5 Early Signs of Pregnancy Before Missed Period

Are you wondering if you're pregnant or about to have your period? It can be really hard to tell sometimes, which is why I'm going to go over some interesting early signs to help you spot that you're pregnant before the test will tell you. My name is Sarah Jeffries. I'm a registered nurse here in Los Angeles, California, with a background in ER and education. I'm also the mother of three girls, so I can share a few personal tips on how I knew I was pregnant straight away. Women's bodies are amazing, and if you listen really carefully, your body will tell you you're pregnant even before the pregnancy test. When do pregnancy symptoms start? Very early pregnancy symptoms, like sensitivity to smell or tender breasts, may show before you miss your period, as soon as a few days after conception. Conception, to be clear, is when the time the sperm travels up through the vagina into the uterus and fertilizes the egg found in the fallopian tube. This may be the time that those very early signs appear, right before you miss a period. This is when the egg is nestling nicely in those layers of your womb and those layers that don't shed, which is what we know to be our period. So when we are pregnant, our bodies make a hormone called HCG, and this is the hormone that gives you that all-important second blue line. But only after a few weeks of conception can the pregnancy test pick up on this hormone and really tell us if you're pregnant or not. This waiting time can be frustrating, and if you're anxious and nervous to know, I'm going to give you a few tips on things to watch out for and know if you really are carrying a fertilized embryo. Notice I say embryo and not baby. I'm pro-choice. More on that later. So the very first sign for me was big boobs. This was one of the first signs I noticed when I was pregnant with all three of my girls. Almost immediately, I noticed my breasts got bigger, my bra didn't fit, and practically overnight, everything just felt really uncomfortable and just not right. Going along with the next sign, I noticed the usual tenderness from a period cycle, but really sore, tender to touch. So not only were they bigger, but they were uncomfortable from the size, and the breast tissue was just so sore to touch and really tender. Disclaimer, this video is for educational purposes only, and not a replacement for medical advice. The next feeling was feeling bloated. This was the very next early sign, and just to say, these signs don't happen for everyone, and they didn't happen all at once. It was just over a few days. But I did notice them coinciding with the bigger boobs and the bigger tummy. All of a sudden, it's all of the fluid and the blood circulation just rushing to the uterus in protection mode, really. This is when the lining of the womb is getting thicker, and it's protecting and cushioning that egg. This is why you feel a bloated feeling before the HCG hormone is even circulating in your system. The next sign for me was cramping more than usual. This is definitely not a period. This is a different type of cramping. It's the uterine growth and stretching, and this symptom showed early as, like, the second week of pregnancy. Next was nausea. Now, your hormones are changing, which causes this sickly feeling, and this can happen very early on. And this was also another sign for me that I knew I was pregnant. Now, you don't have to be actually vomiting. It's just this nagging, nauseous feeling that doesn't go away for a while. Now, these feelings and symptoms may not be able to tell you on their own if you're pregnant, but if you notice a few of them put together, and if you pay close attention, you might just be able to tell if you're in the early stages of pregnancy. I know I could definitely tell, especially with my second little girl, Jessie, as I recognised a few of the symptoms from the first time around with my oldest, Jade. And then by the time I had third baby girl, Jodie, I could definitely pinpoint down to the night of conception with that one. I hope this video helped. Let me know if I've missed any signs. I'd love to hear you or your wife's experience. Let me know in the comments down below. If you want to get the best night's sleep, click here, where I give you tips on how to have the best night's sleep ever.