In some cases, a woman’s intuition; that indefinable thing, may possibly the first thing that alerts a woman to the fact that she is pregnant – that unshakable feeling that something is changing and burgeoning within her. But other than this inexpressible feeling, there are other signs and symptoms of pregnancy that may appear very early on, such as:

• Though missing a period is probably the first definitive sign of a pregnancy, some of the symptoms of pregnancy are ironically a little bit like a period.

• For instance breast tenderness is one of the very early signs of a pregnancy. They may feel swollen and sensitive, even painful rather like some women experience before the start of their monthly period.

• A slight amount of vaginal bleeding or light spotting is seen at the time of implantation of the embryo. This is when the fertilized egg implants into the wall of the uterus and starts to grow and this is also among the first and early signs of pregnancy.

• Unexplained feelings of tiredness can also occur very early in pregnancy as the body undergoes a sea of hormonal change. Some women find that they get really sleepy and need more sleep than usual.

• Many women find that they seem to be on an emotional roller coaster early in their pregnancy – elated one moment and then tearful the next.

• A sudden distaste or oversensitivity for certain tastes and smells early on in pregnancy is supposed to be nature’s way of protecting the expectant mother and unborn child from any toxic substances. Some women find that their sense of smell is at its most acute during the early days of pregnancy.

• The feeling of having to go to the bathroom urgently is another of the early pregnancy signs.

• Morning sickness or nausea at any other time may also be among the first signs.

• For many women there may be no symptoms at all and the first she may know about a pregnancy is when she takes a test.

The pregnancy tests that are commonly available are those that will tell you whether or not you're pregnant on the day that your period would ordinarily have been due. A hormone called hCG is started to be produced by the body when conception takes place, which, when detected in a pregnancy test, will show a positive result.

Some of the more sensitive pregnancy tests are able to detect a conception even as early as 7 days after a woman has ovulated. However at this stage there may not be enough hCG in the blood stream or the urine for a pregnancy to be detected and a false negative could result.

It is best to wait until 14 days after ovulation or until the first that a period has been missed to take the test. This will yield more accurate results because by this time there is enough hCG present in the system to test positive is conception has taken place.