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Dr. Karen Perkins, OB/GYN, of Mercy Medical Center

Mercy's Dr. Karen Perkins, OB/GYN, Discusses The Signs Of Pregnancy On WBAL-TV11's "Woman's Doctor" Program

While most women are familiar with the classic signs of pregnancy, including missed periods and morning sickness, there are other symptoms that can appear within days after conception.

Shaquetta Green will soon have a baby girl, but before she knew she was pregnant, she said she had symptoms.

"My breasts did start getting tender and very sore, and the smell of cooking grease — that started to get to me," she said.

Mercy Medical Center Dr. Karen Perkins, OB/GYN, noted that breast tenderness and aversions to food are two of the early signs of pregnancy that can affect a woman as early as a week after conception.

"More so to the hormones — the progestin that's being produced by the pregnancy," Dr. Perkins said.

Fatigue is another early sign of pregnancy.

"I'm noticing that I was sleeping more often. I wasn't going out as much as I used to, so yeah, I was tired," Green said.

Pregnant women can also experience frequent urination, mood swings, bloating, cramps and backaches, dizziness, headaches and something called implantation bleeding.

"There are some patients who do have spotting or bleeding. That could be normal, or it could be just implantation bleed, as we call it, but again, it's something that might need medical care if it persists or is of concern to the pregnancy, so we have them check in with their doctors," Dr. Perkins said.

According to Dr. Perkins, there are steps for pregnant women who have these early symptoms: "(They should be) looking to keep themselves well-hydrated, eating appropriately, making sure they're getting vitamins — folic acid — those are the things they're going to want to do to help make sure they're healthy and that they're able to take on those early symptoms that they may experience with pregnancy," she said.

If you think you're pregnant, you should make an appointment to see your doctor. For more information, watch WBAL-TV11's interview with Dr. Karen Perkins at http://www.wbaltv.com/womansdoctor/19304192/detail.html