More Weird Early Pregnancy Signs

Constipation

Our digestive systems slow when we're pregnant, allowing more time for nutrients to digest. This can lead to constipation. If you're feeling full of wind, but are straining to go, drink plenty of water, eat plenty of vegetables, and ask your local pharmacist for advice about a safe stool-softener.

You Taste Metal

Increases in the female hormones oestrogen and progesterone result in changes to taste for many women. This includes a specific condition called "Dysegusia", where sufferers taste metal. This happens as little as two weeks after conception, and may last for the duration of your pregnancy (although, for many women, it disappears in the second trimester). Try combating this condition by eating minty chewing gum, cold water, or spicy food.

Heartburn

Eight out of ten women experience heartburn in pregnancy. It's more common in the second and third trimesters, caused by a growing womb, pressing on your stomach. However hormone changes can relax the valve between your stomach and the oesophagus, meaning that you have this problem early in your pregnancy.

If you suffer heartburn: avoid fried or spicy food; eat small, frequent meals, and avoid fizzy drinks.

Catching Every Sniffle

Pregnancy lowers your immunity to colds and flu. You may find yourself getting suddenly catching every sniffle if you're pregnant.

If you think you're pregnant, ask your pharmacist about safe options for treating fevers and coughs, and be sure to have the flu vaccine.

Mood Swings

If one minute, your laughing at a comedy, and the next, you're weeping over a charity appeal in the adverts, it's very possible you're pregnant. Pregnancy causes hormonal changes that make us experience mood swings.

Headaches

Headaches start within the first couple of weeks of pregnancy. They are not dangerous, and usually improve or stop completely within the last six months of pregnancy. They are caused by hormones, and it's generally safe for pregnant women to take paracetamol/acetaminophen, but you shouldn't take anything else unless prescribed by a doctor.

If headaches continue, and are accompanied by high blood pressure, oedema (fluid retention), and protein in the urine (often demonstrated by frothy urine) you should see a doctor immediately, as it could be a sign of potentially-dangerous preeclampsia.

The Truth About Missed Periods and Morning Sickness

The two symptoms that everyone "knows" to be definite signs of pregnancy, missed periods and morning sickness, aren't actually as straightforward as you might think.

Bleeding: Many women have no vaginal bleeding throughout their pregnancy. Some women, however, continue to have intermittent vaginal bleeding that appears to be a period (although it isn't). No-one knows what causes this bleeding. Some women have light spotting early in pregnancy. This is not dangerous.

But there are some occasions when you should be concerned about vaginal bleeding. That is: when it is heavy, sudden, or painful. Vaginal bleeding can be a sign of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or another problem that mimics pregnancy (such as Molar Pregnancy, where abnormal tissue grows in the uterus). If you are concerned, always see a doctor.

Nausea: "Morning sickness" is a misnomer, as you can have it any time of the day. Hormones likely cause or contribute to the nausea, vomiting and the inability to stomach certain foods that were previously enjoyed (such as fish). However, it's a myth that every woman experiences this symptom; only 80% of women have Morning Sickness.

READ Early Pregnancy Symptoms and Signs

Nausea and aversions to foods may last for the entire pregnancy, but that's rare (and most common with a severe condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum, where severe and debilitating nausea, vomiting and food aversion lasts throughout pregnancy). For most women, this symptom goes away by the fourteenth week.

Conclusion

All these symptoms may be a sign of something other than pregnancy, including a harmless virus. But, if any of these symptoms persist for two weeks or more, it might be worth taking a pregnancy test. Who knows, rather than being a sign of a virus, these symptoms could be the beginning of the biggest adventure of your life.