Early pregnancy symptoms

The simplest way of knowing that you are pregnant is the missed period. Along with a missed period a woman may feel nauseous, may need to urinate more frequently and feel tenderness in the breasts. When you go to the doctor in order to reconfirm your pregnancy, the doctor will check you for an enlarged uterus, softening of genital organs and during an internal vaginal examination the cervix will be seen to have taken on a purplish-velvety look, typical of pregnancy.

Blood / Urine Test

A blood or urine test can help detect the presence of a pregnancy. The blood or urine is tested for the presence of HCG, human chronic gonadotropin. The developing placenta begins to produce this hormone to prevent menstruation and protect the pregnancy. For an earlier result the blood test is more reliable.

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Stretch marks

The skin is made up of elastic and non-elastic fibers. When stretching beyond the normal limits occurs, as in pregnancy, the non-elastic fibers tend to break, causing stretch marks. At first these marks may occur as streaks. After birth they take on a kind of purple or brown shade and finally end up as whitish streaks. Excessive water retention (which does not occur as a result of drinking excess water), or weight gain can also cause stretch marks.

These marks may appear on the stomach, breasts bottom and thighs.

To an extent the marks may be controlled by regulating weight to avoid overstretching of the skin but the stretching on the tummy cannot be avoided as it is the result of an expanding uterus. Besides, hormonal changes that encourage water retention may cause an increase in fluid retention on your bottom and thighs, causing stretch marks to appear, even in an aware, weight-regulated woman.

The reason why stretch marks are worse in some women, is simply because the elasticity of the skin varies from person to person. Women with fewer stretch marks have more elastic fibers in the skin. There is no way in which the skin’s elasticity can be increased to reduce stretch marks.

Many women believe that oiling the skin helps, especially with Vitamin E oil. There is no evidence to support this theory. However, there is no harm in a gentle massage of the stretched abdomen. It is very relaxing. Moreover if you are lucky, you may find that the marks do not appear at all.

Shortness of breath

As the pregnancy advances, the uterus presses towards the lungs. This results in shortness of breath and panting when you climb even a few steps, or, the need to take a deep sigh frequently. This is more so in case of a twin pregnancy, or if you are fairly short, so that the uterus feels very large. The discomfort will be more when you sit on something low, when you slump your shoulders or when you lie down. If you sit up straight, it will relieve the discomfort.

It is nothing to worry about, the discomfort will vanish with the birth of the baby.