Moms of the SDMB- how did you know you were pregnant & what did you crave?

In My Humble Opinion
1

By how I mean what symptoms did you exhibit that made you wonder. Besides the obvious-missed period, nausea, breast changes etc. And how far along were you when you started to have symptoms? I’m trying to get pregnant currently- no luck yet, but I have hypothyroidism and I’m still trying to get that smoothed out. I’ve heard some women say they felt “under the weather” and that led them to suspect. Also I have a hard time believing the woman who says “I knew right away that I was pregnant”, when it actually takes about a week for the fertilized egg to travel down the fallopian tube & implant itself. But then, maybe when it happens to me I’ll “just know”. I shouldn’t discount that, maybe it’s a special “mommy sense”.

And, what foods did you crave while you were pregnant? And what foods could you not stand? One woman I know, who is a vegetarian, craved eggs throughout her pregnancy. And another woman I know likes coffee, but the smell of it brewing nauseated her during hers.

Thanks for sharing!

2

I was about two weeks along, hadn’t missed a period yet, and my breasts felt odd. I just had a gut feeling that I was pregs. We got one of the home tests, and it came back positive. I waited about a month tho, before going to the Dr. and having a real test done.

I don’t recall any cravings, but fried foods gave me killer heartburn, so I avoided them. All in all, my pregnancy was a great time in my life, except for the last couple of weeks, because my rotten kid was late and she insisted on performing gymnastics in utero.

Wish I coulda had another…

3

I have a really messed up cycle when I’m not on the pill…but for some reason, I just suspected. I even did two HPTs (two days apart) that came up negative.

A few days later I went out with some friends and had four beers. The next day I was hung over and puking until 6pm, really. I did another HPT the following day and it turned blue within seconds.

As for cravings…nachos with tons of jalapenos. I was obsessed.

Oh and Grape Nuts cereal. I bought it in those huge boxes from warehouse clubs and ate it every day, sometimes more than once. After I had Syn O. Nym, I didn’t touch it again until just recently…2 1/2 years later.

And vinegar too, on salads (w/o oil), fries, sandwiches, etc. There was a local pub by my house that served a gourmet version of a McDonald’s Filet-o-fish…came with fries too. I would order that and they eventually knew to bring me an empty bowl and a bottle of basalmic vinegar. I’d fill the bowl with vinegar and let the fries soak. While they were getting drenched, I’d eat my sandwich…dipping that into the bowl too. It was disgusting.

Good luck!

4

lessee… (IIRC, the fertilized egg releases compounds before implantation, and those set up some prep for implantation as well, which might include symptoms that are noticable) Note that my ‘knowing’ results vary each time.

First preg (my son), I knew because I got cramping about a week before usual (implantation) but NO signs of PMS whatsoever. No bloating, no crankiness, nothing. Just felt great AND had nasty cramps. Fortunately someone had told me that cramping was one of the signs they’d had, or I’d have discounted it.

Second preg, I knew before implantation was possible. That was a whoops preg, we knew it was just slightly possible that I was going to get preg. About three days after ovulating (days before implantation) I just was filled with this indescribable joy and bliss, and epeepunk said “you’re pregnant” … followed by me having a major spiritual experience a day later (from my perspective, I met the soul - I don’t care if anyone believes it, but it was one of those things that if I’d been standing it would have genuinely brought me to my knees - major transformative event). Also had nausea and breast changes (including color change), but ‘already knew’. I miscarried, though.

Next one, I nearly passed out after walking down the stairs. That was about a day post implantation, and the next day I started with morning sickness. I ‘knew’ then. My mom had a similar pattern - she started getting sick immediately at implantation after her first child. Whee. Similar breast changes again. Miscarried again, though, later this time, majorly sucky.

Current one, I have my actual daily notes from that, still… (due Oct 29th) - but I wasn’t at all sure that I was pregnant until I got a positive test (it was wacky, symptom-wise, and no ‘feeling’ that I was or was not - just limbo-ish)… here goes:

1/28-2/1 ovaries sore. 2/2, ovulated (SHOW, if you know what that means). 2/5, slight cramping, hot (high blood supply) sensation in uterus (pre-implantation), slight nausea, but that happens at progesterone surges for me anyway. 2/6, back pain and cramping, no more nausea. 2/7, (earliest probable implantation date) gums start to swell. 2/8, breasts slightly sore, minor nausea again. 2/9, more cramping, harder now. 2/10, breasts much more sore. 2/11, no more cramping, but back pain and breasts still sore. 2/12, mild nausea (again!), breasts now feel ‘spikey’ (that is, prickly kind of pain), uterus feels hard/swollen. 2/13, crampy and irritable. 2/14, cramps and back ache. 2/15, suddenly hungrier than usual, breasts still sore, more cramps. 2/16, hungries, cramps - period should be arriving today, test tomorrow? 2/17, no period, test negative, no cramps, breasts still sore but not worse. 2/18, magically feel GREAT, no cramps, no PMS, no preg symptoms, but felt pretty warm, daytime body tem was 99.4 (very high for me). 2/19, definitely feel HOT, but nothing else. 2/20, nothing much, feel fine. 2/21, minor cramping, but nothing else. 2/22, change in CM to creamy plus EWCM (what the heck??). 2/23, noticed breasts sorer again, plus ‘real’ nausea, plus noticed my nipples are darkening. 2/24, tested positive (a week late).

