Signs of Pregnancy

Before your pregnancy is even confirmed you may start to experience changes to your body. Often the best sign of pregnancy is a missed period; however you may also start to notice other changes, such as with your breasts. During the first signs of pregnancy, most notably in the first few weeks, your breasts will begin to prepare themselves in readiness for breast feeding. In physical terms, you may visually see your areola darken in color and small bumps appear.

For fair skinned people, you may start to notice the web of blood vessels on your breasts has become more prominent, this is because they are working harder on behalf of your breasts and require additional blood. Other breast changes include a notable increase in breast size for woman of smaller breast nature and a feeling of tenderness or heaviness.

Whilst many of the first signs of pregnancy are visual, you will also start to experience an emotional change. Most common is an uncontrollable feeling of tiredness. When you think about it, it is not unreasonable to feel tired, since your body has started to go through an enormous change in preparation of readiness for a growing baby.

The tiredness and fatigue is usually at its worst for the first ten weeks or so, however you will start to regain energy as your body gets used to the changes. If you continue to feel tired during pregnancy, it is most likely because you are genuinely tired and not a result of your body changes, try to rest more often and take afternoon naps.

If this is your second or third child and you are in a position to, we recommend that you sit down with your partner at the first signs of pregnancy and discuss how you will cope for the next few months. Having an existing family to take care of can often mean that you are constantly drained, agree with your partner time where you can relax and just think about you.

Whenever we speak about the first signs of pregnancy, we can not fail to cover nausea or morning sickness. Often this is the first sign we actually stand up and take notice of, leading to a purchase of a pregnancy test kit or a visit to our GP.

Morning sickness as the name suggests often happens when you first awake, this is the time of the day when blood sugar level is low. Some women are actually sick, while others complain of just feeling like they want to be sick. Although often known as morning sickness, the feeling can stay with you all day.

Whilst it is a horrible experience, you should take comfort in the fact that women who suffer from morning sickness are much less likely to have miscarriages.

Experiencing the first signs of pregnancy can be both an exciting and a nerve racking time. If you have been trying to get pregnant for a while, try to curb your excitement until you know for 100% certain that you are definitely pregnant.

Read more of our articles on the signs of pregnancy

Signs of Pregnancy and the Reactions of Others
The Most Common Signs of Pregnancy
The First Signs of Pregnancy
Signs of Pregnancy in Physical and Emotional Forms
The First Signs of Pregnancy In More Detail
Pregnancy Signs to Love And Hate
Signs of Pregnancy to Look Out For
First Signs of Pregnancy - Observing Changes Within Your Body
10 Pregnancy Signs
Earliest Possible Signs of Pregnancy