What’s Normal?
Pregnancy Symptoms & Pregnancy Complaints That No One Seems To Talk About!
Article Author: Health Educator Expert: Erik Kampe, MS
Are you worried or curious about your pregnancy symptoms? Wondering if you're pregnant? Or if that little pain and ache is related
to your pregnancy?
Pregnancy
signs differ in one woman to the next -- it is perfectly natural to be concerned about what is "Normal"!
"...and it is also very normal for a woman to fear unexpected changes in
her body during any stage of pregnancy."
So stop for a moment and take a deep breath.
Remind yourself that you are a human being and it is our natural instinct to fear what we do not understand.
Pregnancy is no exception - it brings the wonderment of joy and fear at the same time.
So with that said lets explore with an open mind the dynamic nature of pregancy symptoms.
Do
any of the descriptions describe you at this time:
Anxiety over the thought that you might be pregnant - what now?
Worried
because your pregnancy symptoms are not listed in your pregnancy
books?
Afraid of your pregnancy symptoms because your circle of family and
friends are politely hinting that something is not common?
If so, you might find something on this web page that will help
understand what are normal and what are not normal pregnancy symptoms
and reactions to pregnancy. <
To begin with it is critical to always keep in the back of your
mind that the pregnancy symptoms a woman may experience in one pregnancy
may not be the same in the next pregnancy.
Just
as you get over one uncomfortable pregnancy symptom...oops another
one pops up!
Essentially,
every woman is unique and every pregnancy will bring on a variety
of different bodily changes.
These
changes are what we are calling pregancy symptoms in this webpage.
Naturally, pregnancy symptoms will cause a certain amount of anxiety
so it is important to understand the changes your body is going
through are temporary.
The
good news is that these body changes generally normally revert back
to pre-pregnancy state about 6 months after the baby is born.
For convenience many pregnancy book authors like to list symptoms
by trimester. This is a good guide and an absolute starting point
for you, but for heavens sake do not stop there.
That is the purpose of this webpage. The goal is to get you to expand
your knowledge of pregnancy symptoms and to get you thinking about
pregnancy symptoms beyond the stand checklist and timeline.
There is a lot more to pregnancy symptoms than morning sickness
and Braxton Hicks contractions
It cannot be repeated enough - there's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all
pregnancy symptoms checklist!
The simple truth is that some pregnancy symptoms may begin immediately;
some may start later, some or all symptoms may not occur at all.
Make sure you understand the limitations of the standard pregnancy
symptom checklist?
They are a great starting point they help you understand how your
body and mind may respond to the pregnancy. But they do not tell
the whole story.
If fact as you will see they sometimes miss out on quite a bit of
the little stuff on pregnancy symptoms like aching belly buttons.
Believe it or not some women sail through early pregnancy without
any pregancy symptoms whatsoever.
Have you ever listened in disbelief to a story of a women who didn't
realize they were pregnant until the second trimester?
Believe it or not this does happen!
For most women it is a different story. In
some situations early pregnancy symptoms may occur before a missed
period.
The
difficulty in recogonizing the symptoms at this time is often the
pregnancy symptoms resemble menstrual symptoms that are typically
experienced the week before the menstrual cycle starts.
Missed
Period: Often this is one of the first signs of pregnancy
Frequent
Urination: Pregnancy hormonal changes cause the uterus to
swell immediately to prepare a large space for the fetus. When
this happens, the uterus puts pressure on your bladder making
you feel the need for more frequent urination. Many women start
to feel this pregnancy symptom within a week or two after pregnancy
has occurred.
Frequent urination is a symptom that usually occurs between
6 to 8 weeks after conception.
The hormones, particularly progesterone, which the body produces
during pregnancy, cause the ureters (tubes that carry urine
from the kidneys to the bladder) to dilate allowing a greater
amount of urine to make its way into the bladder in a shorter
amount of time.
This larger amount of urine combined with the pressure the baby
(later in pregnancy) is putting on the bladder may result in
a frequent need to urinate. This is one of the symptoms that
will persist throughout the pregnancy.
Nausea or Vomiting: Also called morning sickness,of all
the pregnancy symptoms, this one can be a key sign that a woman
is pregnant.
Some women indicate that they've experienced nausea as much
as two weeks before an expected menstrual period and before
any other pregnancy symptom.
