Are you pregnant, or is it PMS?

REAL MOMS DISH

Ah, early pregnancy. A time of questions — are you pregnant, or is this just some PMS fun? Is there really a difference? We spoke with real moms to find out what their first clues were that told them that a little one was on the way.

Sensitive, painful boobs

It’s not just a myth. Many moms experience nipple soreness or increased sensitivity in the early days of pregnancy. Christine, expecting a baby next year, explained, “I experienced the most painful boobs I have ever had, worse than any period-induced boob sensitivity. I knew then.”

Metallic taste

One unusual symptom that moms experience is a different taste in the mouth. “There were two things I had never experienced before — nipple sensitivity and a metallic taste in my mouth,” said Lisa, mom of three. “When I had the metallic taste in my mouth, I knew I was pregnant with Morgan!”

Pinching feeling

Other moms report that they felt pinching in their abdomens early on. “My earliest symptoms were very much like PMS symptoms,” shared Stacy, mom of two. “Crampy, sore-ish tingly boobs, bloating. The only thing that was different was the pinchy feeling I got in my lower abdomen.”

Nausea

Nausea, a classic pregnancy sign, often takes weeks to manifest, but some moms knew that something was up when they were nauseated, but not suffering from a virus. “I was super nauseous and weak for no apparent reason, and then the smell of cooking sausages nearly made me puke,” shared Jessica from Florida.

Exhaustion

Fatigue was also something that helped moms clue in to the possibility. “The first time, I didn’t realize I was pregnant until a couple of weeks in, but the second time I knew a few days before my missed period because I was so tired,” said Kim, mom of two.

Lexi, mom of one, had a similar experience. “The night before I took my pregnancy test, I fell asleep at 8 p.m. and slept through to the next day, which I remember at the time thinking that was really strange,“ she said.

Nothing at all

And still other moms reported that they didn’t really have any specific feelings or unusual symptoms. “I had no symptoms other than a missed period,” said Lisa, mom of one.

Ultimately, a pregnancy test will tell you yes or no, but if you’re waiting for the opportunity to test, it can be hard to not analyze everything that you’re going through to see if it’s possibly a sign of pregnancy. Take heart — soon you’ll be able to know for sure, and if you are, you can share your early pregnancy symptoms with other moms.