Very early pregnancy symptoms: abdominal pressure and cramping

Have you been trying to conceive your first baby? If you have been at it for more than one cycle, you'll know exactly what I am talking about when I mention the torturous two-week wait. Did you get pregnant this time? For "potential spoilers", you will probably pay attention to every little change in your body, and everything that could be a possible symptom of early pregnancy.

If you have been feeling abdominal pressure and cramping, you are surely wondering if these could be very early pregnancy symptoms. Abdominal pressure accompanied with slight bloating is a set of symptoms that you could be experiencing as soon as a week after ovulation, as a fertilized egg is implanting itself into the lining of the uterus.

This cramping may be mildly uncomfortable, but could even be slightly painful, and cause a blunt, stabbing feeling in your abdomen. Likewise, cramping can start as soon as a fertilized egg has implanted and your pregnancy is in is earliest stages. Not every woman feels cramping in the early stages of pregnancy, but cramps are a very common early pregnancy symptom.

These cramps are caused by two different factors that both play a large part in early pregnancy — physical changes in the uterus, and hormonal fluctuations that help you support your pregnancy. Both abdominal pressure and cramping send a woman mixed signals, because they are also often associated with the onset of menstrual flow.

Unfortunately, the fact that many women experience both of these symptoms on a monthly basis, as they are expecting their periods, makes it harder to say whether they mean you could be expecting if you are currently trying to conceive. Other causes, of course, lie in foods you ate that didn't quite agree with you, or even in a stomach bug. (Neither of these mean, on their own, that you are not pregnant as well, of course.)

Abdominal pressure and cramping can therefore never be taken as a conclusive indication that you are pregnant. But the chances are that you will have other symptoms if you have indeed conceived. Other signs to watch out for include nausea and vomiting, more frequent urination, and headaches. Extreme fatigue is another very common early pregnancy symptom, along with hyper-sensitivity to certain smells, even ones you actively enjoyed before. If you have a strong suspicion that your baby-making efforts paid off this month, there are always early pregnancy tests which you could start using as early as a week before your period is due. Early pregnancy tests are not always accurate, but can help you pass that notorious two-week wait a little more quickly!