What to expect when you're expecting
(usually about two to three weeks after conception) may be the need to pee with frightening frequency. Curious why? See page 135 for all the reasons.
    Fatigue . Extreme fatigue. Make that exhaustion. Complete lack of energy. Super sluggishness. Whatever you call it, it’s a drag—literally. And as your body starts cranking up that baby-making machine, it’ll only get more draining. See page 127 for reasons why.
    Nausea . Here’s another reason why you might want to consider moving into the bathroom, at least until the first trimester is finished. Nausea and vomiting—aka morning sickness (if only it were limited to the morning)—can strike a newly pregnant woman fairly soon after conception, though it’s more likely to begin around week 6. For a host of reasons why, see page 130 .
    Smell sensitivity . Since a heightened sense of smell is one of the first changes some newly pregnant women report, pregnancy might be in the air if your sniffer’s suddenly more sensitive—and easily offended.
    Bloating . Feeling like a walking flotation device? That bloated feeling can creep up (and out) on you very early in a pregnancy—though it may be difficult to differentiate between a preperiod bloat and a pregnancy bloat. It’s too soon to attribute any swelling to your baby’s growth, but you can chalk it up to those hormones again.
    Rising temperature . Basal body temperature, that is. If you’ve been tracking yourfirst morning temperature with a special basal body thermometer, you might notice that your basal body temperature rises around one degree when you conceive and continues to stay elevated throughout your pregnancy. Though not a foolproof sign (there are other reasons why you may notice a rise in temperature), it could give you advance notice of big—though still very little—news.
    Missed period. It might be stating the obvious, but if you’ve missed a period (especially if your periods generally run like clockwork), you may already be suspecting pregnancy—even before a pregnancy test confirms it.
Diagnosing Pregnancy

    “How can I find out for sure whether I’m pregnant or not?”
    Aside from that most remarkable of diagnostic tools, a woman’s intuition (some women “feel” they’re pregnant within moments of conception), modern medical science is still your best bet when it comes to diagnosing a pregnancy accurately. Luckily, these days there are many ways to find out for sure that you’ve got a baby on board:
    The home pregnancy test. It’s as easy as one-two-pee, and you can do it all in the privacy and comfort of your own bathroom. Home pregnancy tests (HPTs) are not only quick and accurate, but you can even start using some brands before you’ve missed your period (though accuracy will get better as you get closer to P-day).
    All HPTs measure urinary levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a (developing) placenta-produced hormone of pregnancy. HCG finds its way into your bloodstream and urine almost immediately after an embryo begins implanting in the uterus, between 6 and 12 days after fertilization. As soon as hCG can be detected in your urine, you can (theoretically) get a positive reading. But there is a limit to how soon these HPTs can work—they’re sensitive, but not always that sensitive. One week after conception there’s hCG in your urine, but it’s not enough for the HPT to pick up—which means that if you test seven days before your expected period, you’re likely to get a false negative even if you’re pregnant.
    Just can’t wait to pee on that stick? Some tests promise 60 percent accuracy four days before your expected period. Not a betting woman? Wait until the day your period is expected, and you’ll have about a 90 percent chance of netting the correct result. Test a week later, and the accuracy rate jumps to 97 percent. Whenever you decide to take the testing plunge, the good news is that false positives are much less common than false negatives—which means

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