Signs and symptoms of teenage pregnancy

·        
Missed
period: A
missed period may alert a teenager that she is indeed pregnant. Though,
teenager may miss her period for a variety of other reasons such as
participation in sports, loss of weight or extreme stress, but a period that is
over a month late coupled with other pregnancy signs can signal that the teen
is expecting.

·        
Nausea or
vomiting: Pregnant teenage girls often experience extreme
morning sickness during the early stages of their pregnancy. Morning sickness
is described as mild to extreme nausea or vomiting that can occur throughout
the day. Some teens may experience morning sickness at the same time every day,
while others may have random bouts of nausea or vomiting.  In addition, a teenager may have sudden and
intense aversions to certain foods such as meats or fried foods that can cause
a queasy stomach. Nausea and vomiting typically begin a few weeks after
conception due to increasing hormone levels.

·        
Frequent
urination: Frequent urination is a common early sign of a teen
pregnancy. A pregnant teen may notice that she needs to go to the bathroom
several times a day. She may also have to get up two or three times a night to
urinate. Teenagers may experience frequent urination when their uterus begins
to swell putting pressure on their bladder. Many teenagers can have an increase
in urination within a week or two after pregnancy has occurred.

·        
Swollen
and tender breasts: As the pregnancy progresses, a
teen may notice that her breasts have become larger and more sensitive due to
increasing hormones. A girl may feel tenderness in her breasts as her breasts
prepare to produce milk for her baby. Pregnant teens usually experience mild to
severe pain in one or both breasts. A teen girl can experience discomfort if
something touches or brushes against her breasts. She may also notice stinging
and shooting pains in her nipples.

·        
Extreme
fatigue and appetite changes: During the earlier stages of
pregnancy, a teen girl may experience a decrease in energy and a change in
appetite. She may feel so tired after school that she falls asleep as soon as
she gets home from school. Pregnant teens may be too tired to participate in
the extracurricular activities that they used to enjoy. Some teen girls may
complain that they are always hungry and they may begin to crave certain foods.
These girls may appear to gain weight in their breasts, abdomen and face. Other
teens may hardly eat at all due to frequent bouts of nausea and vomiting. These
girls may appear to be rapidly losing weight.

·        
Moodiness:
An
early sign of teenage pregnancy is unusual moodiness. Increasing hormone levels
can cause pregnant teens to become uncharacteristically irritable and jumpy.
Pregnant teens may have intense mood swings in which one minute they are happy
and the next minute they are depressed. A pregnant teen may become moody
because she does not understand what is happening to her. She may not realize
that she is pregnant or she may be in denial about it because she does not want
to deal with what is happening to her body.