Note, each time I’ve been pregnant, epeepunk has gotten the HUNGRIES a few days before my period should have been due. His blood sugar is normally extremely stable, but he gets major crash-I-must-eat-NOW events when I’m pregnant, even before we know I am. I think we’ll just go by that, for further pregs, because it is really obvious (and yeah, the guy’s hormones DO change when you are pregnant - and change again when the baby arrives, including a significant rise in estradiol, which prompts bonding and parenting behaviors, supposedly).

Cravings? Almost none at all the first time (only aversions). None I remember from the middle two pregs. Salty and sour stuff (pickles) first trimester this time, followed by veggies second trimester (asparagus, avocado, zucchini, and atrichokes, mostly), followed by red meat and fruit third trimester. Craving red meat sucks, if you are avoiding the rare meat thing. I dislike overcooked meat, but that’s the only option I have (other than trusting that they really DID use deep-frozen meat…).

5

right, aversions - none this time, but with my son, I could not bear being anywhere near broccoli (it smelled really foul), I couldn’t stand raspberry leaf tea (despite it being ‘good for me’), and chocolate tasted TERRIBLE. Bummer.

6

My period has always been very regular, but I’m a lousy time-keeper. It occured to me one day that I thought I probably should have had my period the week before, but we were really busy with Mother’s day and out of town company, and charity work, etc, so I just put it to the back of my mind. By the time things calmed down and I had time to think, I figured I was about 3 weeks late. Since I hadn’t missed a period since I was 13 and my breasts also hurt like hell, I was sure I was pregnanat. I didn’t even bother with the home test–just made an appointment with the OB.

I’m 5 months now and I can’t say I’ve had any cravings or aversions, but my sense of smell is heightened. I had to sit in a meeting last week where one of the speakers had really bad breath. It didn’t seem like anyone else could tell, but it was making me sick.

7

Well we were trying so I was on the lookout, but I remember coming in from teaching one afternoon, flopping down on the couch and saying “either I’m pregnant or I’m coming down with mono.” It was the former. So, the first thing I noticed was unexplained fatigue.

The second time I didn’t notice any symptoms at all, in fact I was certain that I wasn’t pregnant because I was having what I thought was an abnormally long period. When I went to the gynocologist to find out why, she took one look at the relevant areas and sent me to pee in a cup. Surprise!

I didn’t have really specific cravings. About the only thing different was a tendancy to eat more sweets than I usually do. The first time I couldn’t stand the smell of coffee, but the second time I drank a cup every day.

8

I was three months along before I realized, because I frequently skipped periods anyway. I had developed aversions to chocolate and garlic, which are normally two of my favorites, but I didn’t make the connection. I seemed to be getting tired easily, but I thought that was just from dealing with my alcoholic husband. The timing for my pregnancy was just really bad, and I guess I just didn’t want to believe it. Not that I have any regrets, I wouldn’t want to have missed having my son.

9

Similar to eulailia in that I was almost done with my first tri-mester before I knew it. I had tried unsuccessfully for years to get pregnant. We were in the middle of the adoption process, with my son two months from arrival from Korea when conception occurred, so it never occurred to me.

Watch for tender breasts and tiredness. In retrospect, I had both. But not everyone has symptoms at all. In fact, as cher3 pointed out, the obvious missed period isn’t true for everyone either.

But, as someone who suffered from infertility for years, I wouldn’t watch for anything at all. If you take care of yourself, take your vitimins, you’ll be in good shape and you won’t drive yourself crazy wondering if every tender breast, tired day, or icky tummy is IT.

10

I had no idea with any of them. My family swears that they can tell when I’m pregnant just by looking at me, so in almost all cases, they were the first ones to notice. My periods are irregular at best, so I was almost half way through by the time I found out I was pregnant with my youngest.

Cravings?

First one: Started off with an Old Dutch “sausage stick” (kind of like hot rods, but better) craving, and spent the last trimester eating cantaloupes all the time! 3 or 4 a day, anyway. Strange thing is, my oldest has been a vegetarian by choice since before he could talk (even before he could talk, he’d spit meat out of his mouth) and he won’t even touch a cantaloupe.

Second one: A general fruit craving, but mostly I felt the urge to bake the whole time. I baked pies, and I don’t even like pie. I baked cinnamon sticky rolls several times a week. I didn’t want to eat the fruits of my labour, I just needed to do it. And my second child? Loves to cook! He asked for an Easy Bake oven when he was 7.

Third one: Apples. Bought bags and bags and bags of apples. Ate them constantly. No interesting story here, or on the next one. My third child eats apples ok. Not her favourite, doesn’t hate it.

Fourth one: Oranges. Even more than the apples on the previous pregnancy. Ok. I accidently fibbed. I did have a feeling I might be pregnant when I started craving grapefruit juice, which I used to HATE! So, oranges and grapefruit juice.

