'Delay and test are not a guarantee': the gynecologist told how to determine early pregnancy
'23.04.2021'
Source: lady.tut.by
Regardless of whether a woman is planning a baby or not, waiting for menstruation can be a nervous period. For some, this is a welcome event, because you want to give birth, for someone - on the contrary: in no case now you do not want to give birth. Naturally, this condition makes you come up with many different signs, which are called the first signs of pregnancy. But which ones might actually be? For Lady.tut.by explains obstetrician-gynecologist of the highest category Natalia Moroz.
Are nausea, dizziness, and frequent urination the truth of the "bells"?
- Let’s begin to understand how pregnancy generally begins, - Natalya suggests. - When an egg meets a sperm cell, its fertilization occurs. At this point, cell division begins and a blastocyst (several cells) appears, as yet not even an embryo or embryo. This blastocyst slowly moves along the fallopian tube to gain a foothold there.
The process can continue 5-7 days after the immediate moment of fertilization.
So early a woman will definitely not be able to feel anything, these are her own feelings and inventions. But as soon as this egg, which has already been fertilized and in which division into cells has begun, is implanted into the uterus, a special hormone, chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), is released into the mother's body. Already from this time, changes are really taking place that a woman can feel.
They can occur even before the delay of menstruation. Natalia Moroz notes that most often these symptoms are weakness, malaise, bloating, minor pain, frequent urination.
“But so far these symptoms are not very pronounced,” the doctor draws attention. - They become more pronounced after the start of the delay.
Why does this hCG affect the female body?
- A woman has a corpus luteum, which forms after ovulation - the release of an egg. If pregnancy does not occur, there is a regression of the corpus luteum - and menstruation begins, ”Natalya explains. - If pregnancy occurs, the secreted hCG transforms the corpus luteum, and it is already called the corpus luteum of pregnancy. It begins to produce large doses of progesterone, and this noticeably affects the body.
This hormone, in turn, relaxes all organs, they become "lazy."
- Again - constipation, bloating, pressure decrease (therefore, many pregnant women complain of low rates), there may be dizziness, temperature changes, the specialist lists. - The more frequent urge to urinate is affected not only by progesterone, but also by an increase in the uterus, which begins to put a little pressure on the wall of the bladder.
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If, in addition to this, the menstruation did not go, is it already a pregnancy?
“Delay is not always pregnancy,” the doctor emphasizes. - This can happen for several reasons. Normally, the follicle increases in size, in the middle of the cycle it ruptures (ovulation) - and the egg comes out. But if ovulation for some reason did not occur, the follicle can form into a functional cyst. She is able to live for a very long time in the female body and give a delay. Then the cyst itself regresses and goes away. Other types of cysts can also interfere with ovulation.
The list of reasons for the delay does not end there.
- Some women have so many small follicles that not one of them goes through all stages of their development. In this case, scleropolicystosis of the ovaries develops: they increase in size, but their function is impaired.
In addition, Natalya notes, sudden weight loss also becomes a signal for the body to suspend reproductive processes.
- For example, a similar situation was during the war: then many women did not have menstruation at all. That is, the hypothalamic-pituitary system "said" to the body: "We must go into hibernation." All these points can cause a delay or absence of menstruation without a developing pregnancy.
If everything is so complicated, why are there cases when a woman does not know about her pregnancy right up to the birth?
According to the doctor, most often this happens with very full women who weigh 100-120 kilograms.
“As a rule, in these cases, no one notices a set of additional 10 kilograms,” says Natalya. - It is natural that such women develop scleropolycystic ovaries. As I said, in this case, the ovaries do not work, and menstruation may not come for 3-6 or even 12 months. Women with such a diagnosis are already accustomed to this, and the situation does not cause them concern.
In this case, so-called spontaneous ovulation can happen - for example, once a year. If it so happened that at that time the sperm was nearby, pregnancy may occur. And only when in the later stages the baby is moving, does a woman notice her position.
“Although in such cases, some associate these sensations with the work of the intestines,” the doctor smiles.
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It seems that you can’t do without a test. Which method is the most reliable?
Both test strips that you can buy at the pharmacy and blood tests are based on determining the level of hCG.
- At the beginning of pregnancy, the concentration of the hCG hormone will still be low, so the test strip may not show anything on the first day of the delay, Natalya warns. - But sometimes a cyst of the corpus luteum gives a positive result of this test, when ovulation seems to have occurred, but the corpus luteum regressed - the development has returned. An ectopic pregnancy or cancer of the adrenal gland can also cause a false positive test.
A blood test, of course, will be more reliable. The gynecologist advises making it on the first day of the delay, but not passing it once, but several - to track the dynamics:
- Give blood once, and the next three days later. If the level of hCG will grow exponentially (conditionally: it was 10, it became 100), then this indicates a normally developing pregnancy. The growth rate stops somewhere in the 13-16th week.
Ultrasound will show the presence of pregnancy even later - somewhere on the 7-10th day of the delay.
“Even if implantation of a fertilized egg into the uterus has already taken place, the doctor will see on the screen only a thickened endometrium,” the gynecologist says. - That is, first of all, the blood will respond to hCG - it is better to do such an analysis.
The material is published for informational purposes only, does not constitute medical advice and does not replace medical advice. ForumDaily Woman is not responsible for any diagnosis made by the reader based on the site's materials, as well as for the consequences of self-medication, and may not share the point of view of the author or expert.
