Pregnancy symptoms:

 Could you be pregnant? Some symptoms may show up about the time you've missed a period – or a week or two later. A couple of them may even tip you off before then.

If you're not keeping track of your menstrual cycle or if it varies widely from one month to the next, you may not be sure when to expect your period. But if you start to experience some of the symptoms below – not all women get them all – and you're wondering why you haven't gotten your period, you may very well be pregnant. Take a home pregnancy test to find out for sure!

1. The proof: A positive home pregnancy test

In spite of what you might read on the box, many home pregnancy tests are not sensitive enough to reliably detect pregnancy until about a week after a missed period. So if you decide to take a test earlier than that and get a negative result, try again in a few days.Once you've gotten a positive result, make an appointment with your practitioner


2. Your basal body temperature stays high

If you've been charting your basal body temperature and you see that your temperature has stayed elevated for 18 days in a row, you're probably pregnant

3. Implantation bleeding

Very early in pregnancy, even before you realize you're pregnant, you may have some spotting that lasts for only a day or two. There's no way of knowing for sure why this happens, but it may be caused by the fertilized egg burrowing into the wall of your uterus – a process that starts just six to seven days after fertilization.

4. A missed period

If you're usually pretty regular and your period doesn't arrive on time, you may decide to do a pregnancy test before you notice any of the above symptoms. But if you're not regular or you're not keeping track of your cycle, nausea and breast tenderness and extra trips to the bathroom may signal pregnancy before you realize you didn't get your period.

5. Tender, swollen breasts

One of the early signs of pregnancy is sensitive, sore breasts caused by rising levels of hormones. The soreness and swelling may feel like an exaggerated version of how your breasts feel before your period. Your discomfort should diminish significantly after the first trimester, as your body adjusts to the hormonal changes.

6. Fatigue

Feeling tired all of a sudden? No, make that exhausted. No one knows for sure what causes early pregnancy fatigue, but it's possible that rapidly increasing levels of the hormone progesterone are contributing to your sleepiness. (Of course, morning sickness and having to urinate frequently during the night can add to your sluggishness, too.)You should start to feel more energetic once you hit your second trimester, although fatigue usually returns late in pregnancy when you're carrying around a lot more weight and some of the common discomforts of pregnancy make it more difficult to get a good night's sleep.Depression can contribute to fatigue and sleeplessness, too. If you've been feeling sad or hopeless or unable to cope with your daily responsibilities or you're having thoughts of harming yourself, call your healthcare provider or a mental health professional right away.

7. Frequent urination

Shortly after you become pregnant, hormonal changes prompt a chain of events that raise the rate of blood flow through your kidneys. This causes your bladder to fill more quickly, so you need to pee more often. This symptom may start as early as six weeks into your first trimester.
Frequent urination will continue – or intensify – as your pregnancy progresses. Your blood volume rises dramatically during pregnancy, which leads to extra fluid being processed and ending up in your bladder. The problem is compounded as your growing baby exerts more pressure on your bladder.

8. Nausea or vomiting

For some women, morning sickness doesn't hit until about a month after conception, though for others it may start a week or two earlier. And not just in the morning, either – pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting can be a problem morning, noon, or night. (A lucky few escape it altogether.)
About half of women with nausea feel complete relief by the beginning of the second trimester. For most others it takes another month or so for the queasiness to ease up.

9. Heightened sensitivity to odors

If you're newly pregnant, it's not uncommon to feel repelled by the smell of a bologna sandwich or a cup of coffee, and for certain aromas to trigger your gag reflex. Though no one knows for sure, this may be a side effect of rapidly increasing amounts of estrogen in your system. You may also find that certain foods you used to enjoy are suddenly completely repulsive to you.

10. Abdominal bloating

Hormonal changes in early pregnancy may leave you feeling bloated, similar to the feeling some women have just before their period arrives. That's why your clothes may feel more snug than usual at the waistline, even early on when your uterus is still quite small.

Stages Of Pregnancy

When one is learning about life cycles in science classes at school, one may feel that it is only insects that grow in stages. But experience brings wisdom as one grows up. The human baby also passes through various stages in the mother’s womb before emerging into the real world. Carrying a growing fetus within her body and giving birth to a full-grown newborn after several months is an extremely significant biological event in a woman’s life, considering that she has to undergo a lot of stress and upheavals during the entire stages of pregnancy.

No one can argue that every pregnant woman needs a lot of fortitude to undertake this difficult journey in life. At the same time, whether it is a first-time pregnancy or a second or a third one, each experience is unique by itself. 

The stages of pregnancy can be split into three quarters, each quarter representing a period of three months known as a trimester—

During the first trimester, the mother-to-be does not exhibit visible signs of pregnancy, though there are great changes taking place inside the womb, or rather uterus. As a matter of fact, a lot of things begin to happen as soon as conception has taken place, maybe even before the pregnant woman is actually aware that she has conceived! The embryo starts dividing very rapidly at this time and there are constant hormonal changes within the woman’s body. As a result, morning sickness is experienced and so also tenderness of the breasts. A few lucky women do not experience these symptoms, but generally most pregnant women find this to be a common event.

The first trimester can be classified as one of the truly exciting stages of pregnancy, because this is when the heartbeat of the growing fetus can be felt! Also, the baby is able to move its tiny legs and arms.

