How long does it take to realise you're definitely pregnant?

Well I met a woman who didn’t realize even after she was in labour.

Everyone is different, but I knew right away.

Everyone, really, everyone is different.

Some women are so regular, that basically as soon as they get pregnant, they know. Some women skip periods really regularly, so they may not realize it until they get a huge tummy. Some women never get a huge tummy or skip periods so they may not know until…. well, you get the idea.

Mostly, I think they know after a pregnancy test is done.

The body starts to change pretty soon after conception. My breast swelled, I began to have powerful aversions to food even before I skipped a period. No off-the-shelf pregnancy tests in my day; we had the rabbit test done at the doctor’s. Doc. got a urine sample and had it injected into the rabbit. Don’t ask what proved that one was pregnant.

The other give-away for me was the inexplicable sudden inability to button a skirt or jeans

It’s varied greatly amongst the women I know who have had kids. Most had it figured out within a month or two, one swears she knew at the moment of conception.

The rabbit test really piqued my curiosity! Here's what I found on it in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_test

I would like to be able to say I just “knew” but I didn’t really know until I saw two lines on that stick. Even then I held my breath while the OB/Gyn did a follow-up test. It was then that I started to notice all the other things going on.

In the days of yore, a woman wasn’t considered pregnant until she felt the baby move. And since she was the only one who would feel that, only she could say when she was pregnant.

Sore boobs, and a gut feeling that you are pregnant. I knew I was pregnant at conception, but evryone is different. I knew someone who did not know until after being admitted to hospital with a burst appendix and 5 hours later gave birth to a baby girl!

I’m just curious about the women who say that they knew at conception. Did you ever go back and find out that that really was the moment of conception?

I was married with an active sex life. I woke up on the morning of March 11 knowing I was pregnant. The baby was born on January 11.

I was pretty sure by my fifth week. I did a home pregnancy test to confirm it. My daughter knew the very day she got pregnant. She called and told me, and I told her to wait long enough to do a home test. She did just to satisfy me but she was right!!

My first pregnancy, I had no idea, until I miscarried at 9 weeks. However, with my daughter and son, at 6 weeks, I was miserable. I had headaches that wouldn’t go away and morning sickness (what a lie…“morning” sickness…yeah, right.) that never stopped. I had miscarriages in between those children, one pretty late, I knew by my 3rd month that I was pregnant and later lost the baby.

Dead giveaway for me, seems to be sheer misery. I have a friend that found out at 3 months and still wasn’t convinced, I believe she told the doctor he was nuts.

It happens, but some women are just not very regular, it’s easy for them to miss the signs. Also, if a woman is irregular and overweight, it could explain it a little more, since she might not “show” in the same way.

It happens.

@galileogirl: I have counted on my fingers several times and still get 10 months from Mar.11 to Jan.11. What am I doing wrong?

I knew because my body was behaving extremely differently than normal. Only a few weeks in and I was tired all the time no matter how much sleep I got. I started noticing smells that other people couldn’t even pick up on, I was constantly sick to my stomach and I craved red meat much more than normal.

I was never sick to my stomach but started to loathe red meat. And I forgot about the fatigue and the sensitivity to odors.

@gailcalled, that’s funny. Pregnancy was probably the only time I seriously craved red meat. It seemed to be the only thing I wanted for a few months; however, that morning sickness generally took care of that issue.

@cak: That’s how it was for me, too. I rarely eat red meat on a regular basis, but that was the one time I wanted it all the time.

And I couldn’t even be in the same room as a slice of roast beef. I got bad heartburn with my second and ended up drinking lots of milkshakes.

Neither my mother, my sister nor I ever had any morning sickness. Very odd, isn’t it?

I knew right away. And was thrilled. I enjoyed both pregnancies very much.

Sorry that was April 11, the day after the Filipino-American dinner dance celebrating the Bataan Death March. We slipped out during the survivors’ speeches for a quickie and got back in time for the dancing. I know that sounds a little strange but the speeches were boring but Filipinos threw great dances.

My ex always knew before I did. Well, not the first time, but thereafter. I had irregular periods, and each time I got pregnant I had a short, light period. It wasn’t until I started feeling ill that he suggested I was pregnant. He was right.

A woman becomes a mother when she realizes she is pregnant.
A man becomes a father when he first carries his son/daughter.

…thanks babygall… I guess?

Doesn’t really answer your question, but I like the quote.

And if you’re galileogirl, 10 months apparently :-)

I admit I have a hard time letting go of things.