When I was pregnant, I thought I knew what to expect… Morning sickness, missed period, all pretty standard, right? Wrong! As it turns out, there are several totally weird early pregnancy symptoms. And guess what?
I was totally surprised.
Pregnancy comes crashing into a woman’s life with a hormone cocktail that can make us feel the craziest things. It seemed as if every day I was feeling something new.
Don’t get caught off guard, check out the list of lesser-known pregnancy symptoms!
#1 Cramps
One of the unexpected signs of early pregnancy is cramping.
In most cases, feeling mild tummy cramps is perfectly normal. It makes sense since your body is packed with hormones and your uterus is expanding.
You may experience light bleeding with your cramping, easily confused with early period symptoms. In fact, that’s what happened to me, hence I was super surprised when I took my pregnancy test and it came back positive.
My cramps lasted a couple of months, they weren’t intense, but they sure were one of my weird early pregnancy symptoms.
Even though they are normal, don’t hesitate to let your doctor know, especially if the cramp’s intensity increases or you bleed. It’s always best to be cautious!
#2 Elevated Body Temperature
Did you know that when you’re pregnant your blood flow will need to increase?
I had no idea.
That is, of course, until I seemed to be running a high temperature, and my doctor surprisingly told me that everything was OK. It was just my new normal.
Go figure.
The truth of the matter is that the blood flow to the skin will raise your body temperature. Going as high as 37.8 C (100.04 F), so you may feel a bit lightheaded, or slightly dizzy, especially from week 6 to week 12, while you’re getting used to your new you!
#3 Vaginal Discharge
The estrogen levels in your body increase during pregnancy, which leads to a thick, milky white vaginal discharge. The discharge will even increase and your pregnancy progress.
However, you do need to know what’s normal, and what’s not. Vaginal discharge is also a symptom of infection, or an STD, which is harmful to the fetus. If your discharge is foul-smelling, yellowish, or greenish, seek your doctor’s advice immediately.
A normal vaginal discharge can feel uncomfortable, but washing the area with any kind of special soap isn’t recommended. It’s best to just wash your parts with water. If it’s too uncomfortable, ask your doctor for help.
#4 Dizziness
Along with the increase in the bloodstream, the hormonal changes tied to pregnancy affect your blood vessels, relaxing them. Thus, lowering your blood pressure.
Dizziness is one of those weird early pregnancy symptoms that may last throughout your whole pregnancy.
In your first trimester, morning sickness and hormonal changes are to blame. In your second and third trimester, your womb will be expanding, applying pressure to your blood vessels and making you dizzy when you suddenly stand up, or when you have been lying on your bed for a while.
A word of warning, dizziness isn’t always normal during pregnancy. If you are so dizzy that you faint, or if you can lead a normal life because of how dizzy you are, you may have low levels of iron in your bloodstream, so be sure to call your doctor if it gets too intense.
Dizziness in late pregnancy is also one of the lesser-known (and less common) symptoms of preeclampsia. When I was pregnant with preeclampsia I couldn’t walk for more than 5 minutes without fainting. I even tried to shop for my boy’s newborn clothes one afternoon and spent the whole time sitting on the steps of the mall, waiting to get back home.
In conclusion, light dizziness is ok, but if it gets more intense, you should have your doctor check that everything is OK.
#5 False Period
When the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine wall, there can be light spotting. This happens after two weeks of conception, so it’s normally confused with a woman’s period.
If your bleeding becomes heavy or is joined with back pains or stabbing pains, let your doctor know immediately.
Bleeding can also be a sign of an ectopic pregnancy (a life-threatening complication in which the egg implants outside of the uterus), miscarriage threats, or irritation.
#6 Mood Swings
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that mood swings are a package deal when you’re pregnant. But here I was, crying as I had never cried before because I wanted to take my mom to the beach but I couldn’t because… well… I was working… and pregnant, and we lived nowhere near a beach.
It was so intense that my mom had to actually stop what she was doing and drive to my house to comfort me. Other things I cried intensely about were:
- Because I dropped a watermelon.
- Because I finished a game I was playing on PS4.
- Because I wanted my husband to bring me a banana and he brought me the wrong kind of banana.
