Video:Pregnancy Symptoms You Might Not Expect

Transcript:Pregnancy Symptoms You Might Not Expect

Hello I'm Dr. Stuart James Fischbein. I'm a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. My website is www.birthinginstincts.com. I'm here today on behalf of about.com to discuss with you pregnancy symptoms that you might not expect.

Common Pregnancy Symptoms

Before we discuss what you might not expect let's discuss symptoms that are pretty common. In the first trimester it's very common to be nauseous, to have some breast tenderness, some water retention, maybe a little bit of a headache. Those things in the first trimester are quite normal. You may also even have a little bit of spotting in the first trimester and of course that's always worrisome, but most the time it's what we call implantation bleeding, it's as the pregnancy grows, some of the little blood vessels are invaded by the placenta and cause a little bit of blood to come out. Of course if that's concerning you obviously contact your practitioner.

In the second trimester you might have a little reprieve from some of the things like nausea and swelling, and your breasts are sort of used to where you're at right now, so you might enjoy yourself a little bit more during that time. Some of the things that would be unexpected in the second trimester would be persistent cramping. Now it’s normal every now and then for the uterus to tighten up but it shouldn't hurt.

Pregnancy Warning Signs

If you start having regular pains where it’s hurting and it's sort of time-able, that this doesn't feel like something you’ve felt before, that's a reason, again to get in contact with your practitioner. Bleeding at any time after the first trimester is certainly something that needs to be looked at.

You might again start to pee more, but again I don't know if that's unexpected. You might retain water more in the second trimester. You might develop some stretch marks in the second or third trimester. I'm not sure that these things are expected or unexpected; it depends on how well your prenatal education is going and whether this is your first second or third pregnancy. By the time you’ve done your third pregnancy you pretty well can expect that your pregnancy is going to be similar to your other two. And don't make the mistake that it's going to be similar to your girlfriend’s or your mother’s or your sister’s, because that's not necessarily the case.

Third Trimester Pregnancy Symptoms

In the third trimester you might get shortness of breath and you might find that your energy level is much diminished. You might find that going up a flight of stairs is more exhausting for you. You might find that you are anemic which is not really a symptom it's more of a sign your doctor will find which can contribute to some of these, as well as pressure as the baby grows, on your intestines and on your diaphragm.

You might not expect constipation. Some women get constipated when they're pregnant and make sure that you're drinking enough water. And they may prescribe some sort of fiber supplement or possibly just change your diet to help with that. Other things that you might not expect would be a headache that is something that can happen for short periods of time but should not be something that happens daily, and should not be persistent that would be something that you would want to contact your practitioner about.

Baby is not moving would be something you would also want to contact your practitioner about, but understand that your baby’s pattern of movement that you've gotten so used to may change in the last month of pregnancy as babies sort of get limited in the amount of space they have, and so you might notice a subjective decrease in fetal movement but the baby still moves in its normal times and patterns and you sort of become very familiar with your baby because you and that little person inside of you are really attached to each other so you're going to be an early warning system if something is going on there because you're going to feel that something is different.

Enjoy your pregnancy and try to understand that most of the things that you feel are going to be normal and you should have a good relationship with your practitioner to contact them if anything feels a little bit odd to you. Again I’m Dr. Stuart James Fischbein. Thank you so much for watching. If you'd like to learn more visit us online at about.com.