One of the many possible symptoms of pregnancy, along with swollen ankles, backaches and morning sickness, is an increased sense of smell. Some women have such a strong sense of smell they liken it to a bloodhound on the hunt.

Crystal Forkan from Tampa Bay, Fla., says that for her, a strong sense of smell was one of the first signs of pregnancy. "I think that I noticed a heightened sense of smell very early in my pregnancies," she says. "Basically, if the smell was strong or a little more than neutral, I started heaving and gagging. Even some of the things I normally didn't mind smelling made me queasy."

Christina Friedrichsen-Truman from Windsor, Canada, noticed that some smells would send her running for the bathroom while others were almost intoxicating. "If my husband ate even the tiniest bit of onions or garlic, I wouldn't let him come near me," she says. "But my heightened sense of smell wasn't always a bad thing. For some bizarre reason I would walk into any Canadian Tire store and love the smell of the place. It smelled like rubber and for some reason, I loved that smell. I also loved the synthetic smell of dollar stores and the scent of gasoline."

Margaret Buxton, a certified nurse midwife and an advanced practice registered nurse for West End Women's Health Center of Vanderbilt University's Medical Center, says that while science may not completely understand a woman's heightened sense of smell during pregnancy, many women definitely do.

Content on this site is not a substitute for professional medical or healthcare advice, diagnosis or treatment, and may not be used for such purposes. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical question or condition. Reliance on information presented on this site is at your own risk. This site contains the opinions and views of other users. Given the interactive nature of this site, we cannot endorse, guarantee, or be responsible for the accuracy, efficacy, or veracity of any content generated by our users.