Are Cramps Normal During Early Pregnancy
Stomach cramps during early pregnancy are relatively common. If you get a few stomach cramps during the first trimester of pregnancy, its probably not a cause for alarm. These cramps are typically part of the normal physical changes in the body that occur in preparation for the baby.
Very early in your pregnancy, you may get cramps as well as light bleeding when the embryo is implanted into the wall of the uterus. This process can sometimes lead to implantation cramps and bleeding. As the pregnancy progresses, you may also feel cramping as your uterus changes and stretches to accommodate the baby.
In the following sections, we will talk about the causes of pregnancy cramps and when to call your health care provider.
Key Indicators Of A Possible Pregnancy
Many women experience one or more pregnancy symptoms during a normal menstrual cycle, so you shouldnât panic if youâre a little nauseous, tired, or experiencing cramping. If youâve noticed several of the indicators below over the last few weeks, however, itâs worth a closer look. These signs often signal a pregnancy, but only an official pregnancy test or doctorâs visit will be able to tell you for sure.
Taking The Pregnancy Test Too Sooneither Before Implantation Has Happened Or When The Hcg Levels Arent High Enough For A Pregnancy Test To Detect Them Yetcan Result In A False
Once you get a positive pregnancy test, youve passed a major milestone: you were able to get pregnant! This is a big feat in and of itself if you consider that only 15 20% of healthy people under the age of 35 get pregnant during a month of trying to conceive with vaginal intercourse.
There are a few things youll want to think about now: call your OBGYN office to see when they recommend scheduling a prenatal visit. Six to eight weeks into a pregnancy is usually the preferred time frame since that is one of the best times to confirm pregnancy by ultrasound. This ultrasound is used to identify your due date and to confirm that implantation occurred in the uterus and not in one of the fallopian tubes or another site in the abdomenan emergency situation called an ectopic pregnancy.
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What else can you do moving forward? Make sure youre taking your daily prenatal vitamins and have optimized other lifestyle choices like not smoking or drinking and eating healthy, nutritious food.
Some people advise not to actually start buying anything until later in the pregnancy to make sure its proceeding normally, but there is nothing cuter than tiny baby clothes so we wouldnt blame you if you embarked on a little daydreaming during the first few weeks of your pregnancy.
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Feeling Sick During Pregnancy
You may feel sick or be sick. This is commonly known as morning sickness, but it can happen at any time of the day or night.
Morning sickness symptoms usually start when youre around 4-6 weeks pregnant
If you’re being sick all the time and cannot keep anything down, see a GP.
You may have hyperemesis gravidarum, a serious condition in pregnancy that causes severe vomiting and needs treatment.
What Does It Mean If You Start Your Period Early
Depending on how early the period is, how heavy it is, the type of the discharge and many other factors, an early period can mean many different things.
It can be a simple change in the menstrual cycle, a disease, the effect of a drug or other activity. At times, it might not even be a period but another bodily process such as ovulation or implantation.
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How To Tell If You’re Pregnant Right Away
The only way to tell if youre pregnant right away is by taking a home pregnancy test according to its instructions. Waiting can be difficult, but you can usually take a test three to four days before a missed period though youre more likely to get a false negative if you test too soon. If its negative, wait a couple more days and test again if Aunt Flo doesnt come to visit.
Be sure to test first thing in the morning, when your urine and the hormone that the test is measuring are most concentrated. If you see a line indicating a pregnancy, youre almost certainly pregnant . Pregnancy tests with false positives are rare.
How Does Your Stomach Feel In Early Pregnancy
Feeling pain in your lower abdomen or feeling like your stomach is hard, swollen, or heavy are not early signs of pregnancy.
To the touch, a person’s stomach and abdomen will not show any noticeable signs of pregnancy until later on, depending on your specific body type. People who are in their first pregnancy usually don’t start showing until twenty weeks or later.1 Those who have already been pregnant might start showing sooner.
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Risks Of Bleeding In Early Pregnancy For Mother And Baby
The effects and risks of bleeding in early pregnancy depend on the cause and whether it can be treated.
