9 Early Signs of Pregnancy Before Missed Period and Tests to Confirm it
9 early signs of pregnancy before missed period
Here’s a look at some of the eminent symptoms that signify your early pregnancy:
Once you conceive, within 10 to 14 days you may experience some implantation bleeding as the blastocyst will implant itself in the lining of the uterus. Light bleeding is sometimes misunderstood as having a lighter period.
How to identify implantation bleeding?
- The color of the blood spots will be brown, red, or pink.
- You may experience bleeding and not spotting.
- You may experience some pain which can vary from mild, to moderate, or severe.
- The implantation bleeding will last for 3 or lesser days.
2. Feeling tired
Though fatigue can be felt at any time during the pregnancy, it is more common during the initial stage. There will be an increase in the progesterone levels in your body which will make you feel drowsy.
3. Changes in breast
The changes in breasts happen between the 4th to 6th weeks. The breasts may feel tender or swollen due to hormonal changes. When your body will get adjusted to the hormonal changes, the breasts will become normal. Later on, the changes in breasts and nipples may occur in the 11th week when the breasts start to grow, and the areola becomes darker and larger.
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4. Missed period
Once the egg is implanted, the body produces hCG hormones which help the body in retaining pregnancy and instructs the ovaries to stop releasing the mature eggs.
This will make you miss your period next month 4 weeks after the conception. If you have an irregular period cycle, this may get confusing, and you will have to rely on a pregnancy test for confirmation. (How Can You Regulate Your Period Without Birth Control)
5. Increase in body temperatures
One of the signs of an early pregnancy is higher basal body temperature. The core temperature of your body may also increase during working out or in a hot weather. You may need to drink water or exercise carefully for maintaining the body temperature.
6. Increase in heart rate
During the 8th to 10th week of your pregnancy, the heart may start pumping harder and faster. This happens due to changes in hormones.
Your body increases the amount of blood it pumps when you are pregnant. This leads the kidney to process more fluid, and more fluid accumulates in your bladder. Hormones are responsible for the same.
8. Morning sickness and nausea
This is one of the most common symptoms experienced by most women during pregnancy. The symptom develops around 4 to 6 weeks. Though it is called morning sickness, it can happen during any time of the day or even night. There is no definite reason for morning sickness or nausea, but it may happen due to hormones.
9. Bloating and constipation
You may feel bloated during your early pregnancy which may happen because of the hormone changes. It can also affect your digestive system which may lead to constipation as well. However, you can expect constipation in the later stage of your pregnancy also.
Pregnancy tests to Confirm at Home
If you experience one or more from the above-mentioned symptoms, it is time to take the pregnancy test. Lot of people asks that how many pregnancy tests to take for accuracy. If taking properly than one test is enough. But sometimes to be sure, you can take more than one tests.
The pregnancy tests will help in getting accurate results. Here’s a look at some of the tests that would help in confirming your pregnancy:
1. Pregnancy test at home
You can use the home test on the first day of missing your period, and in case of some sensitive tests, you can even try earlier. The tests work by detecting hCG in the urine.
The hormone is found in the body only during pregnancy. There is a chemical in the stick which changes its color when it comes in contact with the hCG hormone.
The time taken for showing the result may vary but mostly it takes 10 minutes for results to show. If you take the test too soon, it may show a negative result so you should take the test again after a few days.
Few pregnancy tests at home are:
Store your urine in a bottle or vessel.
Then leave it as it is for next 3-4 hours.
If a white film forms on the top surface of the urine, chances are you may be pregnant.
If there is no change in the urine and it remains clear than you are not pregnant.
We all know that the first urine of the day holds the secret so store it in a bottle. Now take some white tooth paste in a small bowl and add some urine sample to it. Leave it as it is for a couple of hours. If it changes color or begins to froth, you probably are pregnant.
3. Bleach Test
Store the first urine in the morning and add some bleaching powder to it.
If you are pregnant then the urine will start fizzing and foaming.
If you want to avoid bleaching powder, try using a concentrated soap solution.
4. Sugar Test
People are using sugar to test for pregnancy in ancient times. It is the most common natural pregnancy test.
Take a clean bowl, and one tablespoon of sugar.
Store the first urine that you passed in the morning in a bottle.
Now put one tablespoon of sugar in the small bowl and add one tablespoon of the collected urine in it. Wait for some time.
The urine of pregnant women contains the Hormone HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin). HCG prevents the sugar from dissolving. After some time, you will see that the sugar will not readily dissolve and will form clumps instead. It means you are pregnant. If the sugar dissolves in the urine, you are not pregnant.
5. Salt Pregnancy Test
It’s a very simple and cheap test to confirm pregnancy.
Take a clean glass and a pinch or two of salt.
Store the first urine that you passed in the morning in a bottle.
Take some stored urine in the glass and add a pinch or two of salt to it. Wait for the next 3-5 minutes.
If you are pregnant, the salt will react with the urine. You will see creamy white clumps in the urine. This is a definite sign of pregnancy.
6. Dettol Pregnancy Test
Dettol is a mild antiseptic that we use to treat minor cuts and bruises at home. We can use it to check if you are pregnant or not.
Take one tablespoonful of Dettol in the glass and add 3 tablespoonfuls of urine to it. Sit back and wait for five to seven minutes.
If the urine separates itself from the Dettol to form a separate layer on top it means you are pregnant.
If they both mix well and do not separate then there is no pregnancy.
This is yet another way of confirming your pregnancy. The test takes place at the Doctor’s clinic. These tests are not very different from the pregnancy tests that you take at home but the doctor may help in eliminating any potential errors that may happen when taking the test at home.
The clinical urine test can be more expensive than the test taken at home. You can expect the results to come within a week of taking the tests.
3. Blood test
The blood test is taken at the Doctor’s office where the blood would be tested for your hCG. There are two types of pregnancy blood tests:
Qualitative hCG blood test: The test will help in determining if any hCG is produced in your body and it offers a clear answer if you are pregnant or not.
Quantitative hCG blood test: This test is aimed at determining the specific level of hCG in the blood.
The hCG tests can even help determine your pregnancy before the urine test. Blood tests are more expensive than the tests that you take at home, and you need to wait longer for the results. Blood tests may take a week for the results.
Conclusion
These are a few of the most noticeable signs of early pregnancy. If you encounter one or more of the symptoms, you can take one of the pregnancy tests indicated above to determine whether you are in fact pregnant. A gynecologist can also help by estimating how many weeks along you are. It is usually advised to visit a doctor to confirm pregnancy.
This is very helpful for the ladies
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