Now follows the second trimester. Among the various stages of pregnancy, many women find this time to be very comfortable. All the discomforts experienced during the first three months disappear. Additionally, activities do not cause any difficulty, considering that the uterus has still not developed to its full size. But other changes do take place. It is possible that Braxton Hicks contractions begin during this time. These are like practice contractions and cause discomfort while sleeping. In fact, the soon-to-be mother may be hard put to find a comfortable position to sleep in! At the same time, the new mother is rewarded as she can now sense the movements of the growing baby. Some women are even able to see the movements!

The last trimester or the final stages of pregnancy brings about a number of changes. Growth of the baby is as fast as it was during the first trimester. As the baby grows in size, so does the pregnant woman’s abdomen! The movements of the baby may not be felt as regularly as they were during the second trimester, but there is really no need to get alarmed about it. It is just that the baby has taken up so much space that internal movements are not visible outside!

It is important that the new mother uses this time during the last stages of pregnancy to fortify her health by taking nutritious meals and relaxing a lot. She should try and remain serene at all times. Additionally, she can attend classes on childbirth and breastfeeding to be prepared for both when the time arrives.

How can you get Pregnant

It is estimated that it happens to approximately 200 million women worldwide each year, and for most, it occurs without them even giving it a second thought. It is an event that many women look forward to, especially when it happens for the first time; we’re talking about getting pregnant. For most women, pregnancy is a very natural occurrence, which takes place easily and naturally, but for others conception can prove difficult, and getting pregnant is not as easy as they first imagined. As a result, these women are very interested in finding out how to get pregnant.

Pregnancy occurs, when the sperm cells produced by a man, successfully join with the egg produced by a woman each month, at the time of ovulation. In most cases, a woman will get pregnant within the first few months of trying, without even thinking about how to get pregnant. However there are factors that can delay the process, and in some cases it may require the intervention of a medical doctor. Women, who are otherwise healthy, can sometimes find it very difficult to conceive, and for those, there are tools available which can improve the chances of conception.

For women who have no known medical conditions, then the best way to get pregnant is by engaging in intercourse during the time of ovulation. This is the period in the female menstrual cycle when a woman is most fertile, as it marks the release of a mature egg by the ovary, into the fallopian tube.

Because ovulation plays such an important role in how to get pregnant, there are methods available to help a woman plot ovulation, and thereby increase her chances of getting pregnant. There are tools such as ovulation prediction kits, which are able to indicate when ovulation is about to occur. They are able to do this accurately, by testing urine for the presence of hormones, which are an indicator that ovulation is imminent. Being able to predict the time of ovulation is particularly important, when one considers that only one egg is released each month, therefore in many cases timing is everything.

For couples who experience difficult conceiving, that is a sure sign of a health problem. Therefore, it is important for both parties to undergo an extensive health evaluation when thinking about how to get pregnant. This sort of analysis, often results in the revelation of factors that are negatively impacting the reproductive process. These usually surround issues of infertility. For males it might be a low sperm. Defeating these problems and getting pregnant, often requires certain lifestyle adjustments. For men, this might involve giving up habits such as drinking and smoking, which work to decrease sperm count.
Since it is well known that the inability to conceive is often the result of infertility, many methods are available to improve fertility. In addition to the use of fertility drugs, techniques like in-vitro fertilization, (IVF), and intra-uterine insemination (IUI) are also used to combat infertility. There are also natural, holistic methods to choose from, for persons who wish to avoid the use of expensive fertility treatments.

To optimize fertile health, and increase her chances of getting pregnant naturally, a woman should seek to modify her diet. Many women do not understand the link that exists between fertility levels, and the foods they eat. Low fertility is often an indication that the internal system is out of balance, and that balance can be restored by eating the right foods. It has been proven, that there are foods that can increase fertility, and others that hinder it. The foods that contribute to fertility, and keep the internal system working well, include plant proteins (beans and peas), whole grains (such as brown rice and oatmeal), full-fat dairy products, (whole milk), and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Foods to avoid include refined carbohydrates, such as white bread, and white rice. Another recommendation in terms of diet is to limit the intake of meat.

Alternatively, a woman can opt to take fertility drugs to improve her chances of getting pregnant. Fertility drugs are used to encourage the body to ovulate. The drugs work by stimulating the hormones in your brain. When these hormones are stimulated, the body will then get to work on releasing an egg each month. Commonly prescribed fertility drugs include clomiphene, and metformin. For many women, fertility drugs are the quick fix they need to get pregnant.

However, there are other women for whom these alternatives do not reap success. Therefore, they have to dig deeper to find out how to get pregnant. Many of them turn to IVF treatment for a solution. IVF is often used after several other fertility treatments have failed. Essentially, it involves the fertilization of eggs outside the body. Once fertilized successfully, the eggs are then placed inside the uterus.

Male infertility is another area to focus on when considering how to get pregnant. In this case, the spotlight is on sperm health. Vitamin C is important in maintaining overall sperm health. Another issue is that of sperm mobility. This refers to the percentage of sperm that actually make it to the egg, and attempt to fertilize it. Vitamins E and B-12 play a key role in boosting sperm mobility.

Before deciding on a method of treatment, it is always recommended that you discuss any possible side effects with your physician. Ensure that you are very clear about possible risks that can impact you, or your child.

An often ignored factor that can prevent pregnancy is stress. Very often if pregnancy is delayed, then a couple can become anxious and stressed. This only serves to add to pre-existing problems. Many couples, who go to a physician for advice on how to get pregnant, are often told to relax and not stress about it.

While pregnancy is usually a very easy and natural occurrence, there are several factors that can hinder it. However, for those seeking to find out how to get pregnant, there are several methods that are available to help the process along. Of utmost importance is the fertile health of the couple, and the need to boost fertility wherever low levels of fertility exist.