- Ectopic pregnancy If the cause of bleeding during early pregnancy is an ectopic pregnancy, it is highly unlikely for the fetus to survive. The risk of another ectopic pregnancy in the future may also be increased. With appropriate treatment, the prognosis after an ectopic pregnancy for the mother is good.
- Threatened abortion If the cause of bleeding during early pregnancy is a threatened abortion, there is still a chance to have a healthy pregnancy and delivery. Miscarriage is also a possible outcome. It is critical to visit a health care provider as soon as possible.
- Complete miscarriage The pregnancy is terminated during a complete miscarriage. There may be no risks to the mother associated with complete miscarriage.
- Molar pregnancy In this type of pregnancy, no fetus has formed and, therefore, cannot be harmed. A molar pregnancy may have serious complications for the mother, including cancer.
What It Feels Like
Either a total aversion to coffee or feeling sick, shaky or nauseous after consuming it.
I love coffee. Not in a Gilmore Girls way where it’s a lifestyle choice, but I mean, I need a cup or two to get me going each morning which is why I was horrified to find myself suddenly disgusted by coffee one winter morning after my husband had left for work. “Hmmm” I thought, “That’s weird.” And it was weird. A weird early sign that I was about to get my BFP.
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When Should I Call My Doctor About A New Pregnancy
If you have missed a period, taken a pregnancy test and gotten a positive result, your next step will be to call your healthcare provider for your first appointment. While scheduling, your provider may ask if you have already started taking a prenatal vitamin with at least 400mcg of folic acid. These vitamins are important in early pregnancy because they help in the development of your babys neural tube. The neural tube will become the brain and spine. Many healthcare providers recommend that any women who could become pregnant take folic acid at all times.
If you are planning a pregnancy, a preconception appointment with your healthcare provider is a good place to start. A preconception appointment is especially important if you take medication for a chronic illness or have other medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension or lupus.
During this appointment, your provider will discuss any current medical conditions, as well as your general health before pregnancy. This appointment is meant to get you into the best place for a new pregnancy.
Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 04/01/2020.
References
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Signs Of Implantation Bleeding
It isnt easy to tell the difference between implantation bleeding and an early period. But here are some signs to clue you in to whats happening.
- Color. Implantation bleeding is more likely to be a pinky-brown color. Menstrual bleeding, on the other hand, may start off light pink or brown, but it soon changes into crimson red.
- Strength of flow. Implantation bleeding is usually super-light spotting. Your period may start off light, but the flow gets stronger.
- Cramping. Cramping that signals implantation is usually light and short-lived. Cramping that comes from your period is usually more intense and lasts longer. Every woman has her own pain threshold: You know your body best, so listen to it.
- Clotting. If you notice clots in the bleeding, you can be pretty sure that this is your period. Implantation bleeding will not produce this mix of blood and tissue.
- Length of flow. Implantation bleeding lasts 1 to 3 days while your period lasts 4 to 7 days.
- Consistency. Implantation bleeding is more like on-and-off spotting. Your period, however, starts off lightly and gets progressively heavier.
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We Know You’re Wondering: Is It Possible To Be Pregnant And Still Have A Period
Nope, experts say. Some people may experience bleeding or spotting, but those are different bleeding patterns from the cyclical menses your body experiences in absence of a pregnancy.
Dr. Michele Hakakha, an OB-GYN and author of Expecting 411: Clear Answers and Smart Advice for Your Pregnancy, told Parents that people definitely can experience vaginal bleeding during pregnancy, but that “when they bleed, they are not having a ‘period.'” That’s because your body needs to reserve the uterine lining as nourishment for the growing pregnancy.
Although bleeding during pregnancy doesn’t always mean cause for concern, it can indicate something more serious like a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, according to the Mayo Clinic.
In the earliest stage of pregnancy, however, some very light bleeding is totally normal and leads us to our first pregnancy clue: implantation bleeding.
Implantation bleeding usually doesn’t last more than a couple of days, and it’s much lighter than most people’s periods .
What Are The Earliest Signs Of Pregnancy
Some symptoms to watch for before you miss your period are sore breasts, fatigue, sensitivity to smell, food aversions, nausea, and more frequent urination. Keep in mind, however, that it’s very likely you will have no symptoms.
