by George! Group

Earliest signs of pregnancy -- what are they?

The earliest of the earliest signs of pregnancy:

1. Basal Body Temperature Stays Elevated - it is normal to have an increase in body temperature at ovulation and during your most fertile time. Your basal body temperature staying elevated after ovulation and remaining elevated through when your period should begin can be one of the earliest signs of pregnancy. You will need a basal thermometer to chart the slight elevations in your body temperature when you wake up each day.


2. Morning Sickness, Nauseated Feelings - a feeling of nausea can be another of the earliest signs of pregnancy. But this first pregnancy sign symptom needs to be experienced for several days to be considered reliable. And nausea can have other causes that are not related to pregnancy.


3. Tender and Enlarged Breasts - very early in pregnancy, the body begins changing the hormone levels. However, the body is unprepared for these changes when they first occur and the body reacts to the new hormone levels. Changes in the shape of and feelings of tenderness in the breasts often happens even before the first missed period. These feelings of tenderness usually go away fairly quickly as the body becomes accustomed to the new hormone chemistry.


4. Frequent Trips to the Bathroom - having to urinate more often can be one of the first pregnancy signs symptoms. Many women experience more frequent urination even before a missed period. The reason, as with tender and enlarged breasts, is a change in hormone levels produced by implantation of the embryo.
   
   A hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is produced, which has the side effect of causing more frequent urination. This is another of the earliest signs of pregnancy which can be mistaken for some other condition, or as a reaction to the consumption of various foods or other substances. Pregnancy needs to be confirmed by the results of a pregnancy test.


5. Fatigue - the lack of energy as one of the first pregnancy signs symptoms is sometimes hard to distinguish from other kinds of exhaustion. Again, health professionals attribute this fatigue to the change in hormones in the body, which usually disappears as the body adjusts to the new hormone levels.


6. Missed Period - missing a menstrual period is one of the obvious earliest signs of pregnancy. However, many women have missed periods for other reasons and conditions. These reasons include illness, stress, hormone imbalance and adverse reactions to certain prescription drugs. For a missed period to be one of the first pregnancy signs symptoms, pregnancy should be confirmed by a pregnancy test.