Dear Doctor,

I just found out I am three weeks pregnant after doing two tests and they came out positive. What’s worrying me is I absolutely have no symptoms at all. No cramps, no sore breasts, no tiredness, no nausea...nothing.

Is this normal? Is the pregnancy okay?

Diana

Dear Diana,

There are many symptoms of early pregnancy, like morning sickness which is one of the most common symptoms of early pregnancy. Nausea and or vomiting can occur in the morning or any time of the day. This may be associated with burning pain in the chest or abdomen.  There may be a bloating sensation of the abdomen, cramps in the lower abdomen and legs as it occurs during menses.

Taste can get altered with preference for certain foods and repulsion towards some foods. Craving can develop for certain foods to the extent that some women develop craving and cannot stop themselves from eating, even inedible items like clay, mud or lime.

Some women can have altered bowel habits, thus developing constipation in early pregnancy.  The breasts can become swollen and painful to touch.

Due to the increase in volume of blood circulating in the body, a load is put over the kidneys causing enhanced urination.

In addition, if there is urinary tract infection, that adds on to the frequency of urination. Due to increased blood circulation, inner lining of the nose can become swollen, dry and stuffy. Sometimes this can cause nose bleeds.  Mild to severe headache may occur. Backache can also occur during pregnancy due to laxity of ligaments of the back and increased demand of calcium.

One may have mood changes and emotional instability. This can manifest as a tendency to cry over trivial things, feel depressed even if lonely for a short time, etcetera. There is increased somnolence and one may feel like sleeping during the day, even after a good night’s rest.   Along with one or more of these problems, there could be early fatigue.

Though pregnancy is diagnosed after missing a period, some individuals can experience mild vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy, which occurs due to implantation of fertilised ovum in the inner lining of the uterus.  This usually stops by the end of the first trimester, but may rarely continue later as well.

All these symptoms occur due to hormonal changes occurring during pregnancy. But they are not necessarily indicators of pregnancy. If only one has missed a period and then has one or more of these problems, pregnancy is suspected and confirmed by a positive pregnancy test. They can also herald an impending sickness. 

Some women can experience one or more of these symptoms at beginning of menstruation as well. There may be no symptoms in an early pregnancy, yet the pregnancy would be normal and proceed normally. This happens to be as in your case. A clinical examination and ultrasound can confirm the pregnancy to be normal.

  Dr Rachna is a specialist in  internal medicine at Ruhengeri Hospital.

rachna212002@yahoo.co.uk