We detect pregnancy. How can you determine pregnancy in the earliest stages at home? Types of pregnancy tests

Whether conception was a long-awaited miracle or an unplanned surprise, every girl wants to know about it as early as possible. That's why women love to share descriptions of the first signs of pregnancy. After all, tests promise results only after a delay. But we still have to live to see it! And what should a girl, consumed by curiosity, hope or anxiety, do?

We warn you right away: it is useful to know about these signs, but you should not attach too much importance to them. Because they are very subjective and can serve as symptoms of completely different conditions.

When do the first signs of pregnancy appear after conception?

A woman's egg is capable of fertilization in the first 12 hours after ovulation. If a woman tracks her cycle and knows exactly when the egg was released, she can determine whether conception occurred after the act or not.

Symptoms of pregnancy in the first days after conception are similar to those of PMS of varying severity. The fact is that during the luteal period, a woman’s body always prepares for pregnancy - just in case. And the processes that take place in it after the release of the egg are always the same for about two weeks, regardless of whether conception has occurred or not.

The corpus luteum, which remains in the ovary after ovulation, produces the hormone progesterone, so women’s breasts swell and become sensitive, irritability, drowsiness, fatigue appear, they want to go to the toilet more often, and so on. If pregnancy has actually occurred, then the symptoms continue, intensify and become more characteristic, and if not, menstruation occurs.

Therefore, before the onset of menstruation, many women notice certain symptoms, which are often considered signs of conception. Their presence, severity and strength depend on the characteristics of the body. They are not at all mandatory - neither in the case of pregnancy, nor in the absence of it.

Many symptoms may not even be caused by PMS, but by ordinary illness or stress. Therefore, you should not rely 100% on such signs of conception. But knowing them is useful - at least for your own peace of mind.

If a woman usually goes through the second phase of her cycle without pronounced symptoms, the presence of such signs can serve as a kind of “beacon” and allow us to suspect an interesting situation.

As a rule, at 1 week the pregnancy is not even considered pregnancy. At this time, the fertilized egg moves through the tubes into the uterus, where it will take hold and spend the next 9 months. There are no obvious signs these days, although discharge uncharacteristic of the phase of the cycle, pulling sensations in the abdomen, drowsiness, headache and irritability may appear. But for many women, it is precisely these symptoms that accompany the entire second phase - they form the notorious PMS.

Usually the first signs appear approximately 8-10 days after conception. This largely depends on the characteristics of the body of each individual woman, on her attentiveness and level of sensitivity. It is at week 2 that some expectant mothers experience the phenomenon of implantation bleeding.

After fertilization of the egg has occurred, it moves to the uterus and becomes attached to one of its walls. In this case, micro-ruptures of blood vessels and capillaries may occur, which are accompanied by bleeding. This phenomenon occurs in only 20-30% of all pregnancies, and sometimes it is mistaken for menstruation that began prematurely.

However, it is not difficult to distinguish bleeding during embryo implantation from normal menstruation. It lasts only a few hours, less often it lasts the whole day. At the same time, its intensity is weak and does not increase. The color of the discharge is light brown, bright red or pink. An analysis of hCG levels at this time is not yet informative, since the changes are just beginning.

Signs of pregnancy at 3 weeks are already more distinct. The sensations in the chest intensify - soreness, sensitivity, tingling, the areolas around the nipples darken. Taste preferences and reactions to smells change, chronic diseases worsen. As a rule, at this time a delay in menstruation is already detected, so it’s time to do a test or donate blood for hCG.

How to recognize pregnancy in the early stages

Accurately recognizing pregnancy before delay is an unrealistic task. After all, the main reliable sign is the absence of bleeding on day X. However, there are certain symptoms that tell a woman that something is wrong with her. However, as mentioned above, you cannot completely rely on it.

Increased BT

Those women who regularly measure their basal temperature know that after ovulation it always rises sharply by a few tenths of a degree. This usually lasts about two weeks and before menstruation the temperature returns to normal. If pregnancy occurs, the temperature above 37 will remain for about two more months.

