Everyone knows about the typical early pregnancy symptoms that pregnant women start to show that may prompt them to take an at-home pregnancy test. These include missing a period, having morning sickness, and breast tenderness.
But there are other, more unusual early pregnancy symptoms that many women don’t realize may be early pregnancy signs.
In this article, we’ll talk about some unusual signs of pregnancy that they don’t tend to talk about in mom groups on the internet or in movies and television.
We’ll discuss weird early pregnancy symptoms, some old wives’ tales surrounding pregnancy symptoms, and how to tell if you’re experiencing unusual early pregnancy symptoms or just PMS.
Weird early pregnancy symptoms
Changes start to occur in your body almost immediately after conception. Early signs can begin to show themselves in pregnant women before they know they are pregnant.
The following are some strange signs of pregnancy that are usually very early signs that you’re carrying a child.
1. Change in breasts
An early pregnancy sign for many pregnant women is a change in breasts.
Breast pain and swollen breasts can occur due to increased blood flow and volume. While these may not be considered weird pregnancy symptoms per se, it’s a sign that often occurs long before your missed period.
Many women experience this early sign of pregnancy in as little as a week after conception. Most pregnant women, at this point, think nothing of it, thinking it’s either too much caffeine or even PMS symptoms presenting themselves.
Another breast change that many women experience is heaviness and nipple changes.
Blood vessels are seeing a higher volume of blood, and this, along with the hormone progesterone, can change the color of your nipples to appear darker. They are also often larger and feel heavier and fuller.
2. Dizziness and headaches
Before your missed period and pregnancy test, you may notice that you get dizzy more easily, have more headaches, or both. This is likely due to the increased blood pressure with pregnancy.
This early sign of pregnancy occurs very early in the first trimester, and many women think it’s simply stress, lack of sleep, heat, or some other issue. Very few women understand that it’s a very early pregnancy symptom.
3. Frequent urination
Most women don’t associate an increase in peeing with the earliest pregnancy symptoms and instead think it’s a third-trimester symptom.
However, due to the increase in blood supply, your kidneys kick into overdrive before that positive pregnancy test is even considered, and you start to urinate more frequently.
However, remember that frequent urination is also a urinary or bladder infection symptom.
4. Lowered immune system
Pregnancy hormones are necessary to maintain a healthy pregnancy. However, they also tend to weaken your immune system.
If you have a terrible cold that you can’t seem to shake, or it seems like every bug going around has hit you hard lately, you may just be pregnant.
5. Excess saliva
Although this is one of the more common early pregnancy signs, it’s not something many women talk about. Hormonal changes can cause women to salivate more than usual.
It can go the other way, too! Some women experience the opposite, have incredibly dry mouths, and are constantly thirsty. This often goes hand in hand with being dehydrated.
6. Acid reflux
Also known as heartburn, this is an annoying but relatively obvious sign that you may be pregnant.
Hormonal changes cause issues with the digestive system, and certain foods can give you problems with heartburn. This can also lead to an excess saliva issue.
7. Bleeding gums
This is another very early sign of pregnancy that you can blame on blood volume. That fertilized egg can mean trouble for your teeth and gums.
So if you notice that lately, when you brush your teeth, you’ve got some bleeding, it may just be one of the many pregnancy symptoms that strike early.
PMS vs. pregnancy symptoms
Your menstrual period may have a few symptoms that are the same or are very similar to common pregnancy symptoms.
If you don’t have regular periods or are worried that you may be pregnant, the following are some of the earliest signs that you may be pregnant if you have not yet had a period.
1. Light bleeding
If you are due to start your period soon but instead have some light bleeding or spotting, it doesn’t always mean that you just had a very light period. Light spotting is expected in early pregnancy and is called implantation bleeding.
Suppose you have heavy bleeding, severe dizziness, or are passing large blood clots. In that case, you need to speak to a healthcare provider immediately, as this is a sign of ectopic pregnancy, which is not viable.
You must get medical help and care if you have an ectopic pregnancy. This is a potentially life-threatening condition and can result in infertility or difficulty in becoming pregnant or maintaining a pregnancy.
2. Increase in vaginal discharge
Most women experience more vaginal discharge when they are about to start their period. However, it can also be a sign of pregnancy.
If the discharge is a different consistency or color, you may want to test at home or make an appointment with your doctor to ensure that you don’t have a yeast infection.
3. Food cravings
Craving sweets or salty foods during your period aren’t the only symptoms of your menstrual cycle. They can also be early signs of pregnancy.
You will often start to crave foods with vitamins and minerals you lack in your diet.
4. Cramps and stomach pain
Cramps can be a usual symptom of both pregnancy and a menstrual period. If you have cramps that feel different or are more or less severe and you’ve missed a period, you may want to take a pregnancy test soon.
5. Mood swings
Your pregnancy will be a roller coaster ride, but many of us find ourselves emotionally all over the place during our periods, too.
If you don’t usually have issues with your mood or emotions during your period, and now you’re crying while watching a diaper ad on television, you may need to purchase a test.
Old wives’ tales to detect early pregnancy
You may show the very first signs of pregnancy in the early weeks of pregnancy. The very observant people in your life may notice, but superstitious people may start to claim they see things that don’t have much to do with being pregnant.
The following are some fascinating “signs” of pregnancy that are old wives’ tales.
- Pregnancy is more likely to occur on a full moon.
- Urinating into a bowl of sugar can detect pregnancy. If the sugar dissolves, you’re not pregnant. If the sugar clumps, you are.
- Urinating on some toothpaste can detect pregnancy. If the toothpaste gets frothy or turns blue, you’re pregnant.
Remember that these are just superstitions that don’t give us an accurate idea about pregnancy. There is no substitution for actual science in these cases.
Weird ways to know you’re pregnant
Regardless of old wives’ tales, weight gain, what you’ve eaten in the past few days that you were craving, or whether you pee more lately, the only real way to know if you’re expecting is to take a test.
If you think you may be pregnant, there’s no reason not to take a test. If that test is positive, you should schedule an appointment with your doctor rather than relying on folk remedies or superstitions.