Pregnancy, no matter if it was planned or not, is important for any woman. Also, it is important to take good care of your body while it is forming another life inside. If you suspect that you might be pregnant, there are things you should do as soon as possible to help your body be as healthy as it can be.
It is important that you get enough of "the right material" to help prevent birth defects. Your midwife or doctor might want you to be taking prenatal vitamins, and often extra folic acid, at this early pregnancy stage. It is also wise to stop doing something that could get bad materials inside your body, such as smoking and taking birth control pills.
How Can You Tell If You Might Be Pregnant ?
There are many common symptoms at this stage of early pregnancy. Not all pregnant women have all the symptoms, but you are likely to have at least one or two of them - maybe several. Take a look at the symptoms common at this stage of early pregnancy :
1. Missing Menstrual Period
One of the first indicator for women is to miss their menstrual period. Sometimes it is late, but a pregnant woman will skip it altogether. For some women, they suspect they are pregnant before they even miss their period. There are other symptoms that can help lead them to that conclusion.
2. Spotting
Many women may notice light spotting - which is quite a bit lighter than a regular period, though it happens about the same time that the period would be expected. Implantation of the fertilized embryo into the uterine wall, which is letting off some blood, caused the spotting. It is usually a brownish color, like dried blood. It should not be bright red, or in great quantity.
3. Exhaustion
Another common symptom at this stage of early pregnancy is to have exhaustion. Considering all the work your body is doing - making a new being - no wonder it takes its toll on the body! Also, there are hormonal changes in the pregnant woman's body that can make the mommy-to-be feel practically drugged. For example, progesterone, which is in high levels during pregnancy, tends to be sedating. If you have this situation at this stage of early pregnancy, take a nap.
4. Headaches or Back Pain
It is also common to have headaches or back pain early in pregnancy. This is caused by the hormonal shifts as well as the other physical changes to the body that come with pregnancy.
5. Frequent Bathroom Visit
Another symptom that is common is the need to go to the bathroom much more often than before. There are several reasons for this, including the bladder getting irritable with the extra blood in the pelvic region, but the bottom line is, you may not want to go too far from the security of a bathroom during this stage of early pregnancy.
6. Changes In Body
Most women in the early pregnancy stage notice that their breasts become swollen and tender. The blood vessels on them can look like road maps, and the Montgomery glands (the little "pimple" looking things by the nipples) get bigger, along with the areolas (the red "target" around your nipple). These changes are in preparation for breastfeeding your baby.
7. Morning Sickness
Morning Sickness is probably the most frustrating symptom at this early pregnancy stage. While it doesn't stick just with morning (some women have nausea all day) and not all women even get it, it is very common among pregnant women. Fortunately, it usually only lasts for the first trimester.
Closing Words
Early pregnancy stages are very important for your baby. You need to make sure if you are in it or not. Monitoring symptoms is as important as taking a pregnancy test. Do both and if the result is positive, then congratulations. You're going to be a mommy.
By Franklin Simanjuntak
