Pregnancy signs at two weeks

Wondering if you’re pregnant? Even if it’s still early days, there may be tell-tale signs that your body is changing.

Pregnancy symptoms before a missed period include:

• tender breasts
• feeling nauseous
• increased vaginal discharge
• tiredness

Learn more about these symptoms, and how soon you might expect to experience them. Discover when you can take a pregnancy test and find out when morning sickness may start.

Will I notice pregnancy signs at two weeks?

Some, but not all, women get the feeling that they’re pregnant a few days after they’ve conceived (Murray and Hassall 2014). So it’s possible that you may experience pregnancy symptoms as early as two weeks after conception. But it's more likely that you won't feel anything for a little while longer yet.

It may be two weeks since you conceived, but your doctor will calculate that you’re four weeks pregnant. She’ll count your pregnancy from the first day of your last period. Unless you used an assisted conception treatment such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF), there’s no way of knowing for sure the exact date that the embryo implanted in your uterus (womb), which is when you conceived.

Every pregnancy is different, so it’s hard to predict if you’ll notice changes in your body, especially just two weeks after conception.

Early pregnancy symptoms such as tender breasts, tiredness and feeling sick, are easy to confuse with signs that your period is coming. For most women, the first sign they notice is a missed period (Murray and Hassall 2014).

Apart from a missed period, which pregnancy signs will I notice first?

You may feel a prickling or tingling sensation in your breasts, particularly around your nipples. It happens because pregnancy hormones increase the blood supply to your breasts (Blackburn 2013, Murray and Hassall 2014).

This can be one of the earliest signs of pregnancy. You may notice how tender your breasts feel within a week or so of conception. Your usual bra may become uncomfortable and chafe more than usual. Sore breasts more commonly become noticeable about three weeks to four weeks after conception, though (Murray and Hassall 2014).

Another early sign of pregnancy is the change in colour of your vulva and vagina. Your vulva and vagina are usually pink, but this changes to dark purplish-red as your pregnancy progresses (Geraghty and Pomeranz 2011 cited Hassall and Murray 2014).

The change is caused by the increased amount of blood being supplied to the tissues around your vagina. Midwives call this change in colour Chadwick’s sign (Geraghty and Pomeranz 2011 cited Murray and Hassall 2014).

It’s possible that if you’re particularly in tune with your usual menstrual cycle, you will notice changes to your vaginal discharge at this early stage.

It’s common to have more vaginal discharge in pregnancy. It’s usually harmless, and not that different from the discharge that you had before you were pregnant.

The amount of discharge increases to discourage infections from travelling up your vagina (NHS 2015a). Don’t rinse out your vagina (douching), as this may irritate your skin and upset the natural, healthy balance of bacteria.

Pregnancy also makes you more likely to get thrush. Although this isn’t harmful to your baby, you’ll need treatment. If your vaginal discharge changes in appearance and smell, see your doctor.

If I have vaginal spotting, does it mean I’m not pregnant?

Not necessarily. You may notice a slight pink or brown-coloured stain in your undies, or when you wee, or feel slight cramping. It’s common to have some spotting or light bleeding between week six and week seven (Hasan et al 2010, Newson 2014).

Experts aren’t sure why spotting in very early pregnancy happens, but it’s likely to be caused by the developing placenta. Once you're about six weeks pregnant, the placenta takes over from your body the job of making pregnancy hormones (Hasan et al 2010, van Oppenraaij et al 2009), which may result in some light bleeding.

Although the bleeding may happen about the time you'd expect your period, it's unlikely to be anything to do with the hormones that control your periods lingering on, or the fertilised egg implanting in your uterus.

Most spotting is painless, and you may only notice it when you wipe. It usually doesn't last longer than three days (Hasan et al 2010).

If you have bleeding that seems unusual, see your doctor, to be on the safe side. Bleeding that’s lighter, and brighter, or darker red than usual, or more watery, may be a symptom of an ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy is when the embryo implants outside the uterus, and it needs immediate treatment.

Will I get cravings yet?

At this early stage, you're more likely to experience a change in your appetite than cravings for particular foods (NHS 2016). You may notice a metallic taste in your mouth and be extra sensitive to the smells of food or cooking (Newson 2014, NHS 2016).

The pregnancy hormone progesterone may make you feel hungrier (Hirschberg 2012). But it’s also normal to feel hungrier just before your period for the same reason – higher levels of progesterone. So increased appetite doesn’t necessarily mean you've conceived (Hirschberg 2012).

It’s more common to have a loss of appetite, especially if you’re starting to feel queasy because of morning sickness. You may be opting for certain foods that ease your symptoms, rather than because you crave them (Weigel et al 2011).

You may not be able to bear the taste of things that you used to enjoy. You may go right off coffee, tea, alcohol, spicy or fried foods, and eggs.

When will morning sickness happen?

Morning sickness can start two weeks after you’ve conceived, when you’re actually four weeks pregnant. It’s more common for it to start when you’re about six weeks pregnant, though (Blackburn 2013, Murray and Hassall 2014, NHS 2016).

You may feel nauseous, with or without vomiting, at any time of the day or night. Morning sickness usually starts to ease as you reach the end of the first trimester (Niebyl 2010), although about one woman in 10 still feels sick after week 20 (NHS 2015b).

The exact cause of morning sickness is unknown, but it’s thought to be connected to the rise in pregnancy hormones human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) and oestrogen.

Will my energy levels change early in pregnancy?

You may start to feel tired right from the early stages of pregnancy, as your body gets ready to support your growing baby. You’ll find this lasts until you’re about 12 weeks pregnant (Blackburn 2013). You may also feel weepy and emotional, while at other times elated (NHS 2016, Raynor and Oates 2009).

Though fatigue is not a sure-fire symptom on its own, it’s a common pregnancy symptom, and often goes hand in hand with morning sickness (Gartland et al 2010, NHS 2015b).

Is it too early to take a pregnancy test?

At two weeks, it may be. The more sensitive home pregnancy tests claim to detect low levels of pregnancy hormones as early as four or five days before your period is due (NHS 2015c).

But the most reliable sign of pregnancy is a missed period. You’ll get the most accurate result from your pregnancy test if you use it no earlier than the time when your period would be due.

If your period is late, and your test result is negative, try testing again in three days’ time. If you have an irregular cycle, it may be that you’ve tested a little too early.

You may also like

• Learn more about home pregnancy tests
• Discover what a faint line on a home pregnancy test means
• Is it time to start planning the perfect pregnancy announcement?

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