Significant changes in your hormone levels can affect your level of neurotransmitters, which are brain chemicals that regulate mood. Mood swings are mostly experienced during the first trimester between 6 to 10 weeks and then again in the third trimester as your body prepares for birth.
Mood swings and stress are common symptoms reported by many women in the early stages of pregnancy. Many women in the early stages of pregnancy describe feelings of heightened emotions or even crying spells.
Emotional turbulence tends to hit hardest during the first trimester, as your body is adjusting to changing hormone levels. For some women, mood swings are one of the earliest signs of pregnancy, starting as soon as week 4.
This is especially true in the first trimester. Apart from sickness and tiredness, it's common to have mood swings and feel tearful or easily irritated (Society for Endocrinology, 2018). Once the body has adapted to the higher levels of these hormones, the symptoms usually wear off.
Symptoms of early pregnancy include missed periods, nausea and vomiting, breast changes, tiredness and frequent urination. Many of these symptoms can also be caused by other factors such as stress or illness.
"Common symptoms are irritability, sadness, or anxiety, and they may be [more] prominent in certain months of pregnancy," Shivakumar adds. For example, the fluctuating levels of estrogen and progesterone in your bloodstream can make you especially moody during the first trimester.
“The key difference between the two, however, is that with pregnancy, your period doesn't occur.” Nausea and vomiting are symptoms that can accompany pregnancy and are often not experienced with PMS. “The nausea in early pregnancy often resolves after the 12th week of gestation,“ Giles said.
Some women experience irritability and even anger during pregnancy. Hormone changes are one reason for these mood swings. Just like some women experience irritability just before their period arrives every month, these same women may struggle with feelings of frustration and anger during pregnancy.
Try to validate your partner's feelings, even if you feel their worries are not rational or are out of proportion to the situation. Ask plenty of questions and let your partner tell you what they need in terms of support – even if this does change frequently.
Don t be surprised if you develop a bit of a 6 weeks pregnant belly. Although your 6 week embryo is still well down in your pelvis, some women, especially those who've been pregnant before, seem to show much earlier. General abdominal distention is usually the cause.
Week 4 of pregnancy
For example, a fertilised egg may have implanted in your womb just 2 weeks ago, but if the first day of your last period was 4 weeks ago, this means you're officially four weeks pregnant! Pregnancy normally lasts from 37 weeks to 42 weeks from the first day of your last period.
The first 72 hours of pregnancy symptoms are: late period, positive pregnancy test, implantation bleeding, tiredness, bloating and twinges/cramps.
Some women are especially sensitive to changes in progesterone, which can cause an increase in emotional instability. Your moods can change all throughout pregnancy and may find yourself becoming irritable, moody, and tearful.
The most common cause of extreme emotional responses during pregnancy is hormones. Your hormones tend to fluctuate as your body enters the first trimester and changes to support the growing life inside you. This can lead to more intense feelings, conflicting emotions, and frequent mood swings.
There are plenty of reasons why you may have lost interest. The hormones coursing through your body may be affecting your libido, and you might have some fears about the impact on your baby. Pregnancy also brings a whole new host of worries and concerns, and it can be hard to feel sexy when you're stressed.
Things like missing your period, sore or tender breasts, feeling more tired and nausea (morning sickness) are common symptoms of early pregnancy. Some people have symptoms of pregnancy before they miss their period.
You can do a test on the first day your period's due. The test measures a hormone called human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) in your urine. For the result to be positive, your body must be making enough for the test to pick it up, usually about 2 weeks after you conceive.
Does a pregnancy test appear positive at 2 weeks? Typically, at-home tests will not start to register a pregnancy until at least week 4 or after a woman misses her first period. Pregnancy tests help determine if a woman is pregnant by measuring the presence of certain hormones.