How many women is trying to conceive, or how many of them are afraid of this? They are watching each single body symptom just to confirm if they are pregnant or not. Does a woman know enough about reproductive system to understand this process? Which pregnancy symptoms and signs are true and which are false? Which of these early pregnancy symptoms and signs we can see during early pregnancy period? If we want to understand process, we have to start from female reproductive system, and how does it works.
Female reproductive system
The female gonads, known as ovaries, are located within the lower abdominal cavity. Most of women also know that ovary contains many follicles composed of a developing egg surrounded by an outer layer of follicle cells. Each egg begins oogenesis as a primary oocyte, so it can develop into human being at the end. At birth, each female carries a lifetime supply of developing oocytes, and each is released monthly from puberty until menopause, a total of 400-500 egg during woman’s lifetime or fertile period.
What is ovarian cycle?
After puberty, the ovary cycles between a follicular phase which means maturing follicles, and a luteal phase. The ovarian cycle lasts usually 28 days, and at midpoint of the cycle, the oocyte is released from the ovary in a process known as ovulation. Following ovulation, the follicle forms a corpus luteum, which synthesizes and prepares hormones to prepare the uterus for pregnancy. This is extremely important to understand before any discuss about implantation and pregnancy symptoms.
Hormones and Female Cycles
The ovarian cycle is hormonally regulated in two phases, where the follicle secretes estrogen before ovulation, and the corpus luteum secretes both estrogen and progesterone after ovulation.
Hormones from the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary control the ovarian cycle, which is why it is possible to provoke earlier period. It is common situation women that lives or works together start to bleed in the same time. This is all about women’s brain, which is scientifically proven.
More about menstrual cycle
Menstrual cycle varies from between 15 and 31 days, and it should not be confused with periods. The first day of the cycle is the first day of blood flow known as menstruation or period. FSH and LH are secreted on this day, beginning both the menstrual cycle and the ovarian cycle. Both FSH and LH stimulate the maturation of a single follicle in one of the ovaries and the secretion of estrogen. In the same time, rising levels of estrogen in the blood trigger secretion of LH, which stimulates follicle maturation and ovulation. It is interesting how estrogen and progesterone stimulate the development of the endometrium and preparation of the uterine inner lining for implantation of a zygote. If pregnancy does not occur, the drop in FSH and LH cause the corpus luteum to disintegrate and slough off the inner lining of the uterus.
What are fertilization and cleavage?
Fertilization has three functions, and those are transmission of genes from both parents to offspring, restoration of the diploid number of chromosomes reduced during meiosis, and initiation of development in offspring. Moreover, fertilization steps are contact between sperm and egg, entry of sperm into the egg, and fusion of egg and sperm nuclei. Then it is time to activate development of the baby. It is also important to know that fertilization is the fusion of the sperm and egg, which usually occurs in the upper third of the oviduct. So how does process goes? At the beginning, or thirty minutes after ejaculation, sperm are present in the oviduct, having traveled from the vagina through the uterus and into the oviduct. This distance is crossed by the beating of sperm’s flagellum. Of the several hundred million sperm released in the ejaculation, only a few thousand reach the egg, which is still more then enough to become pregnant. The fact is that only one sperm will fertilize the egg. Cleavage of the zygote begins while it is still in the oviduct, producing a solid ball of cells, which is known as morula. The uterine lining becomes enlarged and prepared for implantation of the embryo, and in this time human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is secreted by the chorion. This is first substance released in woman’s body that could confirm pregnancy. Home pregnancy tests are registering this hormone. However, there are some early pregnancy signs we could notice before having home pregnancy test.
Most common early pregnancy signs and symptoms
Missed period
This is classic sign of pregnancy, especially if your cycles are typically like clockwork. Once you have missed your period, it is time to take a home pregnancy test. Home pregnancy tests work by determining the amount of hCG present in the urine. It is important to know that first urine of the day tends to have the most concentrated amount of hCG and it will give you the best results at detecting the small concentrations of hCG presented in the early days of pregnancy.
Feeling Sick in the Morning
About one-half of all pregnant women experience some kind of morning sickness, nausea, or vomiting in early pregnancy, so that is very common early pregnancy symptom. However, contrary to popular belief, morning sickness is not always limited to morning. The fact is that many women experience nausea in the evening, in the afternoon and a substantial percentage of lucky moms feel sick all day long. Although it happens rare, but you have to know that morning sickness in some can be tidily extreme. It’s recommended to contact your doctor in case you become dehydrated because of morning sickness.
Sore breasts
Many women reported feeling of sensitive breasts. Some of them said it is the same way, they feel right before they have period. However, this is one more sign that you may be pregnant, because breast sensitivity is a common phenomenon in early pregnancy. Many mothers reported this pregnancy symptom begins to fade by the second trimester.
Areola darkening
Together with sensitive breasts, pregnant woman may notice a slight darkening of the areola. For those who don’t know, areola is the concentric zone that surrounds the nipple.
Honorable discharge
This early pregnancy sign or symptom occurs because in the early days of pregnancy, mucous begins to accumulate around the opening of the cervix to form the mucous plug. This is supposed to be a barrier that helps protect the baby during its development. Because of this mucous formation, a kind of vaginal discharge will be noticed. It is important to know that infection could also cause vaginal discharge, although infection is accompanied with more symptoms, such as a burning sensation, foul smell, or itchiness.
Common urge to urinate
The fact is when the baby grows larger in mother’s uterus, the space that once allowed for expansion of your bladder will decrease. This will result with more frequent urinating then ever before. In addition, the woman may notice bloating similar to normal pre-menstrual symptoms.
Headache and seeing spots
Because of the complex mixture of hormones coursing through a pregnant woman’s body, it is common for women to experience headaches more frequently during early pregnancy.
Interesting is that many women noticed a bit of spotting. You could look for this sign at around eight to ten days after you last ovulated. This spotting or bleeding lighter then normal is result of implantation. Important is to know that spotting usually looks a bit different from your regular period. It tends to be light in volume and pinkish in color, as opposed to the deep red color associated with normal menstrual bleeding.
Constipation
Another sign of pregnancy is constipation, which is caused by certain hormones. These hormones presented in early pregnancy days are relaxing your intestines and slowing the digestive process.
Pregnancy
When you notice these early pregnancy signs and symptoms, it is the right time to have home pregnancy test done. You can buy it in any pharmacy, where you will find instruction how to perform it correctly. When you find test as positive, it is clear you will have a baby. Nowadays many women decide to have an abortion, especially young mothers. There are many debates if abortion should be done or not, if woman has right to choose, or baby have right to live. Whatever woman decides, it is the best and only right way to seek doctor’s opinion. Whether she is going to keep her baby or abort it, doctor should be included into this. Pregnancy requires changing life habits woman used to have. This means – healthier living! Some pregnancies are hard to keep, so woman has to live under regimen if she wants to keep her pregnancy until the end. Anyway, this should be happy time for every woman and excitement in expectation to give a life.