It is believed that a sign of conception after ovulation is an increase in BT to 37-37.5 degrees at the very end. This is noted by many mothers, although there is no exact confirmation of this phenomenon. At 1 week of pregnancy, this is facilitated by the high level of progesterone produced by the corpus luteum.

Insomnia and nervousness

With hormonal imbalance caused by changes in the female body, many systems and organs work in a new way. This greatly affects the emotional background of a woman. Therefore, the first symptoms of pregnancy can also manifest themselves in the form of irritability and nervousness, which lead to insomnia.

Drowsiness, fatigue, low blood pressure

Sometimes in the first days of pregnancy a feeling of drowsiness appears; a woman gets tired faster and feels tired even after a long rest. My head starts to feel dizzy due to low blood pressure. These signs of pregnancy are also subjective and unreliable; they can occur due to ordinary overwork.

Discomfort in the abdomen and lower back

Secondary symptoms of pregnancy also include strange sensations in the abdomen or lumbar region. At the beginning of pregnancy, the blood supply to the pelvic organs increases, so women often feel heaviness and compression, discomfort in a sitting position.

You may feel a nagging pain in the lower back, although this is often a sign of kidney problems. But increasing pain in the lower abdomen can warn of an ectopic or a threatened miscarriage. Changes in the uterus sometimes cause a tingling feeling, although not all girls feel it. Another sign of pregnancy in the second week, and even later, is bloating. Hormonal changes lead to relaxation of the intestinal muscles and flatulence.

Headache

The first signs of pregnancy before menstruation include spontaneous headaches. They are caused by hormonal fluctuations. At the same time, there are no external reasons for the migraine - the girl did not catch a cold, got enough sleep, and did not sit in a stuffy room.

"Gorges" or lack of appetite

After conception, metabolism speeds up, so signs of pregnancy also include an increase in appetite.

The exact opposite picture can also be observed - a woman cannot swallow a spoon. As a rule, this is associated with changes in the perception of taste and aromas of food.

Intolerance to certain odors

During pregnancy, many women become very sensitive to smells and tastes. This applies not only to food, but also to everything that surrounds a woman - cleaning products, cosmetics, perfume, flowers. The girl clearly senses smells and tastes that she had not paid attention to before. Or she suddenly “fell out of love” with the ones she used to like.

Digestive disorder

Hormonal changes are often accompanied by changes in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Girls may suffer from constipation or diarrhea, belching, and heartburn. Nausea and vomiting, which are the first signs of pregnancy, rarely occur before a missed period. As a rule, toxicosis begins at about 4 weeks.

Fever, cold

To prevent the body from rejecting the embryo, which is a foreign body to it, after conception the woman’s immunity decreases. That is why one of the common symptoms of pregnancy is a cold (ARVI).

However, an increase in body temperature to 37 degrees is, in principle, typical for the first months of pregnancy, and due to hormonal imbalance, a woman sometimes feels hot or cold.

Acne

After a woman becomes pregnant, her body begins large-scale hormonal changes, so many people notice the appearance of skin rashes - pimples, blackheads - among the early symptoms of pregnancy. It is especially worth paying attention to this for those who have not previously been bothered by such symptoms. It should be remembered that acne often accompanies the second phase of the cycle, so the symptom is subjective and unreliable.

Age spots on the face and darkening of the nipples

Many people consider the appearance of various pigment spots on the face or darkening of the breast areolas as a sign of fertilization of the egg. These signs are also subjective and cannot serve as a reliable guide. For some women, the areolas become very dark already in the first month of pregnancy, while others do not notice this until the very end. Every woman’s body is unique, so the birth of a new life always goes a little differently than others.

Frequent urination

Pregnancy before the delay can also be determined by the frequency of trips to the toilet. Frequent urges are associated both with increased blood flow to the female organs and with a hormonal storm. Or they can be explained by aggravated inflammatory processes, for example, cystitis.

Is it possible to have early pregnancy without symptoms?

