TIPS FOR CONFIRMING PREGNANCY

Here is a menu of possible symptoms that you may or may not have during this time:

* Spotting - light, implantation bleeding.

* Mood swings - as these may come just at the time may you're expecting your period, they are often not  recognized  as a pregnancy sign.

* Breast tenderness - this may be more extreme then before your period, but again, can be rether a notice  visible veins on your breasts and   your nipples becoming darker.

* Stomach cramps - as with breast tenderness, these might be worse than normal pre-menstrual cramps, and may go on for longer than normal.   Together with a late period this might well signify pregnancy, but not always.

* "Feeling pregnant" -sometimes you just know!

* Tiredness - your body is working extremely hard to develop your baby.

* Frequent urination - caused by your kidneys’ having to work herder to process the extra body fluid accumulated during pregnancy, and also   an effect of the HCG pregnancy hormone. (Later on, this is caused by the baby putting pressure on your bladder).

* Morning sickness or nausea - and as you may have heard, this is often not just confined to the morning..* Food cravings and aversions - most people have heard about food cravings in pregnancy, but foods that you' ve  always loved might also suddenly become repulsive to you.

* Heartburn - in early pregnancy this is thought to be caused by the horm one progesterone. (Later on it is caused by the baby putting on   tour abdomen).

* Constipation - this is also caused by progesterone, a muscle - relaxing hormone, useful when  it comes to giving birth, but a pain   when it also acts on intestinal muscles and slows things down a little too much!

* Feeling faint - this can also be caused by progesterone, which can also relax your blood vessels, causing blood pressure to drop and dizziness or fainting to occur.

* Increased hunger - often described as "incredible" hunger; you' re eating for two remember, even if one of you is very  small!

* Heightened sense of smell - it's not known for certain why this happens but one theory is hormones (again); this time oestrogens, which   also rises during pregnancy.

* Headaches - there are many reasons for headaches during the first month of pregnancy; stress may be a factor, hormones can also be a   factor, as can the increased volume of blood  that pregnancy brings about.

* Backache - particularly low backache; again, caused by more negative effects of that pesky progesterone hormone, this time by loosening   the ligaments around your pelvis which can result in instability and pain.

* Thrush - this is an unfortunate symptom, bought about by pregnancy hormones altering the natural balance of bacteria in the vagina. For   some women this is a very early pregnancy sign.

* Missed period - some women may mistake spotting for their period, and this can sometimes lead to confusion with their due date!

Although these are common first month pregnancy symptoms, it is important to be aware that they may not necessarily indicate pregnancy. As well as premenstrual symptoms, they could be signs of other medical conditions or the result medical conditions or the result of factors like a change in a your diet or stress. So at this early stage even if you' ve had a positive pregnancy test. That's the only way to be 100% certain.