Early Pregnancy Symptoms: Can You Spot Them?

  Not all pregnant women experience the same early pregnancy symptoms. Some women do not experience any symptoms and yet are pregnant. Other women experience symptoms and yet are not pregnant. Having symptoms does not guarantee that you will get a positive pregnancy test. The same symptoms that are attributed to an early pregnancy can also be symptoms for other conditions.

Can you spot early pregnancy symptoms?

If someone were to tell you a list of the symptoms they are experiencing can you tell if they are early pregnancy symptoms? What makes a symptom an early pregnancy symptom? Some symptoms are classified as early pregnancy symptoms because medical professionals specializing in pregnancy have seen women who have experienced these symptoms and have turned out to be pregnant. Pregnant women have noticed, recorded or talked about what symptoms made them first guess that they were pregnant and shared this information with other women. Over time there emerged common early pregnancy symptoms that were more likely then other symptoms to signal a pregnancy.

Common Early Pregnancy Symptoms:

Missed period

Breast tenderness

Fatigue

Frequent urination

Dizziness

Fainting

Food cravings

Sensitivity to smells or food cooking

Morning sickness

Heartburn

Constipation

Mood Swings

Irritability

Sustained higher basal body temperature

Low back pain

Spotting which may be implantation bleeding

Bloating and or weight gain

As you may notice from the above list many of the symptoms can also be experienced just before a period. What women look for is a combination of symptoms from the list and when they experience several of the symptoms they begin to wonder if they are truly pregnant.

Having any of the above symptoms is what triggers many women to take a home pregnancy test too early. Getting a false negative on a pregnancy test can be very frustrating but many women become addicted to taking these tests when they are trying to conceive.

Medical professionals usually warn women that early pregnancy symptoms don't usually appear until the sixth week of pregnancy but many women swear they experience early pregnancy symptoms before that time. Pregnancy symptoms can differ from pregnancy to pregnancy for the same woman. The early pregnancy symptoms can vary in intensity, frequency even duration. Many women experience pre-menstrual symptoms and mistake them for early pregnancy symptoms because they can be the same symptoms. Many of the early pregnancy symptoms are subtle and difficult to distinguish from other causes. The best way to know if a symptom is linked to a pregnancy is to take a home pregnancy test or go to a doctor for a pregnancy blood test.