When To See A Doctor
Even if you dont have a positive pregnancy test, you should see your doctor if your period runs more than a week or two late. Your OB/GYN can run a blood test to check for pregnancy, as well as other blood tests to look for hormone abnormalities such as a thyroid disorder that could mess up your menstrual cycle and even be causing some of your physical and mental symptoms.
From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When You’re Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy.
Am I Pregnant Or Am I About To Start My Period
Symptoms of pregnancy and an impending period can be hard to tell apart since they can be very similar: mood swings, abdominal cramping, backaches, breast tenderness, headaches, and food cravings. There are a couple of symptoms that are more often related to pregnancy than to a menstrual period: nausea/vomiting and implantation bleeding. Keep in mind that not all women will experience these.
When a fertilized egg attaches itself to the uterine lining around 6-12 days after fertilization, some women will experience 1-3 days of light spotting, which we call implantation bleeding. This typically happens right around or before the time a woman is expecting her period.
Nausea that happens right near when a woman expects her period is more likely due to early pregnancy than due to a menstrual period. Many people will refer to this as morning sickness, even though it can happen at any time of day. Wait, and if you dont end up having a normal period when you expect it, it may be time to take a pregnancy test.
Could I Have The Symptoms Of Early Pregnancy And Not Be Pregnant
Many of the symptoms of early pregnancy overlap with other medical conditions, as well as your typical menstrual cycle. Premenstrual symptoms can be very similar to pregnancy symptoms. This can make it difficult to tell the difference. You can also miss a period without being pregnant. This can happen when you exercise in extreme amounts, lose or gain a lot of weight, or even are stressed. Breastfeeding can also cause your period to stop for a while.
The best way to know youre pregnant is to take a pregnancy test. If you have missed a period and think theres a chance you could be pregnant, consider taking a test.
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Stretch Marks On The Breasts During Pregnancy
Its not unusual to get stretch marks on the sides or front of your breasts during pregnancy. To avoid this, plus keep your skin as supple as possible, rub on a good moisturizing cream or oil at least once a day and before bed. No stretch-mark cream is a tried-and-true miracle, but keeping skin moisturized may help reduce stretch marks, and eliminate dryness and itching.
Everybody Poops Except You
PMS
If you feel a little less regular when youre waiting for your period to show up, you can blame your hormones.
Higher than normal levels of progesterone in the latter half of your menstrual cycle have been known to cause digestive disturbances in the form of constipation.
Pregnancy
The hormonal changes associated with pregnancy may make it harder to go number two. Increased progesterone relaxes your intestinal muscles, which can slow things down in the pooping department.
Later on, as your uterus expands and puts pressure on your intestines, it may become even harder to ahem drop a different kid off at the pool.
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Should I See A Doctor During The Two
If you get your period less than 14 days after you ovulate, it could be a red flag that something is affecting your ability to become pregnant. It could be as minor as miscalculating ovulation, or it could be a condition called luteal phase defect. “This means your body isn’t producing adequate levels of progesterone to maintain a pregnancy,” says Dr. Kim. Your doctor may prescribe extra progesterone following ovulation to help lengthen your luteal phase.
High Risk Of Developing Gestational Diabetes
Twin mothers carry a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes when compared with their single-pregnancy counterparts. Gestational diabetes mainly occurs during pregnancy in women who have no prior history with it. Its symptoms are similar to Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
Since pregnant twin mothers have a higher risk of getting gestational diabetes, it is advisable to keep your glucose levels intact by eating a balanced diet, having regular checkups and doing some pregnancy exercises. When a pregnant mother gets gestational diabetes, she might give birth to babies that are bigger than normal.
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Take Away: Cramps In Women
Any symptoms that occur even when you are in menstruation, or you are pregnant are important. Regular observations by visiting a Gynaecologist is the basis for how you can respond to changes in your body promptly, positively and negatively way.
