The first signs of pregnancy

You've decided to try for a baby and have stopped taking contraception. Remember, it's normal to wait months to fall pregnant! You don't want to do pregnancy tests every day, so you need to watch out for those telltale signs that may indicate you're expecting. Each woman's body experiences the novelty of pregnancy in a different way. You may experience some symptoms and not others; some women may not know they are pregnant, while others experience signs that are particular to them.

Listen to your body and note any changes
If you have many of the following signs, take a pregnancy test (and then a blood test) to confirm whether you're pregnant or not. Remember these are only signs, and the only 100% reliable indicator is the presence of the gonadotrophin hormone (HCG) in the blood and urine, i.e. you need to take a blood test. 

- Stopped periods is the first 'concrete' sign of pregnancy. However, many women have irregular or infrequent periods (oligomenorrhoea), which makes the lack of a period an unreliable indicator of pregnancy.

- Some women know by intuition and can be certain they're pregnant.

- Painful breasts. Your breasts may be swollen, your nipples may get bigger and darker, and your breasts may be slightly bigger and harder.

- You feel sick when you wake up.

- You suffer from nausea or vomiting throughout the day.

- You feel very tired.

- You have white discharge.

- You have mild acne.

- You suffer from stomach acidity, and find you're suddenly repulsed by certain foods.

- Certain smells are unbearable.

- Your appetite varies: one minute you can't eat, the next you can't control your appetite.

- You have positive or negative mood swings (this is down to hormones).

- You're irritable or hypersensitive.