Aug 27 2008
Early Pregnancy Stages – What It Is And What Do These Symptoms Mean?
For any woman, whether the pregnancy was planned or not, it is important to take good care of your body while it is growing another body. As soon as you suspect you might be pregnant, there are things you should do to help your body be as healthy as it can be.
Your midwife or doctor will want you to be taking prenatal vitamins, and often extra folic acid, at this early pregnancy stage. It is important that you get enough of “the right stuff” to help prevent birth defects. It is also wise to stop smoking and taking birth control pills, if you are still doing either.
How can you tell if you might be pregnant?
There are many common symptoms at this stage of early pregnancy. Not all pregnant moms have all the symptoms, but you are likely to have at least one or two of them – maybe several. Take a look at the symptoms common at this stage of early pregnancy.
One of the first indicator for women is to miss their menstrual period. Sometimes it is late, but more often a pregnant woman will skip it altogether. Many women may notice light spotting – which is quite a bit lighter than a regular period, though it happens about the same time that the period would be expected. The spotting is caused by the implantation of the fertilized embryo into the uterine wall, letting off some blood. It is usually a brownish color, like dried blood. It should not be bright red, or in great quantity.
For some women, they suspect they are pregnant before they even miss their period. There are other symptoms that can lead them to that conclusion. A very common symptom at this stage of early pregnancy is to have exhaustion. Considering all the work your body is doing – making a new being – no wonder it takes its toll on the body! Also, there are hormonal shifts in the pregnant woman’s body that can make the mommy-to-be feel practically drugged. For example, progesterone, which is in high levels during pregnancy, tends to be sedating. If you have this situation at this stage of early pregnancy, take a nap.
It is also common to have headaches or back pain early in pregnancy. This is caused by the hormonal changes as well as the other physical changes to the body that come with pregnancy.
Another symptom that is common is the need to go to the bathroom much more often than before. There are several reasons for this, including the bladder getting irritable with the extra blood in the pelvic region, but the bottom line is, you may not want to go too far from the security of a bathroom during this stage of early pregnancy.
Most women in the early pregnancy stage notice that their breasts become swollen and tender. The blood vessels on them can look like road maps, and the Montgomery glands (the little “pimple” looking things by the nipples) get bigger, along with the areolas (the red “target” around your nipple). These changes are in preparation for breastfeeding your baby.
At this early pregnancy stage, probably the most frustrating symptom is that of the nausea of morning sickness. While it doesn’t stick just with morning (some women have nausea all day) and not all women even get it, it is very common among pregnant women. Fortunately, it usually only lasts for the first trimester.
Related posts:
- Are These Symptoms Of Early Pregnancy? Or Could It Be Something Else?
- How Can I Tell If I Am In Early Pregnancy?
- What and When? Signs of Early Pregnancy
- Back Pain Early In Pregnancy? – Or, Isn’t My Baby Still Little?
- Spotting In Early Pregnancy – What Does It Mean?
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