Dizziness & Fainting: You may feel dizzy or in some cases
faint when standing in one place. There could be two explanations
for this prenancy symptom.
First, the internal physical change of the uterus may compresses
major arteries in your legs then results in a blood pressure
drop which would make you extremely light headed.
Second, low blood sugar can occur if you skip meals and/or going
too long without eating. This will make you feel dizzy or in
some cases faint Blood sugar is the primary source of food for
your baby so it will be depleted much more quickly.
Breast
Changes: Tender swollen breasts are another one of the early
symptoms. As you know tender breasts only are a symptom of an
impending menstrual period, however, enlarged breasts are not.
Sore and swollen breasts with a tingling sensation can be an
early indicator that a woman is pregnant. The increasing amount
of HCG hormone (the hormone that indicates that you are pregnant)
acts as the messenger telling you body to begin changes.
Physical breast changes including soreness, fullness, tingling
nipples, darkening of the areolas, and/or veins becoming more
apparent.
Fatigue:The fatigue pregnancy symptom can be the result
of the major hormonal changes your body is under going. Also
your temperature is higher due to the amount of hormone (progesterone)
circulating through your body, which also contributes to you
feeling a little sluggish. One or two naps per day can help
a pregnant woman maintain normal daily activities.
Light
Bleeding: Light bleeding (spotting) may occur approximately
8 - 10 after conception. It usually happens around the same
time you would have gotten your menstrual period. Some women
assume they have started their period when in fact they are
pregnant. The spotting is caused from implantation of the fertilized
egg on the uterus.
WARNING: These 7 early pregnancy signs
may not positively indicate pregnancy, but may actually signal another
process occurring within the body.
Choosing
at-home pregnancy test can be daunting task with all the choices
and different testing methods of various test products.
The
best info I have found is a study by Consumer Reports clearly indicates
that not all kits are equal - some are much much better than others!
One kit stood out above all the rest.
The
First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test,
emerged as the most reliable and sensitive test from the independent
research.
The
Consumer Report reported that "It detected hCG at concentrations
as low as 6.5 mIU/ml (thousandths of an International Unit per milliliter)
- that's almost sensitive enough to detect any pregnancy soon after
implantation."
The
report emphasized that "Most other kits were far less sensitive
- the five least sensitive tests couldn't detect hCG below concentrations
of about 100 MIU/ml at their specified reading times.
An
interesting observation from the Consumer Report stated that when
they waited a full 10 minutes before reading the results, seven
of the test kits performed much better than they did at the manufacturer's
suggested waiting time.
I highly recommend this ebook "Being Pregnant Everything You Need to Know !” . It will help you get from conception to birthday with all of the answers your mom and your friends never told you about!
Here
is a list of pregnancy complaints that you may experience at some
point during your pregnancy. Currently, only the pregnancy symptoms
are identified, overtime we will be adding extensive background
information on all pregnancy symptoms.
If you find yourself confronting some new and unexpected symptom,
here a list of the pregnancy complaints that seem to get left
out of the pregnancy books.
The pregnancy symptoms are categorized by body parts or a logical
groupings
Belly
Button Soreness: This is a painful pregnancy symptom.
The pressure of the expanding uterus on the belly button causes
the pain. It is most annoying at around the 20th week of pregnancy,
but tends to taper off.
Carpal
Tunnel Syndrome: You might not think of Carpal Tunnel
Syndrome as one of the many pregnancy aches and pains, but
there is a chance that the numbness or tingling in your hands
is related to your pregnancy. Carpal tunnel syndrome is relatively
common during pregnancy and results from a pinched nerve in
the wrist. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a painful disorder of
the wrist and hand.
The carpal tunnel is a narrow tunnel formed by the bones and
other tissues of your wrist. This tunnel normally protects
your median nerve. The median nerve gives you feeling in your
thumb, and index, middle and ring fingers. But when other
tissues in the carpal tunnel, such as ligaments and tendons,
get swollen or inflamed, they press against the median nerve.
That pressure can make part of your hand hurt or feel numb.
In most cases, the problem disappears after you give birth,
but some women will require surgery to correct the problem.
In the meantime, you can keep yourself comfortable by elevating
the affected hand or wearing a plastic splint at night.