If the child is long-awaited, the expectant mother carefully monitors the slightest signs and changes in her body. But it happens that a woman finds out about her new position only after a delay. And if her cycle is irregular and her periods are regularly late, then even later. It happens that pregnancy is detected only in the third to fifth month after conception, when the belly is already growing. Since there were no symptoms before this. Occasionally, even menstruation may persist (or rather, it is no longer menstruation, but bleeding) in the first 1-2 months. This, of course, does not happen often.

As a rule, signs of pregnancy in the first week after conception are almost invisible or may be absent altogether, and this is the norm. At this time, changes in the woman’s body have not yet entered into full force, and basically coincide with the usual sensations in the second phase of the cycle or with PMS symptoms.

Reliable signs of pregnancy

True signs of pregnancy in the first month include characteristic symptoms that appear a few weeks after fertilization. As a rule, the time of their appearance is the third or fourth week of pregnancy, when changes in the mother’s body gain momentum. Their appearance can tell a woman that conception has occurred. But not all of them will necessarily appear: the absence of any of these symptoms is only an individual feature of the body.

Delay of menstruation

Delayed menstruation is one of the most famous and true signs of conception. But only if the woman has a more or less regular cycle and does not suffer from diseases that cause long delays.

As a rule, a healthy woman's periods come at the same time, although slight fluctuations of 1-2 days in one direction or another are possible due to illness or stress. Therefore, a delay of 4 days is already a reason to listen more carefully to your feelings and conduct a pregnancy test.

If the cycle is not very regular, then a delay of up to 5-6 days, not accompanied by other symptoms, cannot yet serve as a reliable sign of pregnancy. In this case, it is advisable to postpone the test until 7-8 days of delay, since earlier it can give either a false positive or a false negative result.

Signs of pregnancy in the first days of the delay already appear more noticeable, so if the absence of menstruation is accompanied by copious white discharge, increased fatigue and drowsiness, chest pain and nausea, the woman may well think about her interesting situation.

Breast swelling

Another characteristic symptom is changes in the mammary glands. They may swell, become painful, sensitive, the areola darkens - although all this is an unreliable sign. Typically, the increase in progesterone secretion associated with conception causes a noticeable increase in breast size, as well as the appearance of nipple bumps. Sometimes colostrum may ooze.

Pigment stripe on the abdomen

Almost all pregnant women notice the appearance of a dark pigment stripe on the abdomen - it goes from the navel to the pubic bone. Sometimes this sign of pregnancy appears even in the early stages, although it usually happens later - about 4-5 months.

Nausea

Many women are waiting for pregnancy with fear, having heard enough horrors about toxicosis. Of course, it also happens that nausea and vomiting simply drive the expectant mother to exhaustion, and the smell of some foods literally turns her inside out. But for many girls, morning sickness passes quickly, causing almost no inconvenience. And some women note that they have not encountered toxicosis at all.

How to detect early pregnancy

Diagnosis of pregnancy in the early stages is possible, starting from the day of the expected delay of menstruation. The earliest is the tenth day after conception; before this period no one will give a reliable result.

Diagnostic methods include:

While expecting pregnancy, a woman can mistake any manifestations and reactions of her body for its signs. Therefore, it is still not worth buying a test if you have lost your appetite; it is better to wait for a delay. In addition, many signs are merely secondary and subjective. They are caused by the hormone progesterone, which is actively produced in the second phase of the cycle, regardless of whether conception has occurred or not.

Online test: find out the truth in two minutes

Is something strange happening to you? Are you pregnant? Some signs of pregnancy are so subtle and unexpected that many girls do not notice them or mistake them for a common ailment. Take our test (it will take just a couple of minutes) and a lot will become clear to you. The test is intended only for those who doubt their position, and whose expected obstetric period does not exceed 5-6 weeks, and not for “deeply pregnant women”.

1. Are you late?

2. Have you become uncomfortable with certain smells that you had not paid attention to before, or has your sense of smell become more acute?

