8 Early Signs You May Be Pregnant

Early Signs of Pregnancy

Can't wait to find out if you're pregnant? These first symptoms of pregnancy may clue you in on the big news even sooner than you'd think.

When you’re TTC (trying to conceive), each passing month brings the same batch of questions: Did we hit the baby jackpot? Are those cramps, that bloating, that breast tenderness early signs of pregnancy — or just signs that it’s time for your monthly tampon run? The best way to confirm that you have a baby on board is to take a pregnancy test (preferably a digital one, since they offer more reliable results earlier). But while you’re waiting, check out these early pregnancy symptoms. None is pregnancy proof positive, but they can offer intriguing (if sometimes confusing) clues.

First Signs of Pregnancy

Even early on, your body doesn’t stay mum on whether you’re about to become a mom. These conception clues may let you in on the happy secret before the home pregnancy test gives you the readout of your dreams. Keep in mind that most early pregnancy symptoms can be pretty similar to those monthly PMS symptoms (Mother Nature’s perverse sense of humor at work?), which means you’ll definitely need that HPT for confirmation:

• Tender, swollen, or painful breasts. Are your breasts yelling “Look, but don’t touch!”? Tingly, sore, full-feeling, tender, even painful-to-the-touch breasts and nipples are often one of the first symptoms of pregnancy (though, of course, they can also come along for the PMS ride, too). The blame for the pain lies with the hormones estrogen and progesterone that are starting their overtime shifts in the baby-readying department. After all, there are only nine months to go before those breasts will need to produce milk to feed your hungry newborn. 
• Darkening areolas. While other breast changes may also signal that your period’s on its way, this symptom’s pretty much owned by pregnancy. Early pregnancy hormones can cause the areolas to darken in color and increase in diameter pretty soon after sperm and egg hook up. Also, the tiny bumps on the areolas that you may never have noticed before (they look like goose bumps but are actually oil-producing glands to lubricate your nipples) may become more pronounced and increase in size. 
• Fatigue. Another one of the early symptoms of pregnancy is sheer exhaustion. Sluggishness. Sleepiness. The overwhelming urge to curl up on the couch and stay there all day — or never to get out from under the covers at all. The reason your get-up-and-go has gotten-up-and-gone? It’s those pregnancy hormones at work again, expending tons of energy to build the placenta — the life-support system for your baby. Some women find they also drag with PMS, though, making this symptom a tough one to call. 
• Nausea. Queasiness is a sign of pregnancy that can sign on early, though it probably won’t be hitting its peak for a few weeks at least. That nagging nausea – which may soon be accompanied by vomiting -- is officially known as morning sickness, but anyone who’s suffered with it knows that it’s misnamed (it can strike morning, noon, or night). Hormones are largely to blame for making you green-around-the-gills, but not every new mom-to-be experiences morning sickness. 
• Heightened sense of smell. Have you been sniffing around like a police dog lately? A heightened sense of smell – which can make even mild or formerly favorite aromas smell strong and unappealing – can appear early on the pregnancy scene. Once again (you’ll be doing this a lot), you can thank your pregnancy hormones for your more sensitive sniffer. Smell pregnancy, but keep coming up negative on those HPTs? Those PMS hormones can also put your nose on higher-than-usual alert. 
• Spotting. Light spotting (aka implantation bleeding) before you’d expect your period (around five to 10 days after conception) can be another sign of early pregnancy. This bleeding occurs when the newly formed embryo (aka, your baby!) burrows into the uterine lining, making itself at home for the next nine months. Keep in mind, however, that only 20 percent of newly pregnant women will notice the mild, light-colored spotting -- the other 80 percent will have to look for other early pregnancy clues. 
• Frequent urination. Me need to pee…again? This new gotta-go feeling is due to the pregnancy hormone hCG, which increases blood flow to your kidneys, helping them to more efficiently rid your body of fluid waste (you’ll be peeing for two, after all). Peeing up a storm, but you’re not pregnant? Check with the practitioner to see if you might have a UTI (especially it burns or hurts when you pee). 
• Bloating. Is it pregnancy bloat – or pre-period bloat? That is the question, and it isn’t an easy question to answer (either way, you’ll have a hard time buttoning your skinny jeans). Even if you are expecting, it’s too soon to attribute your swell little belly to your baby (who’s still barely the size of a sesame seed at this point) – blame it, instead, on the hormone progesterone. Among its many other baby-making jobs, progesterone helps slow down digestion, allowing the nutrients from the foods you eat more time to enter your bloodstream and reach your baby-to-be. The downside? It allowsgas to hang out in your intestines longer.