When sexually–active women miss the red flag up when it’s due, the first thing they think is, “Am I pregnant?” Then, they run to the nearest drug store for a handful of pregnancy test kits, and spend the great deal of anxiety figuring out whether or not they are expecting.  As soon as your egg welcomes your partner’s champion among his super swimmers, your body undergoes massive changes on the inside which may be too subtle to be felt on the outside until a few months later. The truth is, you don’t have to wait until you have a baby bump before you really confirm your pregnancy.

Why You Should Wait Before Taking a Pregnancy Test
When his sperm cell fertilizes your egg, they become an embryo, which travels to your uterus for days. When it has reached their destination after about a week, it shall plant itself deep into the muscles of your uterus for nutrition and sustenance. A placenta then forms after a week – it acts as a gateway for your body’s nutrients and oxygen to be delivered to the developing embryo. It’s also this placenta, which tells the rest of your body that you are with child. It does so by releasing the hormone hCG, or human chorionic gonadotrophin. This hCG, when present in the blood and urine, will allow that over-the-counter pregnancy test to reveal a “positive” sign.  This is why you shouldn’t expect for your pregnancy test to show accurate results immediately after unprotected sex. Waiting for a minimum of two weeks is best, and even so, sometimes, there is still not enough HCG in the body to elicit a positive result. HCG in the blood increases as the pregnancy develops.

PMS or Pregnancy?
You know those horrible premenstrual symptoms you get days before your menstruation? They’re the exact same signs of early pregnancy. So the waiting period is the most anxiety-causing time of all. You’re obviously not pregnant if you get all the signs but have your period a few days later. But you really should consider getting a pregnancy test if you’re 2 weeks past your period, and you still haven’t been paid a visit. Premenstrual symptoms are caused by a certain balance of female hormones estrogen and progesterone, both of which are also needed to sustain a pregnancy. If you’re not quite sure what symptoms there are to look out for, there’s a few of the most common ones: bloating (water weight), sore or swollen breasts, fatigue, irritability, and mood and libido changes. Some women experience spotting, and may think their period is on the way. If they are pregnant, spotting may simply mean the embryo has penetrated deeply into the uterus, causing slight, but perfectly normal bleeding.

Signs of Early Pregnancy
Aside from PMS-like symptoms like cramping, breast soreness, fatigue, and so on, however, a woman who is expecting a baby may experience signs which may not be experience by a woman who is expecting her period. Here are some of them:

• Morning Sickness: It’s common in the morning when the body’s levels of HCG are at their highest, but since HCG is in the blood all throughout pregnancy, a woman may feel nauseated all day long.
• Food cravings: Not all women have this, but some women even experience “pica”, or craving for non-food material, like sand or gravel. This is brought about by hormonal changes.
• Frequent Urination: As the uterus expands to make room for the embryo, it puts pressure on the urinary bladder. So, a pregnant woman gets urges to do her number one more often.
• Color and texture changes in the reproductive tract: These are caused by hormonal changes. The labia and vagina may become darker as more blood fill the area, and the cervix will soften and sometimes rise upward.  Absence of menstruation: This is a classic sign of early pregnancy, but is not definitive unless other signs are present.

How to be sure I’m really pregnant?
Visit your doctor for a pregnancy test, a uterine ultrasound, and a Doppler exam. An ultrasound will determine the presence of a fetus in your womb, and the Doppler allows you to listen to a heart sound other than your own. It is best to pay a visit to your doctor two weeks after you miss a period.

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