3. Suddenly craving certain foods (not necessarily salty, maybe sour or spicy)?

Special rapid tests are available in every pharmacy today, they are inexpensive, and the results are reliable. But it happens that a woman finds herself in a situation in which she cannot purchase this product (she lives in a remote village, has a catastrophic lack of money, etc.). How to determine pregnancy without a test? There are home methods of determination, but doctors recommend that the reliability of the results obtained must be confirmed by medical means.

To determine pregnancy without a test, it is not at all necessary to conduct any intricate research. To begin with, it is recommended to take a closer look at your own body and pay attention to the sensations, because it is quite possible to recognize pregnancy by some specific manifestations.

Delay. Usually, suspicions about possible conception arise after a missed period. It is from this time that women begin to think about a possible pregnancy. In rare cases, women continue to have periods for several months after conception, but they are not as heavy as traditional discharge.
Swelling of the mammary glands. Perhaps the most proven sign of completed conception. The breasts become larger, the nipples enlarge and change shade, pain is felt on palpation - all this indicates that the body has begun preparing for the future feeding of the baby. Sometimes some mammary glandular swelling is observed during PMS, which must be taken into account when diagnosing pregnancy at home.
Foggyness and dizziness. Foggy consciousness and slight dizziness often help, if not diagnose, then suspect the onset of conception. A woman feels as if there is some kind of veil before her eyes, which is associated with hormonal changes and correction of hormonal levels. But sometimes such symptoms are observed due to stress or overwork.
Nausea and vomiting manifestations. Early detection of pregnancy is often based on this sign, which characterizes the onset of toxicosis in pregnant women. But a woman can also feel nauseous due to mild poisoning from poor-quality food, which also needs to be taken into account.
Hyperthermia. If a woman experiences a persistent rise in temperature to 37.5° over several days, then such changes can be considered the first signs of pregnancy. Gynecologists explain this phenomenon by the fact that when a fertilized egg is implanted into the uterine endometrium, the immune structures perceive it as a foreign organism, so the defense system activates an increase in temperature to destroy it. A similar symptom may indicate the development of an infectious-inflammatory process; this factor must be understood.
Pain in the abdomen and umbilical area. When the embryo comes out of the tubes and is implanted into the uterine endometrium, the girl feels heaviness and nagging pain in the abdominal area. Bloody spotting may appear, the general condition will worsen, and malaise will appear. It is quite possible to recognize pregnancy by these signs.

Additional symptoms

Exacerbation of taste buds and sense of smell. The manifestation of such signs in some cases helps to recognize the onset of fertilization. The woman notes the appearance of hypersensitivity to odors, her taste preferences change noticeably. This is the most possible symptom of conception.

Drowsiness and weakness. Pregnancy can be detected by the presence of such conditions. During the first days of gestation, the body spends a lot of energy on transformations for comfortable growth of the fetus. Therefore, a woman’s strength is quickly wasted, and she experiences weakness and drowsiness. An uncontrollable craving for sleep can haunt you all day, and the usual household chores cause severe fatigue. It is impossible to diagnose pregnancy without a test at home based on this sign alone, because such a condition can arise due to overload of the body or seasonal fatigue.

Excess weight. How to determine pregnancy in the early stages? Not all pregnant women experience nausea and lack of appetite in the first weeks. Being pregnant, some begin to eat and drink more fluids, which immediately leads to swelling, which is a factor in weight gain in the early stages.

Psycho-emotional instability, causing mood swings. One of the first signs of how to find out that you are pregnant without a test. Any minor incident can provoke a sea of tears in a pregnant woman or a severe attack of irritation and anger. The concentration of hormones in the body simply goes off scale. If a woman has never suffered from depressive disorders or premenstrual syndrome, then the presence of pregnancy can be detected by the appearance of such signs.

Specific secretions. When conception has just occurred, the body is rebuilt. A “side” effect of this reconstruction is the copious secretion of mucus, which is odorless and has a special color. An increase in such discharge may indicate that conception has occurred, but if the mucus has an unpleasant odor, then there is a suspicion of a sexually transmitted infection.

