Updated November 27, 2014.

I got an email from a worried mom this week. She's pregnant. (Yay!) Though she was concerned over what she calls pregnancy symptoms that "come and go." While there are many ways to interpret this, I know that many pregnant women obsess over the state of their pregnancy symptoms. Have you ever caught your self asking any of these questions?

• Do I have pregnancy symptoms?
• Do I have enough pregnancy symptoms?

• Do I have too many pregnancy symptoms?
• Do I have the symptoms today that I had yesterday?
• Is this <insert weird body happening> a pregnancy symptom?

Think about this in terms of breast tenderness.  Yes, it's a sign of pregnancy when your breasts hurt.  But then you wind up spot checking during the day; you surreptitiously bring your arms up to your breasts and press slightly. If you wince in pain, you think, "Yes!" Though if you're not in pain you either: A) Worry B) Press Harder to Double Check or C) All of the Above. After a few checks of this nature, you begin to worry if your breasts are in pain, namely because you think perhaps it's not a pregnancy symptom, but rather, something you caused by all that pressing.

Have I adequately addressed some of the crazy mental gymnastics pregnant women do?  What's your crazy line of thinking in regard to signs and symptoms of pregnancy?

P.S. It can be perfectly natural to have a cycle of pregnancy symptoms that are not constantly present. It's also normal to have no symptoms.

You want to worry when you had symptoms and they completely disappear.

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