Try to supplement yourself with lots of information. With girls, fixing their problems with cramps before the period is quite difficult, dealing with cramps during pregnancy is much more difficult. Do not ignore any advice, and any useful information, it is necessary for the event of an emergency for you and your friends.
Early Symptoms Of Pregnancy
Every woman and every pregnancy are different. But many moms-to-be experience early pregnancy symptoms. The majority of these symptoms are related to surging hormones. Its important to understand that all of these symptoms arent exclusive to pregnancy. That means there are other reasons that you could be experiencing them.
According to a poll from the American Pregnancy Association, 29 percent of the women surveyed noted that a missed period was their first sign of pregnancy. Often, there are other common symptoms of early pregnancy.
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Is There Anything I Can Look For
Probably the most reliable physical symptom of early pregnancy is a missed period. Noticing that your breasts are getting increasingly sore, or experiencing symptoms that you dont usually get around the time of your period, are also signs that you could be pregnant. But again, a blood test will be the best way to know for sure.
Period Or Pregnancy Introduction
One of the most frequent questions in parenting forum is about the differences between signs of pregnancy and period. It is in fact very difficult for many of us, even for experienced mothers, to tell the difference between early signs of pregnancy and signs which indicates that period is coming as symptoms of both period and pregnancy are very similar.
In summary, similar symptoms of pregnancy and period are tender breast, headache, bloating, constipation, fatigue, morning sickness or cramp. Different signs include backache which is a sign of period. Spotting and frequent urination are symptoms of pregnancy.
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Changes In The Sleeping Pattern
When pregnant with twins, your body goes through physical and emotional stress. As a result, you will find that your sleeping pattern has changed and that you will be feeling sleepy when you least expect it and feeling insomnia when you are supposed to be asleep.
You will be experiencing exhaustion during the first and third trimesters, and just as you are advised to eat for two, you should also sleep for two. If you do not get enough sleep, you will feel extremely exhausted, which will greatly affect how you operate.
You should try to get to bed early to get the same amount of sleep before you become pregnant.
Weight Gain And Bloating
The body tends to retain water just before the period begins. This is why some women experience bloating before their period, and they notice minor changes such as clothes feeling tight around the body and the feeling of the stomach bulging out as if they have just had a large meal. Many women also gain weight before their period begins. These symptoms vanish as soon as bleeding begins.
Let us now look at some symptoms of pregnancy.
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Pcos Versus Pregnancy Symptoms
The main difference between PCOS and pregnancy symptoms is their hormone secretion. PCOS is a condition in which it secretes more amounts of a male hormone called androgen. But pregnancy is a different condition from PCOS. Pregnant women have different symptoms and have a child inside their wombs. In PCOS, they face difficulties in carrying the child and might lead to infertility in severe cases.
PCOS stands for Polycystic ovary syndrome. It is a hormonal disorder. Women of reproductive age will get affected by this disease. Polycystic ovary syndrome will lead to irregular periods and excess secretion of male hormones called androgen. More amount of follicles are developed under the ovaries which may cause an irregular release of eggs. It may lead to infertility and miscarriage in women. Still today, the doctors do not know the exact causes. Reducing weight may also help to prevent polycystic ovary syndrome.
Gestation is the other name of the pregnancy. Pregnancy is nothing but the carrying of a child inside the womb of the mother. It often has single, twin, triplets, and quadruplets in rare. Sexual intercourse is the major cause of pregnancy. But there is much new technology are introduced to birth to the child. Miscarriage or abortion may also occur in pregnancy. After giving birth to the child, the pregnancy ended. Around 40 weeks of the last mensural period, the child started growing inside.
Diagnosing An Ectopic Pregnancy
If you suspect an ectopic pregnancy, let your doctor know right away. If he or she agrees, you may receive a pelvic exam to check to a mass around the ovary or fallopian tube. This test shouldnt be done on its own the true diagnosis comes from an ultrasound and blood tests. During an ultrasound, if there is no gestational sac and there is a mass found in the ovary area, its highly likely it will result in an ectopic.