Frequent urination is a sure sign of pregnancy. But in the early stages it does not work at all, because the mechanism of increased urination is determined by the enlargement of the uterus and its pressure on the bladder. A similar symptom is typical for the second or third period of gestation. If it appears at the beginning, then this indicates infection or inflammation.

What else to pay attention to

Pigmentation and the appearance of papillomas. This is also a sign characteristic of an interesting situation, but only for its later stages, so the onset of pregnancy cannot be determined by them either. Although some patients with papillomas and moles experienced a slight increase during pregnancy, which is explained by the same hormonal surge. But in general, it is impossible to understand from the appearance of papillomas whether conception has occurred or not.

Possible symptoms also include a sharp increase or decrease in libido. Such cataclysms with sexual desire are explained by hormonal explosions in the female body.

Nasal congestion. Some patients note the appearance of nasal congestion in the initial stages. Experts explain this phenomenon by increased blood flow, which causes the nasal mucous membranes to swell and interfere with normal breathing.

By the presence of such manifestations at home without a test, you can guess about pregnancy. Some deviations from the norm can only signal that metamorphoses are occurring in the body, but the final result can be obtained using express tests or in a antenatal clinic.

Methods for determining pregnancy

Home pregnancy tests are very convenient and allow you to confirm the occurrence of conception with maximum confidence. If you don’t have one at hand, you can determine that a woman is pregnant without a test. To do this, there are several proven, but not one hundred percent, methods that require drug confirmation of the results. How to determine pregnancy at home?

Iodine will help

A remedy such as iodine will help to detect pregnancy at home. Everyone has it at home, so there shouldn’t be any difficulties in preparing materials. There are two ways to understand the presence of pregnancy using an iodine solution.

According to the first method, a woman needs to collect urine in a container, and then drop a little iodine into it. Then carefully monitor the behavior of the iodine. How can you determine pregnancy? If the iodine drop has completely dissolved and spread in the urine, then there is no chance of pregnancy, but if it lingers on the liquid in the form of a floating speck, then the probability of pregnancy is high.

To maximize the reliability of the test, it is recommended that several conditions be met. The material for the study should be taken only from the morning portion, and the study should be carried out immediately so that the urine does not stand. Before collecting urine, be sure to wash yourself without soap; additional materials must also be clean. You need to drip iodine not from a height, but by bringing the pipette as close to the surface as possible.

Using iodine is another home diagnostic method. You need to take a small strip of paper and dip it in your morning urine so that it is well soaked. Then you need to drip iodine onto the paper. If the solution has changed the traditional brown color to a purple or blue tint, then you can hope for a successful conception.

Unfortunately, such methods are not supported by medical research and are therefore not scientifically justified. But in practice, many women have become convinced of the reliability of this technique.

Soda will tell

To dispel doubts about an interesting situation, a woman can take a pregnancy test at home using regular baking soda. The principle of such a study is as follows: when pregnancy occurs, the acid-base indicator in the urine shifts in the direction of alkali. Therefore, soda helps determine the fact of pregnancy.

To do this, you need to throw a spoonful of soda into a container with morning urine and observe the further reaction of the powder.
If there is a hissing sound with bubbles, as when preparing pop, then there can be no pregnancy.
But if after adding sodium bicarbonate no reaction followed, and the powder simply settled to the bottom, then this indicates alkalization of the urine - a sign of pregnancy.

But a similar principle can work for other reasons. Urine acquires alkaline properties in the presence of kidney infections, diarrhea, or an abundance of vegetables in the patient’s menu.

Basal temperature

If previous methods do not inspire confidence and you are still concerned about the question of whether it is possible to determine pregnancy using improvised means with maximum reliability, then you can turn to a technique such as measuring basal temperature. A similar study can be carried out by determining the temperature in the mouth, rectum or vagina. Such measurements should be taken two days before your expected period.

After ovulation, shortly before menstruation, the temperature drops slightly, staying below 37 degrees. If the measurements showed 37°C or more, then the probability of pregnancy is quite high. In order for the reliability of the results to be as accurate as possible, you need to know how to check pregnancy in this way. For measurements, it is better to take a regular mercury thermometer, which is kept in the mouth for about 5 minutes, and in the vagina or intestines for 3 minutes.

