This Is How I Knew I Was Pregnant

Every woman realizes they're expecting in a different way. According to Dr. Laura Riley, a Parents advisor and the author of You & Your Baby: Pregnancy, the first sign is often a missed period. Since the uterus is building up its lining to prepare for implantation of the fertilized egg, it won't shed with your monthly flow.

Soon after your first missed period, Dr. Riley says you may notice that your breasts feel sore, and that you're more tired than usual. Still other women know they're pregnant once the morning sickness hit full force. Read on to see how Parents staff members first discovered the happy news.

Missed Menstrual Period: "Well, my period has always been like clockwork, so the second I saw that it didn't arrive, I thought I'm pregnant. And my husband went straight to one of the local shops and bought a pregnancy test. It was positive and we sat around the whole day in disbelief." — Grace Bastidas, Editor-in-Chief, Parents Latina/Ser Padres

Morning Sickness: "The first clue that I was pregnant was definitely feeling nauseous. And it's a different kind of nausea. It's not sea sick, it's not car sick. And it's not morning sickness—it's all day sickness." — Liz Krieger, Interim Associate Editor, Parents

Fatigue: "I think my first clue that I was pregnant was I was tired all the time." — Laura Fenton, Lifestyle Director, Parents

Sore Nipples: "[I was ] in the shower—and pregnant ladies, you can probably relate, but if you're facing the water, it just basically feels like bullets right on those nipples." — Julia Dennison, Executive Editor, Parents Digital

Headaches: "I was getting a lot of headaches, but I was tracking every single day, I was waiting for this baby. So I took this test at the first possible moment." — Elizabeth Shaw, Former Editor-in-Chief, FamilyFun

Pregnancy Test: "My first clue I was pregnant was a positive pregnancy test!" — Erika Janes, Former Digital Director, Parents.com

Loss of Appetite: "With my son's pregnancy, I was eating a bowl of chips and queso. I ate like three chips and was like, "I don't feel so good." And my cousin was like, "You're pregnant!" I guess I like chips and queso. She knew immediately when I couldn't eat a bowl of chips and queso that I was pregnant. And she was right." — Jessica Hartshorn, Entertainment Editor, Parents