Pregnancy is the most crucial phase in a woman’s life. Not only does she cope up with the physical changes, there is also an emotional and psychological transformation. You need to prepare yourself for the trying times ahead. Therefore, you must identify the early stages of pregnancy. There are a lot of indicators that suggest that you might have conceived.

Few Indicators Of Pregnancy

Missed Period: One of the earliest indicators of conception is a missed menstrual period. This remains the classic symptom and a definite pointer to an impending pregnancy. This is usually followed by cramps and back pain. Some women observe bleeding and spotting 10 days into the ovulation. You must consult your doctor as a precautionary measure, if the bleeding persists.

Morning Sickness: It also ranks high among the early signs. The onset of morning sickness is almost a sure indicator of the early stages of pregnancy. It occurs due to the increased hormonal activity inside the body. This has a direct bearing on the metabolism. The body is unable to absorb glucose into the bloodstream and is also unable to burn extra fat. All of this results in vomiting and nausea.

Morning sickness also leads to a sharp decline in the interest for certain foods. You develop a sudden disliking for the food items you otherwise have an appetite for. There is also an increased sensitivity to odor. You are unable to appreciate the fragrance of a perfume and other odors that were your favorites until recently. All the symptoms related to early morning sickness begin to disappear as you approach the second trimester of pregnancy.

Skin: Another common complaint among pregnant women is increased tenderness of the breasts. As the body begins to prepare itself for breastfeeding, the breasts tend to swell and the nipples get enlarged. Frequent urination is also something that happens regularly in early stages of pregnancy. As a result of the growing pressure on the urinary bladder, women experience increased urinary sensations and make more trips to the toilet than otherwise.

Fatigue: To counter morning sickness and nausea, women start skipping meals and develop indifferent food habits. The reduced food intake lowers the blood sugar level and makes you feel fatigued and dizzy. There is also a significant reduction in the body weight. Improper diet also results in the appearance of skin-related symptoms like acne and changes in complexion.
All these are only the indicators of the early stages of pregnancy. You must always see a doctor in the case of an emergency.

Early pregnancy stages right up to the delivery of the baby is a period of numerous changes in the physical and emotional constitution of a woman’s body.

Though the emotional well-being might, in certain cases, be linked to external factors, our physical condition or the effect of the type of food we eat on our health during the three trimesters cannot be overlooked.

The importance of eating a balanced and nutritious diet cannot be more emphasized. We need to constantly think of the baby who’s wholly dependant on us for survival, and that we need to put the baby’s needs before our own. This is also the period that forms the foundation of a healthy and productive life for the baby.

Signs of Pregnancy

At the first sign of pregnancy, a proper maternal and fetal nutrition plan should be made. If it is a planned pregnancy, it would be useful to consult a doctor as certain vitamins such as folic acid should be taken while trying for the baby. The first trimester is accompanied by morning sickness in most women. However, this should not be a reason for abstaining from food. Morning sickness usually goes away by the second trimester. The emphasis in the second and third trimesters should be on gaining weight, which might have been lost in the first trimester due to nausea and vomiting. This weight gain ought to be through a nutritious diet and not through gorging on high fat-laden junk food.

A few Food tips during pregnancy stages are as follows:

• Eating several mini meals at frequent intervals rather than three large meals

• Choosing wholegrain foods, coupled with fresh vegetables and fruits

• Having a diet rich in proteins and calcium (such as milk, eggs, nuts, beans, and lean meat), but no raw or partially cooked eggs, meat, and seafood

• Including a lot of fluids in the diet

• A diet high in fiber and low in refined and processed flours

• Avoiding the consumption of shark, swordfish, marlin fish, as they contain high levels of mercury and limiting the intake of tuna

• Avoiding non-pasteurized juice and foods

• Avoiding large quantities of liver

• Staying away from caffeine and alcohol

• Avoiding herbal tea (despite all its benefits, there is no data on its effects on the baby)

Pregnancy is the time to celebrate, feel blessed that you have been given a task to create a life. Nobody and nothing should deter us from following our dream of giving birth to a healthy bundle of joy. The onus for that lies totally on us through the different pregnancy stages.