The timing of measurements is also important. You need to determine your basal levels in the morning, immediately after waking up, without getting out of bed. You can’t even make sudden movements, otherwise the results will be implausible. The day before, you should not take medications, drink alcohol or have sex, because such factors also contribute to an increase in the studied values. When conducting testing, it is necessary to exclude the influence of pathological factors such as influenza, acute respiratory viral infections, etc. The ideal option would be to measure basal temperature over several months and maintain a special schedule. As a rule, this practice is used when planning pregnancy.

Online tests

If special pregnancy tests at home are not available, then modern opportunities offer online testing, which, according to the author of this program, almost accurately determines whether a woman is pregnant or not. But if you look at things soberly, it is impossible to diagnose anything through a monitor.

Online tests usually contain a traditional set of questions, knowing the answer to which, one can assume that the woman is pregnant or not. Such a survey usually contains questions like: is there a delay, is there nausea, are your breasts swollen, does your stomach hurt, etc. Unfortunately, such projects are often not provided for free; they ask you to send an SMS and charge you money. You should not follow the lead of deceivers. How can this be avoided? You can easily answer such questions from a gynecologist, and he will give you a free diagnosis that will be 100% correct, and not an assumption, as is the case with the online version.

Delay of critical days

And yet, the most common way to find out about early pregnancy is the absence of menstruation at the scheduled time. If the calendar shows day X, but there is no period, the woman begins to suspect pregnancy. After this, as a rule, another week or two of waiting passes, after which a test is used to confirm or refute suspicions.

However, you should not rely on delay alone, as this may be a symptom of certain diseases and a consequence of the negative impact of a number of factors that are completely unrelated to procreation. Medicine knows many diseases that manifest themselves in the form of absence of critical days. Due to a change in hormonal state due to the development of an illness or severe stress, disruptions in the menstrual cycle are possible.

For some women, the first sign of early pregnancy before their period is a small amount of blood that appears once at the time of implantation, but this should not be confused with bleeding. There are also situations when bleeding occurs in the first weeks of pregnancy. It is often confused with menstruation, but in fact, it is a negative symptom. Often, bleeding from critical days can be distinguished by the amount of discharge and its shade. As a rule, there is not a lot of blood and it does not last as long as during normal menstruation.

Nausea as a sign of pregnancy

If conception does occur, the woman may experience vomiting and nausea in the first weeks. This is a fairly common first sign of pregnancy in the early stages, but it can be confused with a symptom of poisoning or a disease associated with problems of the gastrointestinal tract and liver.

Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy occurs mainly in the morning. However, a similar symptom cannot be ruled out throughout the day. It is associated with changes in blood sugar levels.

Early signs of pregnancy in the form of toxicosis appear due to the fact that the body urgently needs to get rid of the accumulation of harmful substances. The third trimester may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting due to the fact that the body begins to perceive the child as a foreign organism and “demands” to get rid of it. Some women have a very difficult time getting pregnant. Their nausea and vomiting accompany them throughout the entire nine months. Experts call this pathology psychological toxicosis.

Unusual taste preferences and breast changes

One of the first signs by which pregnancy can be determined is a change in diet. Products that the woman previously could not stand begin to appear on the daily menu.

But here it is worth remembering that not everyone exhibits this symptom at an early stage of pregnancy. Many people begin to eat strawberries with herring, and pickles with ice cream at a later date.

The birth of life in the female body is often characterized by unpleasant sensations in the mammary glands, which can also be a sign of pregnancy in the early stages before delay. After the egg is fertilized, the breasts begin to prepare to feed the unborn child. It begins to hurt, becomes rougher, the nipples acquire a dark color and become extremely sensitive. The veins become more distinct, and the areolas near the nipple increase in size. However, if the breasts suddenly stop hurting and return to their usual shape, this may be a sign of a missed abortion in the early stages, so you should immediately consult a doctor.

A clear sign of pregnancy is the periodic appearance of colostrum from the breast, that is, light discharge. However, such a symptom is not observed in every case.