An additional option doctors do is keep track of your HCG levels and if they arent rising normally, thats also a cause for concern. However, sometimes HCG levels still do rise, so this test shouldnt solely rule out if its ectopic or not.
Normal pregnancy ultrasound
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Difference Between Period And Pregnancy Symptoms
Key Difference: The main difference between Period and Pregnancy Symptom is that Period symptom is a condition that women experiences after reaching puberty, while pregnancy symptoms are symptoms that are experienced earlier on during pregnancy.
The signs of period symptoms and pregnancy symptoms are similar. It is in fact not easy for many of experienced womens to tell the difference between early signs of pregnancy and a sign which indicates that period is coming.
A period is when a womans body releases tissue, which is no longer is useful for woman’s body. This tissue comes from the uterus, which is where a baby develops in the female body. If you have regular menstrual cycles in the past and do not experience any major change in the regular life routine such as sudden increase in your stress level, long-distance travel or utilization of large unhealthy food, then a missed period is very likely to be an unmistakable sign that you are pregnant. The period is a woman’s monthly bleeding cycle and is the body’s way of shedding the uterine lining if pregnancy doesn’t occur. Normal menstruation occurs monthly and lasts on average 3-7 days. Unpleasant symptoms generally accompany the vaginal bleeding associated with a menstrual period. Many will experience backache before or during period. Backache is not an early sign of pregnancy.
The most common early period symptoms include:
- Abdominal Cramps
- Headache and Fatigue
- Difficulty Concentrating
- Melasma
Bleeding During Pms Vs Pregnancy
Women generally do not experience any bleeding during PMS.
For some women though, light bleeding or spotting for one or two days is normal in the 10-14 days after conceiving. If any heavy bleeding occurs during pregnancy or spotting continues for more than 2 days, its best to schedule an appointment with a doctor.
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What To Do During The Two
Although there’s just a 15 to 25 percent chance of becoming pregnant each month , it’s still important to act like you’re pregnant until you know for sure. Avoid alcohol, limit yourself to one to two cups of coffee per day, skip fish high in mercury, and avoid raw or undercooked seafood, meat, poultry, and eggs. “Don’t make yourself crazy about restrictions, but treat yourself as if you’re pregnantyou could be,” says Dr. Kim.
You should’ve also started popping a prenatal vitamin that contains 400 to 800 micrograms of folic acid before the two-week wait. Folic acid helps prevent neural tube defects, and your baby’s neural tubewhich becomes Baby’s brain and spinal corddevelops during the first 4 weeks of pregnancy. If you haven’t started taking these vitamins yet, it’s a good idea to start now.
Finally, you should also be mindful of physical fitness, no matter your two-week wait symptoms. “If you normally engage in moderate-intensity physical activity, keep it up,” says Dr. Kim. Exercise is a great way to relieve stress, and stress affects fertility, she says. Still, Dr. Kim warns that this isn’t the best time to adopt a new or intense training program, which can put too much stress on your nervous system. Activities that significantly raise your core body temperature, such as hot yoga or heated spinning, could affect implantation.
Differences In Food Cravings During Pms Vs Pregnancy
PMS can cause a change in womens diets in the form of cravings for carbohydrates, sugar, and salty foods. This is mainly due to drops and spikes in hormones like serotonin and cortisol, as well as blood sugar levels. The good news is the cravings usually subside as menstruation comes to an end.
Pregnancy cravings and aversions to certain foods are also the results of hormonal changes. Nutritional deficiencies can contribute to pregnancy cravings too, such as pickles for low sodium, lemons for vitamin C, or ice cream and yogurt for low calcium.
In addition, a heightened sense of smell and taste while pregnant can cause food cravings. But they just as easily lead to an aversion to, or an avoidance of, certain foods.
Should pregnant women experience cravings for non-food items such as dirt, metal, flakes of paint, or crayons, it is best to schedule an appointment with a healthcare provider. These cravings may be due to a deficiency in iron, or zinc and could cause anemia in pregnant women.
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