Is the cheesy, three-bean enchilada you ate for dinner last night making you feel slightly off colour this morning — or is it a sign that you’re up the duff?
If a few of the following symptoms sound familiar, it might be time to schedule an appointment with your GP…
Tender or swollen breasts
When you become pregnant, increasing levels of hormones can cause your breasts to feel sensitive or sore. It often passes after the first trimester, once your body adjusts to the hormonal changes, but it can be one of the first signals that you are “with child.”
Fatigue
This one’s a little tricky, because fatigue and tiredness can result from many everyday irritants — like a busy work schedule or insufficient sleep. If you’re feeling unusually exhausted and you can’t pinpoint a reason, consider this: It could be all of that “creating new life” you’re doing that’s sapping all your energy!
Skipped period
A missed period can be a very strong and obvious indicator that you’re pregnant; however, it also can result from stress, significant dietary changes, illness or new medication.
Spotting
Some women experience a small amount of bleeding around 12 days after conception, which can be caused by the fertilised egg implanting itself into the lining of your uterus. Usually, the bleeding is very light and lasts only a day or two.
Nausea
Morning sickness usually hits about a month after conception — and it shouldn’t really be called “morning sickness,” because it affects some pregnant women around the clock. The lucky ones feel queasy and uncomfortable; the unlucky ones can be glued to the bathroom floor, off and on, for days on end.
Frequent toilet trips
In the first few weeks of pregnancy, many women find they need to urinate much more often than usual. Why? The extra blood and fluid that your body processes in pregnancy is excreted through your kidneys, so you end up becoming more intimate with your bathroom.
Food cravings
Jessica Alba snacked on ham and cheese sandwiches almost every day of her pregnancy, while Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry couldn’t get enough bread with salt and pickles while she was pregnant with daughter Nahla. Studies have shown that up to 68 percent of women will have a pregnancy with cravings — so if you find yourself suddenly hankering for beetroot and vegemite sandwiches or Weetbix smothered in peanut butter and strawberries, ask yourself why!
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