"My Normally Aloof Dog Attached Himself To Me": Moms Are Sharing The Bizarre Ways They Could Tell They Were Pregnant BEFORE They Took A Single Test
Before convenient pee-on-a-stick pregnancy tests, people had to rely on intuition and body cues to figure out if they were pregnant — anxiety-inducing, I know. And while today there are sure-fire ways of knowing if you are pregnant, people who have experienced pregnancy can still get in touch with that "mother's intuition."
Recently, u/adlittle1963 took to the r/askwomen community to ask, "What was your first telltale sign that you were pregnant before a positive test?" Women's responses were so fascinating — even borderline spooky, at times. Here are the comments that left me more convinced than ever that our bodies are inexplicably magical:
1."Before I knew I was pregnant, my cat followed me for a week straight. He normally does their own thing with periods of affection... every time I sat down, he laid on my belly and appeared to be smelling my breasts."
"Both times, one of my cats would not leave me alone. I'm talking 24/7, always sitting or laying on me."
2."I had a dream about a baby; it was lying in a basket on a soft white blanket. When I went up to it, its face lit up and said, 'It’s me!' Never have I ever had a dream about a newborn baby."
3."I was still breastfeeding my baby (she was about 11 months old) and she abruptly started refusing the breast. As soon as the milk started flowing, she’d yank her head off and away. I was devastated — I hadn’t been planning to wean her yet — but shortly after, I discovered I was pregnant. I hadn’t used birth control because I had been told that pregnancy was unlikely as long as the baby was primarily breastfed. Oops."
4."My son’s daycare teachers told me I was pregnant when I was one day late. Based on my son’s behavior, they could tell. They were right!"
5."My husband went to give me a back rub, and I told him if he touched me, I would divorce his butt. Then, two seconds later, I was hysterically crying because I felt bad that I didn’t want to be touched, and I threatened to leave him. He said, 'Babe, I think you're pregnant.' I told him to shut his mouth, then started crying again... I was pregnant."
6."I was super flexible at yoga. Normally, I am not flexible at all. I remembered that once we had a pregnant woman in our class, and our instructor told her to go easy because she had hormones that were making her flexible and she could injure herself."
7."It's weird, but I felt it almost immediately. Not in a specific way, but it was almost a spiritual feeling. It wasn't any way I had ever felt before. It's almost a sixth sense kind of thing. I just knew. I even tried to talk myself out of it because she wasn't planned. I had just started dating her dad the month previous, and I had been told in the past that I was infertile."
8."My normally aloof dog attached himself to me day and night. The Australian Shepherd slept glued to my stomach and chest. Up until then, he barely slept on the bed because he’d get too hot. Throughout my entire pregnancy, he was a complete mother hen. I knew labor was coming because he paced around me and one day literally herded me to the door. He was so wonderful with both of my boys."
9."I had this alien busting out of my chest dream. Every single time."
10."This is super weird, but I had like waxy buildup on one of my nipples. It was just like a little white clump. I looked it up, and it was listed as an early sign of pregnancy. We had been trying to get pregnant but hadn’t had a positive test yet. Tested positive a few days later!"
11."I started hysterically crying because my partner suggested seeing the in-laws. They are really not that bad!!"
12."I burped up eggs. I’d never had reflux before in my life."
13."It was weird, but I just felt something in my body. It seemed impossible, but I could feel it. I kept taking tests that came up negative, and I said to my husband, 'I’m really worried because if I’m not pregnant, I might have cancer.' Luckily, the test was positive a few days later."
14."I’d been trying to get pregnant for years and had given up. One day, I cried, I mean really cried, reading an article about a cow that had survived a hurricane and been washed to sea. My friend turned around, looked me dead in the eye, and said, 'You’re pregnant.' She said it with so much certainty that I took the test the next day. I was pregnant."
15."My husband always knew before me. He’s never told me how he knows. He’s always just come home with a pregnancy test."
16."I could feel my uterus had ‘hardened’ or firmed up or something. The first time I really suspected I was pregnant, I felt my lower abdomen, and it did feel firmer. Turns out I was pregnant. I’ve had three kids, and that ‘firm uterus’ thing tipped me off each time. I had a tubal over a decade ago, and if my period is ever late, it’s still the first thing I check."
17."I woke with completely clogged (but very dry) sinuses. Every time I was pregnant. That's how I knew."
18."My dog was obsessed with me, climbing all over me whenever I sat down and following me all around the house."