One study found that 50% of women showed no symptoms at five weeks after conception, 30% had none six weeks after conception, and 10% still didn’t have any at two months after conception!3
Below there are three tables.
- One is the signs of pregnancy you might experience before you miss your period.
- The next is the most commonly reported first signs of pregnancy, so you can get a sense of how common these symptoms are.
- The third shows 14 signs of pregnancy you might experience within the first three weeks after conception to get a better look at some other symptom possibilities.
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Other Implantation Signs And Symptoms
According to Dr. Chloe Acevedo, an OB-GYN at Atlantic Medical Group Women’s Health in Westfield, New Jersey, other implantation symptoms include nausea, sore boobs, darkening of the areolas, fatigue, headaches, bloating, mood swings, metallic taste, and changes in appetitealthough these symptoms are more closely associated with early pregnancy. What’s more, “implantation symptoms can sometimes be confused with PMS symptoms, which can be vague and nonspecific,” says Dr. Acevedo. “It’s important to understand that symptoms are not diagnostic and the only way to confirm if symptoms are due to implantation or PMS is with a pregnancy test.”
Sore Boobs: The pregnancy hormone hCG, estrogen, and progesterone may make your boobs very sensitive to the touch. This happens 1-2 weeks after conception, and it’ll feel more pronounced than normal PMS soreness.
Nausea: Since your digestive system slows down after getting pregnant, some women experience nausea, constipation, and indigestion . Progesterone and hCG hormones also contribute to these conception symptomsand so does the heightened sense of smell that many pregnant women experience.
Darkening of the Areolas: Pregnancy hormones affect nipple cells and cause them to darken.
Fatigue: As your body prepares to grow a baby, you may feel more tired than normal. You can partly blame fatigue on the rise of progesterone and increased blood production.
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Youre Visiting The Bathroom Significantly More Often
Do you find yourself urinating more often during the day or waking up in the middle of the night to take care of a full bladder? This could be a sign youâre pregnant. Because your body makes significantly more blood during pregnancy, your kidneys are filtering more liquids â resulting in a greater number of potty breaks. Though youâll be doing plenty of urinating, pregnancy actually increases your chances of constipation, meaning that going #2 may be a little more difficult.
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What Is Your Period Vs Implantation Bleeding
When you notice vaginal bleeding that youre not sure is from your period or pregnancy, it can be confusing. While both are natural and have to do with your reproductive system, they have different causes.
To begin, its important to understand the uterus. Your uterus is an organ that carries a baby during pregnancy. When a male sex cell meets and fertilizes a female sex cell at conception, they implant into the uterine lining. Over the next nine months, the fertilized egg develops into a baby inside the uterus.
What is your period?
Your period occurs when the uterus sheds part of its lining around every month that you do not conceive a baby. This causes continuous bleeding from the vagina for about a week. Most women get their period for the first time between the ages of 11 and 14 and stop getting their period around age 51.
Typically, your period will happen every 28 to 38 days , and you can usually predict roughly when you will get it next.
What is implantation bleeding?
When a fertilized egg starts to develop, it can cause a small amount of bleeding. The blood also comes out of your vagina, like your period. This isnt necessarily a cause for alarm, and it happens to about 25% of women who have been pregnant.
Complications Of Constipation In Pregnancy
Rectal prolapse-In severe cases constipation can lead to the weakening of the lower abdominal muscles leading to prolapse of the rectum.
Laxative dependency-Constipation can be annoying, in most cases, women tend to abuse laxatives causing dependency. An overuse of laxatives for a period of time has shown to lead to a sluggish bowel.
Hernia-Hernia is a protrusion of a part of a body through a weak point in the abdominal wall. A hernia can be as a result of overstraining during bowel movement.
Hemorrhoids-These are swollen small anal veins. Often the veins are visible due to the straining and irritation caused by the hard stools. When the hemorrhoids rupture, bleeding occurs which can be fatal if no corrective action is taken.
Remember
Constipation not only occurs early in pregnancy as one of the first symptoms of conception, but it is a common problem experienced by pregnant women until childbirth. In severe cases, it is always wise to seek medical advice. Always choose a diet that works for you and at the same time one that is highly nutritious. Your lifestyle choice plays a significant role in your overall health and that of the unborn baby.
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