Pregnancy Signs
The absence of a menstrual period is one of the first indications you are pregnant. Other early signs are enlarged and tender breasts, needing to urinate frequently, feeling tired, minor weight gain, and possibly nausea or vomiting.
If you suspect you are pregnant, it’s fine to use a home pregnancy test (which detects a fetal hormone in the urine). These tests are not always reliable, so if the result is negative and you still think you are pregnant, you should see your doctor or go to a clinic or health-care center for more accurate testing.
One reason to do so is to make sure you don’t have an ectopic pregnancy—a circumstance in which the pregnancy develops outside the uterus, usually in the fallopian tube. Ectopic pregnancies are often missed by home pregnancy tests because the fetal growth hormone is present in much lower amounts than when the pregnancy is uterine. Though relatively rare—ectopic pregnancies occur in about 1 in every 100 pregnancies—the condition can become life-threatening and needs to be dealt with surgically.
