First Pregnancy Signs Most Women Miss

If you've just found out you're pregnant or maybe you think you might be pregnant, there are some surprising things that no one prepares you for. And they're going to be really helpful to know, not just for the sake of the baby, which is all everybody talks about, but for something even more important, which is you. Why should you listen to me? Well, other than being a qualified nurse and nurse educator since a long time ago. I've worked with so many different types of people, but more importantly, I'm the mother of three little girls. Now, I had my girls back to back almost. I worked full time in the ER at the same time. So I learned how to manage these crazy signs and symptoms that I'm about to tell you. Now, the first thing that can happen can happen really early in your pregnancy. And many people often don't realise it, especially if it's your first pregnancy. And that is the emotional rollercoaster. There's so many women experience intense mood swings, even in the first few weeks, like I said, this is due to the crazy hormonal changes that happen so fast. One minute you can be feeling so emotional, and then the next minute you're just overwhelmed. The next minute you're angry. You're just hormones are all over the place. And don't worry, this is totally normal. A bit of advice, send this video to your partner or family if you want to prepare them for what's coming. The other thing is cravings and aversions. These can happen right away. So cravings for strong foods and aversions, meaning things that you just can't stand to be near, they can happen almost immediately. Hormones play a big role in the pregnancy-related food aversions and cravings. They change how your brain processes taste and smells. So during pregnancy levels, your hormones like oestrogen and HCG hormones, they rise significantly, which can make the smells and tastes more intense and unpleasant. And there's a reason for this. I'll come back to this in a second. Moving on to the third sign, which is important you understand, is why you get such early signs of exhaustion. Many women feel extreme fatigue even before they start a show. And this is because, you know, you're growing another human inside of you. You're growing a baby. It's hard work. Your body's already using a lot of energy for the cell development. From the moment of conception, that energy is being diverted towards building a placenta, supporting the rapid cell development, and laying the foundation for your baby's growth. Hormones like progesterone, they spike early on in pregnancy, and this contributes to the overwhelming sense of tiredness. Progesterone helps sustain the pregnancy, but it also has a sedative effect, which makes you feel even more sleepy and sluggish. Another reason you can be so tired is because your blood volume increases by up to 50%. And this is to supply the oxygen and the nutrients to the baby, which means your heart is working harder, adding to, you know, the feeling of exhaustion. It makes sense when you think about it. You've got more blood volume in there. Your heart is doing that extra work. For so many women, that fatigue is so intense that even daily tasks fail monumental. It's your body's way of telling you to slow down and conserve energy during this critical period of growth and development. This is the time that you need to listen to your body and pay attention to what it's telling you. Going back to the reason we get turned off by certain foods, this heightened sensitivity is thought to help protect you At the same time, other foods might seem so more appealing than before. That's your body's way of seeking out certain nutrients to support the grown baby. For example, I couldn't get enough of mangoes. I could have eaten them all day long. It's because maybe my body needed that extra vitamins and minerals like vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium. And this helps boost the immune system and aids in iron absorption, interestingly, which is especially important in pregnancy. So have fun trying to figure out those cravings, what it is your body actually needs. This is your body's way of seeking the nutrients it needs more during this time. So if you suddenly find yourself craving more mangoes, it might be that your body's signaling a need for more of these specific nutrients or it's just nice and sweet and hydrating and your body's enjoying it. Talking about hydration, you could be eating all the mangoes in the world, but your skin and hair might be duller and drier and that's because of those hormones again. So moving on to the next point, which is changes in your skin and your hair. So your hormones can cause breakouts or if you're lucky, you get that beautiful glow. You even get changes in your hair texture. The hormones like oestrogen and progesterone, they increase the blood flow, often giving a pregnancy glow. Also, they can boost the oil production, leading to breakouts. Going back to your hair again, it may feel thicker as more stays in your hair follicle during this growth phase, though some people also notice a change in the hair texture. Mine definitely got more frizzier after the three pregnancies. Another thing you can notice, talking about your skin and your hair, is certain areas of the skin or the abdomen get darker and then you can have something called a pregnancy face mask and this is a melasma. You might have heard of the term, but often these changes are just temporary and tend to fade after the pregnancy. Before we come to the last and weirdest early symptom, don't forget to subscribe and like so I can continue to provide you with educational content, videos like this one right here and surprise you with facts like the last one, which is unexpected physical symptoms. These are really unusual symptoms like dizziness and a stronger sense of smell and another one you might have heard of, which is vivid dreams. I'm talking really vivid dreams like they're so real. All of these weird symptoms results from your body's rapid adjustments. I'm talking daily rapid adjustments. So for example, the dizziness happens as your blood vessels expand and your blood pressure can drop, so pay attention to that one. Your heightened sense of smell may help you to avoid harmful foods like we talked about earlier and the vivid dreams stem from the hormonal changes and disrupted sleep. These unexpected signs are your body's natural response to pregnancy and don't worry, I'm here to answer any questions. Let me know in the comments below. Good luck, sweet dreams and I'll see you in the next video. If you want to know how to fall asleep fast, click here where I tell you some interesting tips you might not have heard before.