Early pregnancy symptoms start to develop before you miss your period, as early as a few days after conception. These include breast tenderness and sensitivity to smell. While other early signs of pregnancy, such as spotting may appear one week after conception. Others, such as urine frequency, usually develop a few weeks after conception.
However, different people experience early pregnancy symptoms at different times. Early pregnancy symptoms may not be noticed or confirmed for a few weeks for some women. Some women don’t notice any of these symptoms until several weeks into their pregnancy. And while many women never experience any early pregnancy symptoms, others have all of them.
If you have missed your menstrual period and are experiencing exhaustion, morning sickness, mood swings, spotting, sore breasts, or temperature changes you should take a home pregnancy test and then visit your doctor for a blood test or ultrasound to confirm your pregnancy.
Let’s get into the details of what signs of pregnancy and symptoms can you expect.
Pregnancy symptoms before missed periods:
It’s important to remember that just because you’ve had some of these pregnancy symptoms before periods doesn’t mean you’re pregnant. It’s also possible to have none of these and still have a perfectly healthy pregnancy.
- Smell and taste sensitivity – Early pregnancy symptoms include a stronger sense of smell, which makes previously moderate scents overwhelming and unpleasant. You may notice that you no longer enjoy certain foods or beverages like before.
- Fatigue – A common symptom during early pregnancy is fatigue. The reason for fatigue in the first trimester is unclear. However, a rapid surge in progesterone levels during early pregnancy may lead to fatigue.
- Breast tenderness – Hormonal changes early in pregnancy might make your breasts tender and swollen. As your body adjusts to hormonal changes, the discomfort should reduce after a few weeks.
- Raised basal body temperature – If you’ve been tracking your first-morning temperature with a special basal body thermometer, you’ll see that it rises roughly 1 degree when you conceive and stays elevated throughout your pregnancy.
- Implantation bleeding – Light spotting or implantation bleeding before your period is sometimes an early pregnancy symptom indicating that an embryo has implanted itself into the uterine wall, which may be followed by menstrual-like cramping.
- Frequent trips to the bathroom – You might notice that you’re urinating more frequently than normal. When you are pregnant, the volume of blood in your body increases, causing your kidneys to process excess fluid that builds up in your bladder.
- Mood swings – Mood swings are common, especially during your first trimester, when the level of estrogen and progesterone are high. This can alter your mood and can result in depression, irritability, anxiety, and euphoria.
Other early signs of pregnancy:
These early pregnancy symptoms normally show around or after your missed period, which is usually between weeks 4 and 9. However, because every woman and pregnancy is unique, you may not feel these signs at all, while other women feel them a bit early.
- Missed period – If you’re in your childbearing years and your monthly cycle hasn’t started after a week or more, you could be pregnant. However, this symptom can be misleading if you have an irregular menstrual cycle.
- Nausea – Morning sickness usually starts one to two months after you become pregnant and can strike at any time of day or night. Some women, on the other hand, experience nausea earlier, while others never do. While the exact reason for nausea during pregnancy is unknown, pregnancy hormones are most likely to be responsible.
- Bloating – Early in pregnancy, hormonal changes might make you feel bloated, similar to how you might feel at the start of your menstrual period.
- Cramping – You can also get cramps that make you feel like your menstruation is about to begin. If your cramps are mostly felt on one side of your body or are severe, you should seek medical attention right away. This could indicate an ectopic pregnancy or some other issue.
- Food aversions – Some women have a strong desire for certain foods or experience continual hunger. While some foods and flavours may seem delicious early in pregnancy, they may become unpleasant later. Food aversions can build throughout pregnancy, causing you to reject foods that you previously enjoyed.
- Headache and dizziness – Early on in pregnancy, headaches, lightheadedness, and dizziness are all frequent. This is due to your body’s hormonal changes as well as an increase in blood volume.
- Constipation – Higher levels of the hormone progesterone might cause constipation during pregnancy. Progesterone delays the passage of food through your intestines. Drink plenty of water, exercise, and eat enough high-fibre meals to ease the problem. 1 2 3 4
Many of these signs and symptoms are not just for women who are pregnant. You may experience some of these symptoms if you are sick or if your period is about to begin. Similarly, you can be pregnant and not have many of these symptoms.
Take a home pregnancy test or consult your health care professional if you miss a period and observe some of the signs mentioned above or symptoms. If your home pregnancy test is positive, you should contact your doctor. The sooner you have confirmation of your pregnancy, the sooner you can start prenatal care.5
