancy test, contact your local GP or a private maternity healthcare provider like Guys & St Thomas Private Healthcare.
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