- Because I wanted to try sushi with chocolate so badly that my husband made one for me, and it didn’t taste good… but I still wanted to eat it.
I’m just not like that, usually, I’m a semi-functional, centered person. But pregnancy changed me. I went from completely normal to having all these weird early pregnancy symptoms.
I was happy one second, weeping the next, angry after that… And my dear husband just didn’t know how to cope.
It’s funny now, looking backward, but at the time it was as if some uncontrollable force had taken over my emotions.
And it had: hormones!
#7 Tasting Metal
Due to the increase of estrogen and progesterone (hormones, again!), your sense of taste can change. That meal that used to taste delicious, may now taste like solid, cold, metal.
Ugh, that doesn’t help with your morning sickness, now, does it?
You can try drinking cold water to ease the feeling. It helped in my case. It usually only lasts about a month, though, but it can be uncomfortable all right.
#8 Stuffy Nose
There is a thing called pregnancy rhinitis, which is congestion or a runny nose during pregnancy. It happens to up to 30% of pregnant women, and it can kick off during the first trimester, although it gets worse as the pregnancy progress.
The cause? You guessed it! Hormones.
I normally suffer from sinusitis, it got worse during my pregnancy, but it wasn’t particularly uncomfortable since I always have a stuffy nose anyways. The real problem was understanding if I could be getting the flu, or if it was my nose just misbehaving.
Whenever I read online, it said that if a runny nose was the only symptom, it was pregnancy rhinitis, but if I had a cough, headaches, or if I sneezed, it could be the flu or some kind of infection.
However, in my case, I sneezed quite a bit, because my runny nose itched! And I had constant headaches because I suffered from migraines.
If this sounds like you, visit your doctor anyway and go to the ER if you experience fever, or if your symptoms increased. For me, sneezing, a headache, and a runny nose were within normal for my pregnancy, and all of these symptoms subsided once Ollie was born. By then, all these weird early pregnancy symptoms were gone!
#9 Flatulence, Swelling, and Bloating
The excess of progesterone relaxes your muscles, including your digestive system. Hence there’s an increase in flatulence, swelling, and bloating. It’s not romantic, but hey, we’re creating a tiny human!
You won’t be able to avoid gas altogether, but by controlling your intake you may make it much more tolerable. Avoid eating grains, fructose. dairy products, and junk food!
#10 Bleeding Gums and Noses
Remember earlier reading about a blood flow increase during pregnancy?
This increase may cause your gums and nose to bleed due to their sensitive nature and the extra pressure they have.
The most frequent moment in which bleeding may happen is when you blow your nose or brush your teeth. Unless there’s redness or intense pain, there’s no reason for concern.
Your gums may also become swollen. This condition is called pregnancy gingivitis.
Remember to take good care of your dental hygiene and visit your dentist when you’re pregnant, that’ll help deal with any possibility of gingivitis, should it turn out to be uncomfortable.
I would have never guessed that I would have to increase my visits to the dentists when I got pregnant. So it was another one of my surprisingly weird early pregnancy symptoms
#11 Constipation
Can’t go to the bathroom? You may be pregnant! Another common (but lesser-known) of the weird early pregnancy symptoms is constipation.
Due to the relaxing of the muscles because of progesterone, you may have trouble doing your business. The thing that can help you most is having a healthy diet.
Eat fruit and fiber to help your organism go. They won’t help with the gas, though, eat them in healthy amounts!
#12 Vivid Dreams
The bodies of pregnant women need to do a lot of work. After all, they are growing a baby!
This means that they need more sleep. So, they sleep for more time, meaning that they dream more. Makes sense, right?
There’s also a huge psychological and hormonal change going on, so they have more illusions and worries, which manifest themselves as dreams.
Pregnant women often dream about their unborn baby or have sweet dreams about labor. They also have tons of nightmares.
The crazy thing? When I was pregnant I remembered my dreams in excruciating detail… and it’s fairly common! Since dreams during pregnancy are so intense, they are easier to remember since they are triggered by your daily emotions!
That’s a Wrap
There you have it! Are you experiencing any of these weird early pregnancy symptoms? Did they take you by surprise?
They sure surprised me! What other unexpected things have you felt during pregnancy?
Give us a shout in the comments!