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Are These Pregnancy Symptoms?

by — Last updated: 2018-01-05 in Pregnancy
Reviewed by Medical Team — 2018-01-05

Table of Contents

Every woman of reproductive age should be familiar with the ins and outs of fertility, pregnancy symptoms, pregnancy tests, and contraception. This overview answers some common questions.
Common early pregnancy symptoms include a missed period, abdominal bloating, headaches, nausea or food aversions, sore breasts, back pain, fatigue, more frequent urination and a heightened sense of smell.

Some women take their pregnancy test too early and get a negative result even though they are pregnant. If you miss a period, you should simply take another pregnancy test and follow the instructions closely, especially if you are also having pregnancy symptoms.

READ Are You Pregnant? The Very First Pregnancy Symptoms

Still, what you think are pregnancy symptoms may also be caused by a number of other things including a hormonal imbalance. Women who are really preoccupied with the idea they might be pregnant can also “think themselves” into having pregnancy symptoms sometimes.
 
A fertilized egg will implant into the lining of the uterus between six and 12 days after conception, though nine days is the average timing.

Some women will notice a very light spotting — often brownish in color — around this time. This is called implantation bleeding, and though light spotting is never definitive proof of a pregnancy, it can be taken as an indication that it is time to take a pregnancy test.[2]

Think You Could Be Pregnant But Don't Want To Be?

Many girls and women who don't want to get pregnant right now but briefly had unprotected sex wonder if pre-ejeculatory fluid contains sperm, and can thus lead to pregnancy. The answer is that this fluid, also known colloquially as “precum”, does not usually carry any sperm cells. If a man already ejaculated shortly before having sex, it is however possible that some sperm cells will still be in his urethra and that those will be expelled along with the pre-ejaculate. This is one reason why the withdrawal method does not serve as a reliable birth control.[3]

Are you worried that you might be pregnant after “dry humping” and kissing, with your clothes on, you can stop fretting. Sperm just doesn't get through clothes. In order to get pregnant without sexual intercourse, artificial reproductive techniques are required.[4]

New birth control pill users often wonder if they used their new contraceptive wrongly and get frightened that they could be pregnant. The pill usually becomes effective after seven days of taking it, but is effective immediately if first taken on the day a woman's menstrual bleeding begins. To decrease the chance that your pill will fail, make sure to follow the instructions precisely and to take your pill at the exact same time every day. The beginning of efficiency also depends on whether you’re taking combination pills or progestin-only pills. [5]

Accidents happen, and women who have had unplanned unprotected sex or experienced contraceptive failure (or just realized they forgot to take a few birth control pills) can turn to emergency contraceptives.[6]

The morning-after pill can be taken up to 72 hours, or three days, of unprotected sex.
It mainly works by preventing ovulation, but may also interfere with the fertilization by creating hostile cervical mucus that doesn't allow sperm to get through.

Many women will be pleased to know that the morning-after pill does not actually cause abortions. Once the implantation process has commenced, the morning-after pill is not effective and does not end a pregnancy. On the flip side, this also means that some women still get pregnant after using the morning-after pill. The morning-after pill reduced the chances of pregnancy by 89 percent.

It is worth noting that the copper IUD is a powerful emergency contraceptive. Not many women know about this, but Paragard is the most effective emergency contraceptive available in the US. It interferes with cervical mucus in such a way that sperm are disabled or killed, and it can also prevent implantation if fertilization has already occurred. The Paragard is an emergency contraceptive and a long-term method of birth control all in one.[7]

Birth control pill and other types of contraceptives will not protect you from a sexually transmitted disease.