When would you start showing symptoms of pregnancy

Early signs of pregnancy

If you have a regular monthly menstrual cycle, the earliest and most reliable sign of pregnancy is a missed period.

In the first few weeks of pregnancy you may have a bleed similar to a very light period, with some spotting or only losing a little blood. This is called implantation bleeding.

Every pregnancy is different and not everyone will notice all of these symptoms.

Feeling sick during pregnancy

You may feel sick or be sick. This is commonly known as morning sickness, but it can happen at any time of the day or night.

Morning sickness symptoms usually start when you’re around 4-6 weeks pregnant

If you're being sick all the time and cannot keep anything down, see a GP.

You may have hyperemesis gravidarum, a serious condition in pregnancy that causes severe vomiting and needs treatment.

Feeling tired is common in pregnancy

It's common to feel tired, or even exhausted, during pregnancy, especially during the first 12 weeks or so.

Hormonal changes in your body at this time can make you feel tired, sick, emotional and upset.

Sore breasts in early pregnancy

Your breasts may become larger and feel tender, just as they might do before your period. They may also tingle.

The veins may be more visible, and the nipples may darken and stand out.

Peeing more often suggests pregnancy

You may feel the need to pee more often than usual, including during the night.

Other signs of pregnancy you may notice are:

constipation
more vaginal discharge (without any soreness or irritation)

Strange tastes, smells and cravings

During early pregnancy, you may find you no longer like some foods or drinks you used to enjoy.

You might notice:

a strange taste in your mouth, which some describe as metallic
you crave new foods
you lose interest in certain foods or drinks you used to enjoy, such as tea, coffee or fatty food
you lose interest in smoking
you have a more sensitive sense of smell than usual – for example, the smell of food or cooking

If you're worried about any symptoms you're having, talk to a GP or your midwife.

If your pregnancy test is negative

A positive test result is almost certainly correct, as long as you have followed the instructions correctly.

A negative result is less reliable. If you get a negative result and still think you may be pregnant, wait a week and try again.

If you're pregnant, use the pregnancy due date calculator to work out when your baby's due.

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Video: what pregnancy symptoms are normal?

In this video, a midwife describes which symptoms during pregnancy are normal.

Media last reviewed: 20 March 2020
Media review due: 20 March 2023

Are you pregnant? Some early signs of pregnancy may show up around the time you've missed a period – or a week or two before or after. The most common early pregnancy symptoms are nausea, fatigue, frequent urination, and breast tenderness. Other first signs and symptoms of pregnancy include mood swings, light spotting and cramping, bloating, and constipation. Not every woman has early pregnancy symptoms, but many do.

Pregnancy symptoms are different for every woman, and can even be different from one pregnancy to the next. Symptoms start at different times, too: Some women immediately feel like they're pregnant, while other women may go months with no pregnancy symptoms.

That said, there are some first signs and symptoms of pregnancy that are common very early on. They're likely caused by a surge in the pregnancy hormone human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), as well as rises in estrogen and progesterone.

Early signs and symptoms of pregnancy

Early pregnancy symptoms can be subtle. You may notice your breasts feel different when you put on your bra, you feel more tired than normal, or your usual breakfast is unappealing.

If you start to feel some of the early pregnancy symptoms below, you may very well be pregnant. Here are some of the first signs and symptoms of pregnancy.

Missed period

If you're usually pretty regular and your period is late, this may be the first and most obvious sign that you're pregnant. But if you're not regular or you're not keeping track of your cycle, other symptoms may be your first clues about a possible pregnancy. And some women feel early pregnancy symptoms before they miss a period.

Frequent urination

Shortly after you become pregnant, hormonal changes prompt a chain of events that raise the rate of blood flow through your kidneys. This causes your bladder to fill more quickly, so you need to pee more often.

Frequent urination will continue – or intensify – as your pregnancy progresses. Your blood volume rises dramatically during pregnancy, which leads to extra fluid being processed and ending up in your bladder.

Fatigue

Feeling tired all of a sudden? No, make that exhausted. No one knows for sure what causes early pregnancy fatigue, but it's possible that rapidly increasing levels of progesterone are to blame. Of course, morning sickness and having to pee constantly during the night can add to your tiredness, too.

You should start to feel more energetic once you hit your second trimester, although fatigue usually returns late in pregnancy when you're carrying more weight and some of the common discomforts of pregnancy make it more difficult to get a good night's sleep.

Sore breasts

One common early pregnancy symptom is sensitive, swollen breasts caused by rising levels of hormones. The soreness and swelling may feel like an exaggerated version of how your breasts feel before your period. Your discomfort should diminish significantly after the first trimester, as your body adjusts to the hormonal changes.

Nausea

Morning sickness can start as early as two weeks after conception – so it may be the first pregnancy symptom you notice. And it's not just in the morning, either: Pregnancy-related nausea (with or without vomiting) can be a problem morning, noon, or night.