Frequent urination

An early sign in the 1st week of pregnancy may be increased urination. Already a week after successful conception, a woman may notice that she runs to the toilet much more often than before. The reason for this is the active production of the pregnancy hormone, that is, hCG. It leads to increased blood supply to the pelvic organs. As a result of this, the expectant mother feels that her bladder is full, although in reality this is far from the case. Frequent urge to urinate begins to torment mainly at night.

But this sign should not be confused with a symptom of cystitis or urethritis. These infectious diseases may be associated with a constant feeling of fullness in the bladder. They are quite dangerous and require timely and adequate treatment. Cystitis can be determined by the characteristic pain during the body’s cleansing of fluid.

Cold symptoms

As mentioned above, the female body can react differently to the appearance of the fetus. Some representatives of the fair sex experience symptoms similar to a cold. They constantly feel drowsiness, weakness and fatigue. During pregnancy, this is due to the acceleration of metabolism, which is necessary to maintain the body in such an unusual state. I especially want to sleep and relax during the day.

Maria Sokolova

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If thoughts about pregnancy appear, the first thing every woman does is go to the pharmacy. Modern tests determine an “interesting position” with an accuracy of 99%. True, not at an early stage. And not everyone has the opportunity to quickly purchase such a test.

What to do in this case?

The body will not deceive: how to determine pregnancy by your condition

Pregnancy affects every woman differently.

But, as a rule, they are the same for everyone...

The breasts are enlarged. This occurs due to the action of sex hormones. The mammary glands “wake up” for the future meeting with the child - the breasts become fuller and become especially sensitive, and the nipples become brighter and more painfully sensitive (although this can also happen before menstruation). If your period has passed, but your breasts are still unusually enlarged, there is reason to think about it.
Heaviness in the lower back and lower abdomen. Again, in addition to pregnancy, these signs are also typical for premenstrual days.
Weight gain.
Nausea. Especially in the morning. The most striking sign of the 1st trimester. But toxicosis is not common to all expectant mothers. At the same time, if it occurs simultaneously with other signs of pregnancy, then morning sickness may well indicate that another life has arisen inside you.
A sharp increase in sense of smell. Expectant mothers, as a rule, begin to react sharply to odors. Even those that have long become familiar. The smell of fried food, fish in a store, etc. can be irritating.
Changes in taste preferences. A craving for salty foods is not at all necessary: changes can be completely unexpected. For example, you might want chalk, coffee grounds, or herring with jam.
Mood swings. They are also typical for expectant mothers: gaiety abruptly turns into tearfulness, which turns into hysteria, hysteria turns back into gaiety, then into anger, etc. True, it is worth noting that stress, dissatisfaction and fatigue, sometimes even outside of pregnancy, work similar “miracles” for women (especially before menstruation).
Increased drowsiness, weakness, periodic dizziness. When a new life is born, the mother’s body begins to spend more energy – now not only on itself, but also on the development of its child. Therefore, the former endurance fails, and sometimes you want to lie down even after climbing the stairs.
Increased appetite. This is also natural during pregnancy - after all, you have to eat for two.
Pigmentation. This symptom does not appear in all expectant mothers, but quite often - pimples and freckles, various spots that form as a result of changes in hormonal levels and an increase in melanin levels, appear on the body. There are many cases when changes even affect the hair - it begins to curl or, on the contrary, straighten. True, as for the last case, it manifests itself only in a later period.
Frequent urination. As you know, an enlarged uterus begins to put pressure on the bladder over time, which explains such urges. But not in the first weeks of pregnancy.
Changes in the nature of menstruation. They may become scarcer, more abundant, or not come at all. Or they may come for 1 day with “smearing marks”.

Of course, the appearance of these symptoms, even in their totality, is by no means cannot be considered 100% confirmation of pregnancy. This is only a reason to seek advice from a gynecologist and confirm your “position” or the absence of pregnancy.

How to determine pregnancy without a test at home?

