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Am I?

The Early Signs of Pregnancy

By Teri Brown

Some women know from the moment of conception. Others know from some secret signal they or their husbands sense or become aware of. Still others don't have a clue until their tummies bulge and their periods finally stop! We are talking about the very first signs of pregnancy: those tiny clues your body sends that are an indication of things to come.

For some women, it's physical.

Shelley Divnich Haggert, a mother of three from Windsor, Canada, knew exactly when she became pregnant – at least after the first one.

"It's the oddest thing," says Divnich Haggert. "My feet get hot from almost day one. I can't stand having socks, blankets or anything else on them."

For others it's emotional.

"The biggest sign came Thanksgiving weekend," says Trina Lambert, a mother of three from Englewood, Colo. "I was working on my Christmas cards and was addressing and stamping the envelopes. I had out my inexpensive return address labels. When I looked up again, my dog had grabbed them and spread several torn labels around the floor. I burst into tears over this!"

It only took Lambert a minute to realize it wasn't that big of a deal, but she wondered why she reacted so strongly. When she missed her period the next week she took a pregnancy test and sure enough, she discovered she was about 4 weeks pregnant.

Dr. Randy Fink, an OB/GYN in private practice in Miami, Fla., says many women can appreciate and detect bodily changes even before they miss a period, though, obviously, a missed period for a sexually active woman is a good reason to do a pregnancy test.

"I think many women know they are pregnant before missing the period because most women have a very innate sense of their body and recognize when something has changed, especially as it relates to pregnancy," says Dr. Fink. "Early pregnancy is a time when the organs are developing, and the embryo can be most prone to damage from things a mother might do if she was unaware. Perhaps one of the reasons our species perpetuates is because moms have a subtle internal alarm that sounds when pregnancy occurs and causes her to alter her behavior."

Want to see more?

• Share the Joy: Unique Ways to Announce Your Pregnancy
• Overcoming Morning Sickness: Tips From Moms Who Have Been There
• How Will You Know You're Pregnant?
• Talk about it!

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