Quiz: Early Pregnancy Symptoms

Having tender breasts, being tired, and not being able to stand foods you used to like may all be early symptoms of pregnancy, but other things can cause these, too. The most reliable early sign that you're pregnant is missing a period if yours are usually regular. Some women don’t notice any early symptoms when they're pregnant.

Changes in hormones can cause mood swings early on. Mood swings are one of the most common early symptoms of pregnancy.

Bloating, tender breasts, and moodiness are early symptoms of pregnancy and also of a menstrual period.

Good news: As your body adjusts to hormone changes during pregnancy, your breasts probably will start to feel less tender. But they will continue to feel full. Many women will continue to have tenderness on and off throughout the pregnancy.

Some pregnant women may have some light spotting around the time they expect their period. This happens when the embryo attaches to the lining of the uterus. It's called implantation bleeding.

Morning sickness may cause some women to lose a few pounds in the first 3 months of pregnancy. And most women don’t gain much weight in the first trimester. Pregnant women gain the most weight during the second and third trimesters.

Morning sickness does often happen in the morning, but it can happen at other times, too. Usually it goes away within 12 to 14 weeks. Some women find that eating smaller meals more often helps, as does having a snack (like crackers) before they get out of bed. Other tips include snacking on salty foods and drinking ginger ale. It's rare, but some women have severe nausea and vomiting that need to be treated by a doctor.

Even though the baby is still tiny, your uterus is growing -- and pushing on your bladder. Hormone changes may also cause you to have to go more often. It may get better for a while -- and then come back with a vengeance in the last few weeks, when the baby is bigger and space is at a premium in there! Try going to the bathroom right before you go to bed to limit the nighttime trips.

It may be related to hormone changes. During the first few weeks, your body starts to make a lot of progesterone quickly. But no one knows for sure. Whatever causes it, fatigue usually goes away during the second trimester. Many women say they have more energy then. But fatigue returns as you get closer to your due date, when you're carrying additional weight and pregnancy-related discomforts can make it hard to sleep.

Some women do notice a deepening of the color of the area surrounding the nipple, called the areola, but this usually doesn’t happen until the second trimester. In the first trimester, your breasts may become more tender and the nipples may stick out more.