The temptation to try out the coveted “2 stripes” is, of course, great. But it makes sense to conduct such “research” only if there is already a delay in menstruation - that is, after 2 weeks of conception .

How to check whether it happened or not at an early stage?

. Typically, girls use this method when planning a pregnancy. The point of the method is the difference in basal temperature. This temperature rises markedly on the days of ovulation and then slowly decreases before menstruation. If there is no such reduction, and the basal/temperature on the first days of the delay is at 37 degrees or higher, there is a possibility of pregnancy. Important: temperature measurement should occur at the same time (approx. in the morning, before getting out of bed) and, of course, with one thermometer.
Iodine and urine. Test scheme: we wake up, collect the first urine in a clean glass container, drop 1 drop of iodine into it (using a pipette) and analyze the result. It is believed that in an “interesting position,” iodine will collect in one drop directly on top of the urine. But if the iodine spreads and settles at the bottom, it means it’s too early to buy booties. True, in this method a lot depends on the density of urine (high error of the method) and on the use of medications.
Iodine and paper. Test scheme: collect the first urine again in a clean container, drop a piece of white paper into it, wait a few minutes, take it out and gurgle a drop of iodine on it. Evaluation of the result: if the “parchment” is stained purple, there is a pregnancy, but if it is blue, there is no pregnancy. Again, the error of the method is high.
Soda and urine. Test scheme: collect the first urine in a clean glass container, pour regular soda into it (no more than 1 tsp) and wait for the reaction. Test assessment: the soda bubbled and hissed - there is no pregnancy. The reaction is calm - you are pregnant. The basis of the method, as in the previous case, is determining the acidity of the material. The urine of an expectant mother is usually alkaline, and, accordingly, there cannot be a violent reaction upon contact with soda. If soda gets into an acidic environment (note: in the urine of a non-pregnant woman), then the reaction will be violent.
Boil the urine. Scheme of the “test”: collect morning urine in a transparent and fireproof container and, putting it on the fire, wait for it to boil. Then immediately remove and cool. If there is sediment, you are pregnant. In its absence, the liquid will remain clean. Note: sediment may also appear if there are problems with the kidneys or urinary tract.

Determining pregnancy in the early stages - folk methods

The unknown is the worst thing. Therefore, until the moment when it is possible to determine pregnancy from a doctor or using a test, a variety of methods are used. Including "grandmother's".

How did our ancestors determine pregnancy?

Urine color. In the morning and evening, as our great-grandmothers noticed, the urine of the expectant mother becomes dark yellow.
Flowers and urine. Not very romantic, but fun and authentic. In any case, that's what our ancestors thought. So, we collect urine all night and morning, and then water our garden flowers with it. If they bloom in full force, we can assume that there is a pregnancy. You can also water your home flower: if it gives new leaves and grows, then the result is positive.
Ficus. And again about flowers. If your old ficus suddenly “gives birth” to new shoots or leaves, expect an addition to the family (according to legend).
Pulse. We lie on our back, look for a place located 7-8 cm below the navel and lightly press our hand to the stomach in this area. A pulsating sensation means pregnancy. The ancestors considered this pulsation to be the heartbeat of the unborn baby. In fact, it only means vascular pulsation, which intensifies during the “interesting period” due to good blood circulation in the pelvic organs.
Onion. Another fun method. We take 2 onions and plant them in 2 glasses, respectively labeled: the left one is “yes” (note: pregnancy), the right one is “no” (its absence). We are waiting for the bulbs to sprout. The one that grows first by 4 cm will give the answer.
And, of course, dreams. Without them - nowhere. Using them, many of our ancestors practically predicted the future, clarified the past and studied the present. So, a dream about... fish was considered a 100% sign of pregnancy. It doesn’t matter which one or where. You can catch it, keep it, eat it, buy it, etc. The main thing is the fish. It should be noted that laughter is laughter, but even in our time, quite free from superstitions, many mothers note that this is “a dream in hand.”
Recipe from medieval literature. Pour morning urine into the container and add wine to it (approx. – proportion 1:1). If the liquid remains clear, you are pregnant.