How do I know if I'm pregnant?

 

Do you think you might be pregnant?  Can you know for sure?  Have you noticed symptoms and changes in your body?  How reliable are these signs and what do they mean? 

There is always a chance you could become pregnant if you are having sex. Missed your period?  This is the most common first sign of pregnancy, but we are going to explore some others.

Most Common First Signs of Pregnancy

In a poll on pregnancy symptoms conducted by the American Pregnancy Association:

  • 29% delayed or missed period

  • 25% nausea or morning sickness

  • 17% tender or swollen breasts

Even though these are the most common signs of pregnancy they are the least reliable.  Some women who are pregnant do not experience any or may only experience some of these common symptoms.  For example, spotting or implantation bleeding is often considered the first sign of pregnancy but in the study, only 3% reported this as an early symptom.  There could also be other reasons why you may be experiencing a delayed or missed period, nausea, and changes in your body.  Let’s look at how each of these most common pregnancy symptoms could be explained by another cause.

Delayed or missed period

  • excessive weight gain or loss

  • fatigue or abnormally tired

  • imbalance or changes in hormones

  • anxiety and stress

  • changes in hormonal birth control (Nexplanon, IUD, Depo-Provera, birth control pills)

  • various illnesses or sickness

  • breastfeeding

Nausea

  • food poisoning

  • anxiety and stress

  • change in hormonal birth control (Nexplanon, IUD, Depo-Provera, birth control pills)

  • other stomach issues or irregularities

Tender or swollen breasts

  • imbalance or changes in hormones

  • change in hormonal birth control (Nexplanon, IUD, Depo-Provera, birth control pills)

  • getting ready to start your period

Spotting or implantation bleeding

  • getting ready to start your period

  • changes to your period or menstrual cycle

  • change in hormonal birth control (Nexplanon, IUD, Depo-Provera, birth control pills)

  • any scrapes or open skin near the female genitalia or perineal area

  • infection

You cannot rely on these common symptoms alone to determine whether or not you are pregnant.  Even a growing abdomen and a positive pregnancy test do not always mean you are pregnant.

Urine pregnancy tests measure hCG which stands for ‘human chorionic gonadotropin’.   This is a hormone produced at high levels early in pregnancy.  If you take a pregnancy test too early, it can produce a negative result when you truly are pregnant.  In rare circumstances, the test may come back negative due to a variation in the type of hCG in the urine that is different from what the test normally looks for2. 

If you’re not pregnant, your body may be producing hCG for a different reason and the test could come back positive.

Diagnosing Pregnancy

You may be thinking, “How do I know for sure I am pregnant?”  Most health care providers will first perform either a blood or urine pregnancy test.  If the test comes back positive, then they may perform an ultrasound.  Diagnosis of pregnancy via ultrasound is the only definite confirmation of early pregnancy.  Another phrase we use to describe this is “confirmation of pregnancy” or “confirming your pregnancy”. 

Only a licensed physician can officially diagnose a pregnancy. 

There are three signs to determine or confirm your pregnancy through an ultrasound by a trained and qualified medical professional.   

  • fetus located in the uterus

  • fetal measurements

  • measure fetal heartbeat

These are important to help rule out a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy (baby implants somewhere outside the uterus), determine an estimated due date, and prove viability (if the baby is living). 

What’s next?

If you’re experiencing signs that you think may mean you are pregnant, you need to schedule an appointment with a medical professional to determine whether or not you are pregnant. 

If you have an obstetrician/gynecologist, you may want to schedule an appointment at their office.  If you do not have a regular healthcare provider or are worried about the cost of the pregnancy test/ultrasound, you may want to schedule a consultation at a pregnancy center like Life Forward. 

Life Forward can provide confidential consultations and is equipped to provide pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, referrals, education, and support services at no charge.  A consultation appointment includes a lab-grade urine pregnancy test and may include a limited obstetrical ultrasound after an assessment is provided by a medical professional. 

References

1 Chilcote, D. (2019). PPT.

2 “Hook-like Effect” Causes False-negative Point-of-care Urine Pregnancy Testing in Emergency Patients. Griffey, Richard T. et al.Journal of Emergency Medicine, Volume 44, Issue 1, 155 - 160

 
pregnancyKevin Buckleypregnancy, pregnancy symptoms, pregnancy questions, unplanned pregnancy