Eye
Irritation: Fluid Retention and rising levels of estrogen
during pregnancy can lead to a condition called dry eye, which
is characterized by dryness and burning, blurred vision, and
increased sensitivity to light.
Like many pregnancy complaints, your eye woes will correct
themselves after you give birth. (Note: Since vision problems
can also be a symptom of diabetes, this is one symptom you'll
definitely want to report to your doctor or midwife as soon
as possible.)
Hip
Soreness: Find yourself waking up in the middle of night
with aching hips? You've got something else to blame on those
crazy pregnancy hormones!
Hormonal changes cause the ligaments in your hips to stretch
and the cartilage to soften, something that can lead to soreness
when you're sleeping on your side at night. They're also responsible
for that classic pregnancy "waddle."
Increased
Vaginal Secretions: This pregnancy symptom can often be
mistaken for vaginal infection. It's normal to experience
an increase in the amount of leukorrhea (a odorless clear
or white mucus-like discharge produced by the female body)
during pregnancy. If you're experiencing soreness or pain
or if your discharge becomes greenish-yellow, unpleasant-smelling,
or watery, you'll want to seek medical attention. You may
have developed an infection or be leaking amniotic fluid.
Palmar
Erythema: This is a pregnancy symptom that causes the palms
of your hands and the soles of your feet to suddenly taken on
a reddish hue.
The
causes are related to hormonal activity. The good news is that
this pregnancy symptom is fully reversible, the only problem
is that you'll have to wait until after you give birth.
Skin
Tags: You may also develop skin tags-tiny polyps (skin growth)
that occur in areas of the body where the skin and clothing
rubs creating friction. Or skin against itself as in the folds
of your neck and along your bra lines.
If
these skin tags cause you considerable discomfort, you might
want to speak with your doctor about having them removed. Otherwise
this pregnancy symptom will go away on its own a couple of months
after you give birth.
Spider
Nevi: Commonly known as spider veins, this pregnancy symptom
is best described as small capillaries that are seen on the
surface of your skin.
This pregnancy symptom is created from hormonal changes and
your increased blood volume that may cause spider nevi to pop
out on your face or in the whites of your eyes if you push too
intensely during delivery.
These
lines tend to become less prominent after delivery. If they
don't fade to your satisfaction, you might want to talk to a
dermatologist about having them removed.
Pregnancy
Gingivitis: During pregnancy, your body's hormone levels
rise considerably. Gingivitis, especially common during the
second to eighth months of pregnancy, may cause red, puffy
or tender gums that tend to bleed when you brush.
This sensitivity is an exaggerated response to plaque and
is caused by an increased level of progesterone in your system.
Your dentist may recommend more frequent cleanings during
your second trimester or early third trimester to help you
avoid problems.
Pregnancy
Tumors:Occasionally overgrowths of gum tissue, called
"pregnancy tumors," appear on the gums during the second trimester.
These localized growths or swellings are usually found between
the teeth and are believed to be related to excess plaque.
They bleed easily and are characterized by a red, raw-looking
mulberry-like surface.
They are often surgically removed after the baby is born.
If you experience pregnancy tumors, see your dentist.
It's especially important, then, to maintain good oral health
during pregnancy. Studies indicate that pregnant women who
have severe periodontal (gum) disease may be at increased
risk for pre-term delivery, which in turn increases the risk
of having a low-birthweight baby.
If you notice any changes in your mouth during pregnancy,
see your dentist. Don't
Preganancy symptoms tend to randomly appear and disappear.
Because of preganancy symptoms pregnancy dynamic nature it can be
difficult to determine if a pregnancy symptom falls into the "harmless
but annoying" category or whether it could indicate a possible problem
with your pregnancy.
As a rule, you should call your caregiver immediately if you experience
one or more of the symptoms listed here:
The
11 Pregnancy Symptoms That Need Critical Care
Heavy
vaginal bleeding or clotting, or the passage of tissue from
the vagina
Lighter
vaginal bleeding that lasts for more than one day, or is accompanied
by pain, fever, or chills.
Severe
abdominal or shoulder pain that may be accompanied by spotting
or bleeding or the passage of tissue typically occurs at six
to eight weeks of pregnancy, but can also occur when your pregnancy
is a little further along
A
severe or persistent headache (particularly one accompanied
by dizziness, faintness, or blurry vision).
Pregnancy Symptoms