Pregnancy nausea may be accompanied by indigestion, food aversions, a heightened sense of smell, a metallic taste in your mouth, and excess saliva.

Implantation bleeding or spotting

If you're pregnant, the lastthing you'd expect to see is any spotting or vaginal bleeding. But if you notice light spotting around the time your period is due, it could be implantation bleeding. This might be caused by the fertilized egg settling into the lining of your uterus.

Note: About 1 in 4 women experience spotting or light bleeding during the first trimester. It's often nothing, but sometimes it's a sign of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy. If your bleeding is severe or accompanied by pain or lightheadedness, or if you're at all concerned, call your doctor or midwife.

Cramping

Like spotting or bleeding, cramping is a confusing early pregnancy symptom – because it can make you feel like your period's starting. But you may actually be having implantation cramps, which occur when the fertilized egg implants in your uterus. You'll be able to tell it's implantation cramping and bleeding (and not your period) because it will be less than a normal period, and last just a day or two.

Constipation

If you're newly pregnant, constipation can be an early symptom. It's caused by an increase in progesterone, which relaxes smooth muscles throughout the body, including the digestive tract. This means that food passes through the intestines more slowly.

Mood swings

It's common to have mood swings during pregnancy, partly because of hormonal changes that affect neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain). Everyone responds differently to these changes. Some moms-to-be experience heightened emotions, both good and bad, while others feel more depressed or anxious.

Note: If you've been feeling sad or hopeless or unable to cope with your daily responsibilities, call your healthcare provider or a mental health professional right away. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741), or call 911.

Abdominal bloating

Hormonal changes in early pregnancy may leave you feeling bloated, similar to the feeling some women have just before their period. That's why your clothes may feel more snug than usual at the waistline, even early on when your uterus is still quite small.

When do pregnancy symptoms start?

Pregnancy symptoms are different for every woman (and even every pregnancy). Some women feel the first twinges of pregnancy a week or two after conceiving, while others don't feel any different for a few months.

In the best study on this question to date, 136 women who were trying to get pregnant kept daily records of their symptoms from the time they stopped using birth control until they were 8 weeks pregnant. (That's counting eight weeks from the first day of their last menstrual period.) The results:

50 percent had some pregnancy symptoms by 5 weeks pregnant
70 percent had pregnancy symptoms by 6 weeks pregnant
90 percent had pregnancy symptoms by 8 weeks pregnant

The first sign of pregnancy was usually a missed period. The most common symptoms to follow were nausea and vomiting, fatigue, frequent urination, and breast tenderness and swelling.

By 8 weeks pregnant, women reported some additional pregnancy symptoms:

Heartburn
Nasal congestion
Shortness of breath
Lightheadedness
Spider veins
Itchiness
Areas of darker skin (on the face, abdomen, or areolas)

Other symptoms that pop up throughout pregnancy include:

Forgetfulness
Dizziness
Food cravings
Increased appetite
Lower back pain
Diarrhea
Headaches
Rashes
Glowing skin
Hair and nail changes
Leaking breasts
Pelvic pain
Sciatica
Pubic symphysis dysfunction
Swelling
Vision changes
Hemorrhoids
Clumsiness
Nosebleeds
Increased vaginal discharge

When should I take a pregnancy test?

Some home pregnancy tests claim they're sensitive enough to give a positive result as early as five days before you would expect your period. But you're more likely to get an accurate result if you wait to test until after the first day of your missed period. If you test too early, you may get a false negative pregnancy test or an unclear result like a faint line.

If you test and get a negative result, but still have pregnancy symptoms and/or no period, try again in a few days. Test first thing in the morning, when your urine is more concentrated. Home pregnancy tests measure the amount of human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) in your urine. During early pregnancy, hCG levels typically double every two to three days.

Remember that your baby begins to develop before you can tell you're pregnant, so take care of your health while you're waiting to find out. If you haven't already, start taking a daily prenatal vitamin with at least 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid.

Once you've gotten a positive pregnancy test result, make your first prenatal appointment. Good prenatal care is essential for you and your baby. If you don't have a doctor or a midwife to care for you during pregnancy, start asking for recommendations and see who's covered by your insurance. There are options if you don't have health insurance or need low-cost prenatal care.

You can also head over to our pregnancy area for all of our pregnancy articles and tools, and check out amazing pictures of how your baby develops during your pregnancy week by week. Also, don't forget to update your profile to add your pregnancy, and download our free pregnancy and baby app. Congratulations!

How soon can you get symptoms of pregnancy?

Some women may begin noticing the first early signs of pregnancy a week or two after conception, while others will start to feel symptoms closer to four or five weeks after conception. Some women may not feel symptoms until their period is noticeably late, or even farther into pregnancy.