Symptoms of pregnancy

WEEK-BY-WEEK PREGNANCY CALENDAR

• First Trimester
• Second Trimester
• Third Trimester

When you’re pregnant, Symptoms of pregancy and your baby is changing every day, and your body is keeping pace. This pregnancy tracker will help you better understand the weeks, months and trimesters of your pregnancy; each brings new developments and milestones for you and your baby-to-be.

Read on to learn more about what you can expect to happen week-by-week during pregnancy, including how big your baby is each week, common early pregnancy symptoms you might experience and, once you’ve entered the third trimester, ways to prepare for labor and signs that labor is near. You’ll better understand what’s going on and why, inside and out, with this guide.

Symptoms of pregnancy: What happens first

• Missed period. If you’re in your childbearing years and a week or more has passed without the start of an expected menstrual cycle, you might be pregnant. However, this symptom can be misleading if you have an irregular menstrual cycle.
• Tender, swollen breasts. Early in pregnancy hormonal changes might make your breasts sensitive and sore. The discomfort will likely decrease after a few weeks as your body adjusts to hormonal changes.
• Nausea with or without vomiting. Morning sickness, which can occur at any time of the day or night, often begins one to two months after you become pregnant. However, some women feel nausea earlier and some never experience it. While the cause of nausea during pregnancy isn’t clear, pregnancy hormones likely play a role.
• Increased urination. You might find yourself urinating more often than usual. The amount of blood in your body increases during pregnancy, causing your kidneys to process extra fluid that ends up in your bladder.
• Fatigue. Fatigue also ranks high among early symptoms of pregnancy. No one knows for certain what causes sleepiness during the first trimester of pregnancy. However, a rapid rise in the levels of the hormone progesterone during early pregnancy might contribute to fatigue.

Other signs and symptoms of pregnancy : Other less obvious signs and symptoms of pregnancy that you might experience during the first trimester include:

• Moodiness. The flood of hormones in your body in early pregnancy can make you unusually emotional and weepy. Mood swings also are common.
• Bloating. Hormonal changes during early pregnancy can cause you to feel bloated, similar to how you might feel at the start of a menstrual period.
• Light spotting. Light spotting might be one of the first signs of pregnancy. Known as implantation bleeding, it happens when the fertilized egg attaches to the lining of the uterus — about 10 to 14 days after conception. Implantation bleeding occurs around the time you would expect to have a menstrual period. However, not all women have it.
• Cramping. Some women experience mild uterine cramping early in pregnancy.
• Constipation. Hormonal changes cause your digestive system to slow down, which can lead to constipation.
• Food aversions. When you’re pregnant, you might become more sensitive to certain odors and your sense of taste might change. Like most other symptoms of pregnancy, these food preferences can be chalked up to hormonal changes.
• Nasal congestion. Increasing hormone levels and blood production can cause the mucous membranes in your nose to swell, dry out and bleed easily. This might cause you to have a stuffy or runny nose.