Tell Tale Signs of Pregnancy

A month will never feel longer, during your lifetime, than it does when you are trying to conceive. Those four weeks can go by agonizingly slow, and the day when you can finally take your at-home pregnancy test never comes soon enough. While you cannot be absolutely sure that you are pregnant until you receive a positive pregnancy test, here are some tell tale signs that you most likely are pregnant.

Sore and Swollen Breasts

One of the first signs of pregnancy are sore and swollen breasts. This is caused by a spike in hormone levels, and should subside relatively quickly. Until then, however, your breasts will feel sensitive to the touch, and similar to how they feel shortly before you get your period, only exaggerated.

Fatigue

Another early sign of pregnancy is fatigue. This is also caused by a quick rise in hormones, in this case, the hormone progesterone. If you suddenly feel overwhelmingly exhausted, chances are you may be pregnant. This symptom will subside by the end of the first trimester, but will return again in the third trimester.

Nausea and Vomiting

While most women do not start feeling the effects of morning sickness, or nausea and vomiting, until five or six weeks into pregnancy, morning sickness varies in degree from person to person. While some women will get very severe morning sickness called, Hyperemesis gravidarum, others may not feel sick at all.

Other Symptoms

Other common pregnancy symptoms include frequent urination, abdominal bloating, increased sensitivity to smells, and a basal body temperature that remains elevated for 18 days or longer.

Positive

While there are many tell tale signs of pregnancy, the only way to know for sure is to have a missed period with a positive home pregnancy test result. While there are some at home pregnancy tests that can give you an accurate result up to four days prior to a missed period, most tests will only guarantee a positive result until a week after a missed period.