11

The condom broke, so I was on the lookout. I paid attention to my body, not in the detail that hedra did, but I noticed the changes. My entire body felt just sort of off, I guess. My breasts were very tender, and I had to pee constantly. They say it’s because of baby bouncing on the bladder, but it’s a hormone change.
I had a wonderful pregnancy. I was sick for about a month but only in the mornings, and when I switched vitamins I was fine. Apparently, the high iron dosage in my Materna[sup]tm[/sup] vitamins was causing me to vomit.

As for cravings… oy did I want donairs. Mmmmm donairs. If you don’t know what a donair is, it is like a Gyro, but with a sweet sauce rather than tzatziki. Later in my pregnancy, I would go for a daily walk to the donair place in the nearby mall. Mmmmm. Incidentally, my son loves garlic. I wonder if this is a coincidence.

12

I found out I was pregnant completely by accident (had to get a pregnancy test before the doc would refill my birth control–yes, I was on birth control!) I was about one-two months along. I had no idea! Not only that, but I continued to have periods until I was in my fourth month of pregnancy.

My craving was dill pickle chips. For the first time in my life, I could devour entire (big) bags of chips. On one occasion I was stuck at home but the craving was so intense that I begged family to go to the store for me and get the chips. Heh.

I couldn’t stand the smell of cooking oil. In fact, that continued until my baby was about a year old. Now I like fried foods again and it’s dill pickle chips I never want to see again. :slight_smile:

13

i just felt tired. all the time.

when i was pregnant with # 1, i wanted cheese enchiladas.
with # 2, i wanted big macs.
with # 3, i wanted cigarette ashes. warm cigarette ashes, not cold ones. and i didn’t smoke then.

14

With my first, I craved jelly, which I never liked, but from that day to this, I love it, all kinds of fruit jelly. and Twix candy bars. The smell of the gas stove at my MIL’s would make me hurl every time.
With my 2nd, I knew as I was lying in bed one night. I was not alone in my body. I was about 4 weeks along, if that, but I knew he was in there. I did an OTC test that week, saw the little blue spot and hurled for the first and last time during my pregancy. And craved nothing!

15

Thanks for all the replies! I’m wondering if I’m pregnant, I got my period on Aug. 12th, and this past week would be the week that a fertilized egg implanted. And we tried to fertilize some eggs the week before! I’m probably not, and I don’t want to get my hopes up. But the past two days I’ve felt very draggy/tired, and my temp has been elevated- this morning it was 98.4, which is high for me, usually it’s around 97.5. I’ve been craving breads- like croissants and stuff. We just bought a huge loaf of French bread at the store. I could just be getting sick, although I don’t know how since I’m not working at the moment and I don’t have a lot of contact with people right now. (When I worked at a Preschool I caught every cold/illness that the kids had) I don’t know, we’ll see.

Keep it coming, I want to know more!

16

About two weeks before my period was due, I got really intense mood swings, much like I do with PMS. So that was weird. Then my boobs started to really, really hurt. Two days after my period was due, I tested, and voila.

No real cravings, but I did develop a serious aversion to fish for the first three months.

17

.I knew casue I was trying, and noticed implantation spotting. Also, I started having to go to the bathroom more often.
I craved pancakes and iced tea, which were at this dinky restuarant right down the street.
I could even wait to go ther eif it was too cold out to walk(which it was).
Also, I craved popsicles and/or fruit.

18

I asked my wife (who is about 5 weeks away from giving birth to our first) and she said some breast tenderness and one week where she ate anything and everything - she even had two bloomin’ onions at Outback’s one night, on top of her meal.

The really nice thing is that we didn’t know for sure until Valentines day this year. :smiley:

19

With all of my pregnancies, the first symptoms were intense nausea which started right around the time I was due for my period, which I guess means I was only two or three weeks pregnant. I had the breast tenderness too, but I always get pretty intense breast tenderness in the day or two before my period starts anyway.

I had different cravings with each pregnancy. With my first pregnancy, I craved Cool Whip right out of the bowl, preferably partially frozen. With my second pregnancy, it was honey roasted peanuts. With my third pregnancy, it was raspberry or banana-cherry yogurt. With my fourth pregnancy, it was bbq flavored potato chips.

20

I miscarried three times before we finnally had LittleOne.
With all four I could not stand the smell of gasoline at the gas station, which makes it really hard to pump your own gas.

Also to this day I can’t stand the smell or taste of hot dogs. Also durning all four, and just through the first trimester, (when I finnally got that far with LittleOne) I could not even look at chocolate.

But all through my final pregancy what I really wanted was spicy food. The hotter and spicier the better. Now I can’t eat it when It’s too hot or spicy, but back then I could make the mouths of waiters drop by how much hot and spicy food I could put away.

The only real symtom I had was being tired all the time.

I also had hormone problems. Which was why I had three miscarriges. But not hypothyriodism. I didn’t have that until after giving birth. Make sure they check your levels again after you give birth, because they can change.