# Do women "know" when they are pregnant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318 "2004-05-03T18:56:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrattiAtti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@BrattiAtti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrattiAtti)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/21 "2004-05-04T19:15:01Z")
I knew an hour after the event occured. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/22 "2004-05-04T22:35:57Z")
> [@Sandlegs](#): > > I’m not talking really about the usual symptoms, just an overwhelming sense that you were pregnant. My wife and I conceived within two weeks of our wedding (Jan 11, 2004). She swears it happened on her birthday, and she knew the following day. However, from watching the recent Nova special “The Miracle of Life,” I doubt the egg was actually fertilized that soon… the little swimmer that did the deed was probably launched during our honeymoon, a week earlier. But, details of the timing aside, she knew very soon. At first it was just an overwhelming sensation, followed by sore breasts, moodiness, water retention, etc… She also claims she can feel herself ovulate. She says it feels like a “pinch” and she can even discern which ovary is popping. And to her credit, we never used any birth control other than abstaining from intercourse when she says she’s ovulating, and the one time I ignored her warning – BOOM – pink and blue lines on the little test wand a month later. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/23 "2004-05-04T22:38:19Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > I wondered just this past month; nausea, sore breasts, tiredness, and a condom incident a week or so earlier, but my period showed up on schedule and full force. Well, I also recently learned on NOVA that sometimes the egg is fertilized, but it just doesn’t “take.” Just sharing an FYI there… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/24 "2004-05-04T23:05:27Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > Well, I also recently learned on NOVA that sometimes the egg is fertilized, but it just doesn’t “take.” > > Just sharing an FYI there… 🙂 Well, heck, I guess I get an egg fertilized every single month then. Including all the years before I ever had sex… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yamirskoonir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c0e974/32.png) [@Yamirskoonir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yamirskoonir)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/25 "2004-05-04T23:10:41Z")
My best friend is psychic when it comes to unborn children. She knew her first was coming after a week when she kept absent-mindedly running her hand over her belly. Wasn’t even aware she was doing it. Fast forward to two months ago: she started running her hand over our _friend’s_ belly absent-mindedly. Again, wasn’t aware that she was compulsively doing it. We found out 1 week later that our friend was pregnant (also about the guy she had been seeing without telling us)! Last weekend: started the belly-rubbing thing on herself again. Friend and I are trying to get her to a doctor, or at least get her to take a home test so we can know for sure - but she doesn’t want to find out yet! ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/26 "2004-05-04T23:26:39Z")
> [@](#): > > She also claims she can feel herself ovulate. She says it feels like a “pinch” and she can even discern which ovary is popping. Yep, some women can tell that. I can’t, but I had a roommate who knew exactly, every time. She also described it as a pinch. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/27 "2004-05-05T00:14:37Z")
Boy not me. I was 13 _weeks_ pregnant before I even noticed I was late! Dur… ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/28 "2004-05-05T01:01:05Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > My wife and I conceived within two weeks of our wedding (Jan 11, 2004)… Hey! Thats my birthday! Just a little tidbit to add into the thread… ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/29 "2004-05-05T01:04:27Z")
> [@Roadwalker](#): > > My wife knew 5 out of six times. So have I, not the same kids. I’m probably going to get a BIG “whoosh” out of this one, but I would assume that there would have to be some overlap. :dubious: Or are we not talking about the same wife here? 🙂 My co-worker, who is currently very pregnant, swears that she knew she was pregnant before the sweat even dried. Sort of a very literal “well, THAT one hit the spot!” (I didn’t think the little guys could swim that fast, but since I have no personal experience in the matter, I must bow to her instincts.) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/30 "2004-05-05T01:20:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Do women “know” when they are pregnant? The answer is yes, they [“know”](http://www.juvalamu.com/qmarks/) they are pregnant 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/31 "2004-05-05T01:31:13Z")
OK, now, if I read that site correctly (and I think I do), they support the idea of quotation marks setting off a statement that doesn’t quite literally what it says. I’m a punctuation pendant myself, but I think the Quoterati are getting a little “neurotic”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![furthur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@furthur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furthur)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/32 "2004-05-05T04:29:30Z")
I had no clue either time. The first go-round, we were even trying, and I had no idea. But as another poster has pointed out, early pregnancy symptoms can mimic PMS effectively, and that’s what I assumed I had. My cycle has always been somewhat erratic, so there wasn’t any missed-period dead giveaway sign either. I was only about 5 weeks pregnant when I found out, though. Second time around, I was about four weeks pregnant. Found out during an ER visit. I’d had severe GI flu, which escalated to major spasming of my entire digestive system (think pain til you scream). They couldn’t find any outside reason but did a pregnancy test just in case, and sure enough. I was completely floored. I believe “No way!” was my response both times. Yes, way. 😃 Mrs. Furthur ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/33 "2004-05-05T14:12:34Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > OK, now, if I read that site correctly (and I think I do), they support the idea of quotation marks setting off a statement that doesn’t quite literally what it says. I’m a punctuation pendant myself, but I think the Quoterati are getting a little “neurotic”. 😉 That’s their take. Unfortunately, it seems the site has been “recently” updated. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/34 "2004-05-05T17:42:30Z")
A friend of mine, who has smoked most of her life, was trying to get preggers. One day she lit up a fag and her body said ‘No, thank you.’ She put it out and hasn’t smoked another since. The following week, she discovered that she was pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/35 "2004-05-07T08:05:37Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Some do. I didn’t. > > I went through two years of trying to conceive. There were several months where I KNEW I was pregnant, but I never had a pregnancy test turn up positive. > > Then, a few years later, we had our surprise. Missed the first trimester. Completely clueless. See, that’s the other side of the coin. Those of you who KNEW every time you **were** pregnant, did you ever have instances where you KNEW, but it turned out you weren’t? Not putting anyone down here, just asking. Anecdote: I’ve never conceived, but once when I was waitressing, I got hit with a full-pipe wave of nausea. I had to put down my tray right on the counter and beeline to the ladies’, where I detonated into the bowl. “It’s probably just gas,” I said, a few minutes later, to the hostess, who had followed me in. She patted my back and said, “That’s what I thought with my first!” Well, I still don’t know what that was, but I’m still childless. ---
**Author:** ![Nimue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Nimue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimue)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318/36 "2004-05-07T14:22:45Z")
My last course of birth control pills ran out last September (I had been on them for about 8 years) and we decided to go ahead and start trying in October. I got pregnant right away, but I had no sense of intuition about it at all. Maybe it’s because in general I’ve had quite an easy pregnancy (no morning sickness or other typical first trimester symptoms). But even once I began showing I didn’t “feel” pregnant. Now I’m at 7 months and definitely physically feel pregnant, but I still have a hard time believing that there’s a baby in there waiting to come out, even when I’m being pummelled. I’ve had 4 ultrasounds, too, so I’ve seen the baby plenty, and I love it, but I can’t quite get my head around it. Probably because I’m a first-time mom and don’t have any concrete, first-hand experience of how exactly life is going to change. Or maybe I just failed Female Intuition 101. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-when-they-are-pregnant/243318.md?page=1)