Earliest Symptoms of Pregnancy + Official Introduction

wintersong · October 2013

Hello everyone,

My husband and I are TTC, and since this will be my first pregnancy I am pretty excited and have no idea what to expect! I have been hanging out on the board for awhile, since my husband and I are certain we want to have a natural birth when the time comes, but I have only posted once before and responded to a few posts. (I have visited other boards, too, but everyone here is so much nicer!)

My question is, what were your first pregnancy symptoms? Did you know you were pregnant before you got that BFP? Did you experience any symptoms that you were surprised to learn could indicate pregnancy?

(Now that I think about it, this is probably a bad question for me to ask, since every month I am positive that THIS is going to be THE month, and then AF comes anyway. I'm asking anyway!)

I guess I will take this chance to also officially introduce myself to everyone! I'm a teacher--I teach world history and government. :-) My husband and I have been TTC for about four months now (so, not long in the grand scheme of things, but it FEELS like an eternity). We live in northern Virginia very close to DC. We are still newlyweds--we were just married December 2012!

StephBrim24 · October 2013

Welcome! I didn't think much of it at the time, but both times I got very tired right before my missed period. That was my only very early symptom. After my BFP, nausea eventually followed for me.

KateLouise · October 2013

Hello and welcome.

With DD1 I KNEW I was pregnant before AF was late. But equally I told myself that I was probably wrong and just being silly. For me the obvious symptom was crazy sore boobs. I know that's a common sign of AF, but I never have any physical symptoms before my period so it was very strange for me.

With DD2 I had no obvious symptoms. In hindsight, I was still BF DD1 and I wonder if the lack of symptoms was because my body was already busy with BF hormones.

Best wishes on your TTC journey. We're TTC #3, and I'm trying to keep myself very relaxed about the whole thing.

aylafsu88 · October 2013

Welcome! This is a great group of supportive ladies. H and I were TTC for 6 months before we got our BFP. My cycle is usually very regular so when I was a few days late I suspected I could be pregnant. I took a test and it was positive. I did not have any symptoms until 6 weeks. At that time the horrible morning sickness, vomiting, and bloating started. I was miserable until 15ish weeks but then things got better and from 17 weeks on I had a great pregnancy. I wish you all the best on your TTC journey.

annabelle.27 · October 2013

Sensitivity to smells and a hypersensitive gag reflex, both times. Both times those symptoms came on before I knew I was pregnant.

With #1, we were TTC, but I was convinced that it hadn't worked that cycle because I didn't think we managed to get the timing right. I wasn't even looking for pregnancy symptoms but was ranting to my husband that everything smelled- I threw out half the food in our fridge, ran out of grocery stores, and told a gas station attendant there must be a gas leak because the smell was overwhelming. It wasn't until I ran out of a Subway with my hand over my face that something clicked- baking bread is supposed to be a good smell, and there I was dry heaving in the parking lot because the smell nauseated me. The sensitivity to smells lasted for quite a while- until about 16 weeks?- and it was awful because I couldn't go anywhere without retching from some small smell.

The second time we were not TTC. I was complaining about smells and my husband was weirded out but it wasn't until I started dry heaving over my regular breakfast of eggs on toast that he demanded I take a test. I don't know exactly how far along I was, but it was really early- my first two pregnancy tests that time were negative, so it was probably before my period was due.

Nechie122 · October 2013

I was charting so I knew when I ovulated. (For info on charting, you might want to check out the book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility.)

Nechie122 · October 2013

Argh, TB ate the rest of my reply.

So ... 13 days after I ovulated, the day before my period was due, I noticed really intense "pulling" cramps that I had never felt before. The following day, I commented to DH that I could barely walk up stairs without getting short of breath (a symptom that would plague me my entire pregnancy).

Otherwise, no clue I was pregnant. I waited to test till after my period failed to show up. So I had a strong suspicion then, but not during the previous two weeks.

CLLDLL · October 2013

Welcome!

While TTC baby #1 I had a CP which messed up my cycle/body. I had no clue I was KU until it had been like 6 weeks since my last period so I decided to test.

