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Understanding whether you are pregnant or not is faster and easier using special test strips: they can be purchased at any pharmacy and they are easy to use. Of course, the degree of accuracy of the result is inferior to clinical methods (blood test or ultrasound), and in some cases it is erroneous, but most often the test shows the real situation in the female body. But is it possible to determine the onset of pregnancy without using it? What signs can tell a woman that her body is possibly preparing for motherhood?
In anticipation of a desired or, on the contrary, unwanted pregnancy, women tend to pay special attention to their slightest sensations and changes in well-being. Any of their manifestations, starting with the delay of the next menstruation and ending with thematic dreams, are taken into account and give hope or disappointment. Let us consider in more detail, on the basis of what signs it is possible to conclude about pregnancy and how to properly evaluate them.
Menstrual changes
The first sign that a woman draws attention to, assuming the onset of pregnancy, is the delay of the next menstruation. Of course, this approach is logical: the critical days of expectant mothers, as a rule, are absent.
This indicator can be guided in the case when a woman has a regular menstrual cycle, i.e. always starts after a certain number of days. If the duration often changes, then talking about its delay is wrong, since only what happened before regularly can be delayed.
Among other things, even with an accurate cycle, delays are not related to pregnancy. The reasons for this phenomenon can be quite a lot:
- hormonal changes;
- taking any medicine;
- nervous shock, depression, stress;
- various diseases, etc.
In some cases, even the most, at first glance, minor actions can lead to a delay in the next critical days, for example, overheating in the sun, unusually high physical activity, and a rigid diet.
Separately, it is worth mentioning implantation bleeding. Allocations of this species may appear as a few brown drops on the underwear approximately in the middle of the cycle or in its second half, 5-10 days before the start of the next menstruation. They are associated with the fact that a fertilized egg is introduced into a place suitable for attachment in the uterine cavity, thereby forming a small "wound" on its surface. Such bleeding can rightly be called the earliest sign of pregnancy, but it is quite rare.
Basal temperature
Measuring basal temperature (BT) is another way to find out about your pregnancy. However, there are features:
- Measurement of BT is, first of all, obtaining information about the likely change in the hormonal background of the body. With its help, pregnancy can be diagnosed to the extent that successful conception causes increased production of certain hormones.
- In order for the conclusion about the onset or absence of pregnancy to be reliable, the basal temperature should be measured in advance, 2-3 days before the start of the next menstrual cycle, and the values obtained should be recorded in a notebook.
How to properly monitor basal temperature?
The menstrual cycle can be divided into two parts: before and after ovulation.The body temperature from its onset (about 36.6 degrees) to the maturation and release of the egg gradually rises, reaching a maximum at the time of ovulation (about 37 degrees). If conception happened, then during the second period of the cycle its indicators remain elevated. In cases where a gradual decrease in temperature occurs, we can assume the absence of pregnancy.
Basal temperature is usually measured in the rectum, less commonly in the mouth and vagina. Indicators should be recorded daily in the morning, while still in bed after waking up and at the same time (the acceptable difference is 30 minutes). For measurement, you can use a regular mercury thermometer, the tip of which is inserted 2 cm into the rectum for about 5-7 minutes.
The disadvantage of this method is its relative complexity: not everyone can monitor their temperature for a month, strictly observing the rules.
In addition, BT fluctuations are not always a response to changes in the hormonal background. Sometimes it can remain elevated due to illness, inflammatory processes of the genitourinary sphere, stress, and even drinking on the eve of alcohol. Therefore, BT measurements alone can only be relied upon if two conditions are met:
- Factors that can lead to higher values are excluded.
- The absence of any acute or chronic diseases that could accidentally distort the reliability of the results of measuring BT.
Changes in well-being: irritability, drowsiness, nausea
Very often, pregnancy is accompanied by symptoms that are completely optional, but to one degree or another occur in most women.
These include:
- Changes in the emotional sphere: irritability, tearfulness, or, conversely, unusual serenity;
- Changes in overall well-being: drowsiness, increased or decreased appetite, fatigue;
- Physiological manifestations: soreness in the chest, a feeling of heaviness and fullness, a slight soreness in the lower abdomen, weakness and some others.
Is it possible to conclude on the basis of pregnancy on the basis of such signs? Indeed, in some women, from the very first days of pregnancy, toxicosis, shortness of breath, slight dizziness, appetite and digestive disorders, pigmentation appear. These and other symptoms can smooth out over time or, conversely, intensify.
However, in reality, the body very rarely reacts to pregnancy with such manifestations earlier than after 1-2 weeks of delay. Listening to the slightest changes in the state of their own body, women often exaggerate their own feelings and make hasty assumptions about the onset of pregnancy.
Therefore, try to really and adequately assess your well-being: are you really sick in the mornings or do you give out the desired (or, on the contrary, not desired) as real?
Home lab
There are several ways to determine pregnancy, based on biochemical changes in the composition of urine in women.
- Collect urine in a clean and dry container and add a teaspoon of regular baking soda to it. If it falls to the bottom in the form of sediment, we can make an assumption that pregnancy has occurred. Otherwise, soda will react with uric acid, forming bubbles on the surface of the liquid.
- Make half a liter of a weak solution of potassium permanganate pale pink. Then add some morning urine to it. If the color of the solution became lighter and slightly yellowed, then fertilization did not occur. But the appearance of small flakes and the preservation of the former color of the liquid signal the onset of pregnancy.
- A drop of iodine added to freshly collected urine can help diagnose pregnancy. If she lingers briefly on the surface of the liquid, then pregnancy is likely to have occurred.In cases where the drop immediately spreads, fertilization did not occur.
- Moisten a strip of white paper in the urine and drip iodine onto it. If there is a pregnancy, then the color will change to lilac or purple, and in its absence - to blue.
- Mix urine collected in the morning with wine in equal proportions. If the resulting liquid becomes cloudy and cheesy blotches appear in it, then we can talk about the onset of pregnancy.
- Bring a little urine to a boil in a metal bowl and immediately pour it into a glass bowl. If you see flakes precipitated, then you can talk about pregnancy. But do not forget that a protein that curled from heat could get into the urine, and it is quite difficult to distinguish it from flakes.
From the supernatural
If desired, one can distinguish such a group of signs of pregnancy that are not based on observations of changes in your own body and various studies. This may include:
- dreams of fish, water, children, little animals;
- intuitive forebodings;
- omens: drink water from a glass of a pregnant woman, sit in her place, etc.
Of course, some women coincide with the onset of pregnancy and some signs or dreams. However, in most cases this is just a coincidence and nothing more. Relying on such methods in the diagnosis of pregnancy is not worth it.
Some are looking forward to pregnancy, others do not want it to happen at all, but in any case, a woman needs a timely and accurate answer to the question of whether she is expecting a baby. Of course, it is better to do a blood test and get an accurate result, or use a test to diagnose pregnancy. But if you do not have such an opportunity, then several popular methods and an attentive attitude to changes in your own body will help you to make a conclusion close to the real state of affairs.
Video: early signs of early pregnancy
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