Earliest Possible Signs of Pregnancy

You will be looking for the earliest possible signs of pregnancy if you are actively trying to conceive . Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Conception occurs within 24 hours of ovulation.
• "Normally" you will not know you're pregnant until your menstrual cycle is late.
• The average recommended time to take a home pregnancy test is approximately 2 weeks after ovulation.
• Realistically you are pregnant for up to 2 weeks before you can confirm it.

Is there any way of knowing if pregnancy happened during the 2 weeks before the menstrual cycle is missed? The answer is yes and no.

Each woman is different in how her body will experience pregnancy symptoms. And, for that matter, each pregnancy is different. Some women will experience symptoms right from the beginning and others may not experience any at all. Some pregnancy symptoms will kick in after the positive home pregnancy test has already confirmed pregnancy.

All of my pregnancies I had different symptoms at different times.  Each pregnancy was unique and different.  I had early pregnancy symptoms in 4 of my 5 pregnancies.  In one pregnancy I had no symptoms almost the entire time except for weight gain and quickening.

Earliest Possible Signs of Pregnancy:

1. Breast changes. Blue veins running across the breast - breast tenderness - darkening of the areolas.
2. Cramps. A result of the expanding uterus at around the time the menstrual period is due.
3. Fatigue. Hormones run rampant during pregnancy and the side effect is extreme fatigue, especially for a first time mom.
4. Food cravings or aversions. Sometimes those funny little food cravings or aversions will appear right away.
5. Frequent urination. This occurs during the first trimester and the last trimester. Early on it is due to the swelling of the uterus over the bladder. As the baby and uterus grows it will lift off the bladder giving some relief during the 2nd trimester.
6. High basal body temperature. If you chart your temperature - it will continue staying in the high range because of the progesterone running through your body.  Sometimes on a fertility chart you may even see a third level of high temperatures called "triphasic".  This is a possible indication of implantation taking place.
7. Implantation spotting. This can occur anywhere from 3 to 12 days post ovulation. This sometimes happens when the fertilized egg burrows into the uterine lining.
8. Morning sickness. The effects of the pregnancy hormones can cause morning sickness with or without vomiting even before you know you are pregnant.

It is possible to have only one symptom or all or several.

Determining the earliest possible signs of pregnancy will vary from woman to woman and pregnancy to pregnancy. As I stated above, I've had different pregnancy symptoms with all five of mine.

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• 1st Pregnancy - I had extreme fatigue, morning sickness and food cravings before I took the first home pregnancy test.
• 2nd Pregnancy - I had absolutely no symptoms.  The only reason I tested at that time was because of the lack of PMS!
• 3rd Pregnancy - at about 10 DPO (days post ovulation) fatigue hit me.  The following morning I had some food aversion - from smelling biscuits cooking - I wanted to hurl!  I tested at 11 dpo and got a faint positive.
• 4th Pregnancy - at about 5 dpo I had a strange cramping sensation that lasted about an hour.  Then a few days later I had food cravings - for green beans and french fries.  I tested positive at 11 dpo.
• 5th Pregnancy - I had an implantation dip at 6 dpo.  I felt fatigue at 7 and 8 dpo.  And I tested positive at 9 dpo  - in the middle of the day!

Important note:  it is possible to have all these "earliest possible signs of pregnancy" and not be pregnant.  The only true test is the absence of the menstrual cycle and confirmation by a pregnancy test.