19."The first time I was pregnant, my teeth became more sensitive than normal. I ate an apple and almost cried because it hurt, and my friend was like, 'You’re probably pregnant.' The second time, I couldn’t stay awake at work. My coworker said, “Buy a test on the way home."
20."My pee smelled so damn strong! I drink A LOT of water so I noticed immediately. On a regular day, I just go, use our bidet, and carry on. After the third extra fragrant trip to the bathroom, I googled because I didn't have any UTI symptoms, just the strong smell. I think the ammonia in your body increases."
"My pee smelled weird. I could smell my hormones changing and knew I was pregnant... We are just animals after all."
21."I felt great after getting pregnant! My skin was clear; my hair was behaving, and I had no cramps, no bloating, no headaches, no muscle aches — none of my typical PMS symptoms, which usually kick up about 5–7 days before my period. I was one of those happy, glowing pregnant people. It sounds like I’m gloating, but it’s in opposition to the swamp witch I usually am."
22."I walked into work and was told I was glowing. A customer came in and told me I was glowing, and then the manager said the same thing. I got out of work and took a test, and it came back inconclusive, so I took another one the next day, and it said it was positive. Three people telling you you're glowing when you feel like biting heads off was the first sign."
23."I didn't realize it at the time, but my positive test made me look back and say, 'Of course!' I started waking up in the middle of the night needing to pee, which I never usually did (post-pregnancy is another story, lol). All of a sudden, I found myself extra cold all the time. And I was super tired and going to bed hours early."
"Pregnancy makes you get something like 50% more blood in your body, which explains the peeing and the chills (it can also cause the opposite and make you feel warm). I struggled with the blood volume issues all pregnancy; I wound up with low blood pressure, so I would feel faint and need to sit down a lot."
24."With my second born, I developed hyper-smell overnight. My deodorant was too strong, the new candle I had bought and loved suddenly repulsed me, and the fridge suddenly stunk. That and my kitty cat started jumping into my lap to snuggle. The only other time she ever did that was at the beginning of my first pregnancy, so I knew. Such good memories."
"My sense of smell was supercharged. Everything smelled so gross and weird."
"I could smell the Lysol under the sink downstairs in the kitchen when I was upstairs. My sense of smell just skyrocketed."
"I could smell EVERYTHING all of a sudden. Even celery."
25."I suddenly got overheated all day, no reason at all. It was an odd feeling I had never felt before, first baby. When it happened with my second baby, I knew immediately I was pregnant."
26."I went to reach for my smokes and realized I could not smoke. It wasn't a thought. It was a rolling, physical 'YUCK!' We found out a couple of weeks later that I was pregnant. I didn't smoke again for 28 years. No withdrawals. Nothing. I became a nonsmoker instantly."
27."My tell-tale sign was my dreams. When I am pregnant, all of my dreams are incredibly vivid and intense, unfortunately not in a good way. They are bad enough to be uncomfortable, and they stick with me for a little while."
28."I could not get enough boiled eggs. No one likes boiled eggs that much."
29."I ate everything. I had been unsuccessfully trying IVF. We were on our fourth IVF cycle, but I refused to test until the day before the blood test at the doctor's. I was also a very light eater. It was Sunday, and as I did every Sunday, I walked the dog and picked up an egg and cheese on a bagel sandwich for breakfast. I normally would eat half and save the other half for when my husband woke up. I ate the whole thing…"
"When my husband woke up and discovered there was no half-breakfast bagel, he started to make a sandwich for an early lunch. I asked him to make me a sandwich, too…
We decided to go to the movies and got a large popcorn and soda to share. The popcorn bucket was on my lap. My husband didn’t have much popcorn, but an hour in, he reached down into the bucket and hit bottom. I had eaten all of the popcorn…
As we left the theater, I asked my husband where we planned on going to dinner and recommended a restaurant to him for an early dinner.
He looked at me and asked me if I thought I was actually pregnant this time. 'Don’t say that!' I yelled.
Dinner at the restaurant was delicious. I also had dessert.
By the way, it was twins. They’re almost 15."
30."Burning nipples. Not just sensitivity, but I'm talking on fire and couldn't concentrate on anything else. The sensation lasted a few minutes each time. That had just never happened before as a PMS symptom."
31."I walked into a building and gagged. Said 'Oh, that was weird!' It was like the smell in the building just disagreed with me. I tested a couple of days later."
32."My mom looked me up and down and said, 'Your ass is pregnant.' I took a test, and it was positive. I asked how she knew, and she just said, 'Because my eyes work,' which didn’t really answer the question."
Were you confounded by the mysterious ways people knew they were pregnant, too? Let us know in the comments or anonymously via this form!
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
