Although some women insist that they knew right away when they were pregnant, it’s usually not that obvious. If you’re experiencing a few of these symptoms, you might want to head over to your local pharmacy and pick up a pregnancy test. Trust me, I know from experience.
- Your period is late (or your regular menstrual cycle is off). I know that this seems obvious, but I’ve never had a regular period. I sometimes go six months without getting it, and once I went a whole year. Usually, I get it every two or three months and only for a day or so, very light. My doctor has said it’s because of a low body weight. When I didn’t get my period for three months, I didn’t freak out because that was normal for my body. Turns out, I was actually pregnant.
- Your boobs suddenly have gotten larger (and are sore). I’ve always had small boobs and before I realized I was pregnant, I did notice that they’d grown significantly over the previous few months (OK, significantly for me). They were larger and rounder. Also, they were sore and achy at times too. I didn’t really think much of it—maybe I just gained some weight?—but it was actually a sign that I was pregnant.
- You’re tired all of the time and for no reason. I mean, I’ve always loved sleep and generally feel tired after a long day, but I was constantly exhausted when I became pregnant and didn’t realize that was a sign until after I took a pregnancy test. I was sleeping a lot more and had absolutely no energy to go out—now I know why.
- You’re starving at unusual times and have intense food cravings. Honestly, I’ve always had weird food cravings my entire life, so that sign of pregnancy was one I wouldn’t have picked up on. However, I’ve always had a hard time eating earlier on during the day. Once I got pregnant, that changed and I was starving in the mornings and early afternoons constantly. Plus, I was craving stuff I didn’t normally want!
- You snap at people more than usual and get annoyed more easily. I’ve always been an easygoing, flexible person who doesn’t get super aggravated easily, but once I got pregnant, that changed immediately and I wasn’t sure why at the time. I found myself getting more annoyed by people and things happening in my life. Thanks a lot, pregnancy hormones.
- You find yourself crying uncontrollably or are generally more emotional in your day-to-day life. I was breaking down in tears over insignificant or unidentifiable situations. Little things that I would normally have been able to brush off made me sob. I’d never been an overly emotional person before, but when I got pregnant, that changed (and intensely).
- You’ve gained weight, especially in your midsection. I didn’t realize I was pregnant for the first few months, and before taking a test, I thought I’d just gained a little extra weight and my jeans felt a little bit tighter. I guess I had been eating a little bit more than normal so the weight gain didn’t seem completely random, but the truth was that I was pregnant.
- You’re lower back hurts a lot for seemingly no reason. Since getting pregnant, I’ve had a lot of backaches, especially in my lower back area. I’m just generally sore to the point that it’s sometimes uncomfortable even when I’m trying to sleep. I thought for a while that maybe it had something to do with my poor posture or lack of exercise but turns out it was another sign of pregnancy I’d been ignoring.
- You feel bloated despite not changing your diet. I thought maybe I wasn’t drinking enough water or I was eating too many processed foods, but in reality I was pregnant and feeling bloated is a common side effect. Oops?
- You just feel a little… different but you’re not sure why. You can’t pinpoint exactly why you feel different, just that you do. It’s not an extreme, over-the-top, super noticeable different, just slight changes in your body, your emotions, and even the way you feel and think about things. Besides many physical signs, there are emotional signs of pregnancy as well that are even harder to recognize. If you’ve been feeling a little off lately and also have been experiencing other signs of pregnancy, it might be time to take a test.