With baby #2 we were 6 years older and I had been on BC for almost that whole time. I wanted to know whether I was ovulating or not. So we charted. (As PP said, the book TCOYF is awesome!! So are the courses and app on the website fertilityfriend.) The month before I was positive I was KU because of phantom symptoms and how good our timing was but I wasn't. The next month we had sort of bad timing and I was stressed out. So I thought for sure we were out. Then AF was late, and lo and behold I was KU! So you never know. I had no symptoms until several weeks after my positive test.

JCWhitey · October 2013

Welcome! I was 2 months pregnant before I figure it out. I had symptoms but didn't realize what they were. I would feel nauseous a couple of times a day. At the time I had the flu along with everyone else in my house so I thought that was what was causing it.

Actually, the only reason I took a pregnancy test at all was because my friend just found out she was pregnant and she made the comment that it would be fun if we could be pregnant together. I laughed and told her there was no way since we were preventing. I took a test to show her it wouldn't be possible. It was positive! Turns out I was a month ahead of her.

So, don't focus on symptoms. Some people have them, other people can go all 9 months and never even know they are pregnant! If you get overly excited every time your boobs hurt or you feel a little upset stomach you will just get frustrated if it ends up being something else. Instead, think positively but know it can take a year for a healthy couple to get pregnant. Then be really happy if it happens sooner than that.

Luv2Run1st · October 2013

I knew before BFP because the timing was right bases on charting and soon after conception got cramping that I don't normally have. So because I had a good hunch, I tested early at 11dpo with a digital FRER and found out then. I immediately was sure I was having a girl. Was team green and did end up having a girl. No pregnancy symptoms for me until 6 weeks

wintersong · October 2013

Thanks for the welcomes. :-) Of course I know I am not supposed to pay attention to every little symptom, or I will drive myself crazy....but I feel the same way as Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables--the excitement of anticipation is worth the disappointment (at least, so far).

questisthebest · October 2013

I usually get pms symptoms when I ovulate, but when I got pregnant they never went away. I was walking regularly at the time recovering from a running injury and all of a sudden I felt so exhausted, like I could barely walk a few hundred yards before my back would be so tight and I would be drained. Perhaps the strangest symptom was during the first couple weeks I found myself waking up at 4:30-5 in the morning wide awake.. which is NOT normal for me! I was also ready for bed around 7:30-8 and had to force myself to stay up. I also felt what felt almost identical to a sharp ovulation pain in my right side (the side my egg released from) close to when my period was due which may have been implantation. In a way I knew I was pregnant, but I even though we hadn't really been trying I was afraid to test because I had been disappointed in the past by negative tests.

rooftop · October 2013

I was in complete denial before taking the test. (mh and I had JUST booked a vacay to hawaii) But one major symptom was exhaustion, also my smell got a lot keener. Sore boobs and nausea didn't hit til 8 or 9 weeks.
ETA- I also was getting crampy for the first couple weeks.

catsinawindow · October 2013

Hello and welcome. FX that this is your month.

With my DS and this PG, I knew I was PG before getting my BFP. With DS, I had implantation bleeding and in the days following, I found that I was easily tired. For example, DH and I are big walkers and when I found myself exhausted during a normal hike I knew something was different.

With this PG, I had the same thing. We took my DS to the children's museum and after about 2 hours on my feet, I just needed to sit down and have a snack. I took a test the next day and it was positive.

cattlebride · October 2013

Welcome!

I was taking BBTs in the morning. I knew it was a good possiblity I was pregnant when my luteal phase went to 10-11 days. I had never had anything greater than 9.(which is super short for most women) Plus I had a triphasic pattern starting at 10 DPO. No other symptoms were noted for me untill about week 8 where I had become super tired.

We had tried for 10 months before my BFP I found that the book Taking Charge of your Fertility helped me.

wintersong · October 2013

cattlebride, I am such an organizer and a checklist/chart maker, I wonder if that is also how I will know? DH just noticed my tracking chart(s). I taped them on the inside of our walk in closet so that he did not have to be confronted with it all the time but I could obsess to my heart's content. The other morning he came out of the bathroom with a bemused expression and the words, "Are we tracking UFO activity inside our closet?" He could not make heads or tails of abbreviations like BBT or my coding for cervical mucus. He just knows when I write a little heart on the calendar. :-)

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