If you’ve had unprotected sex, there’s a possibility that you may be pregnant. But once you start having the early signs of pregnancy – absence of menstruation, morning sickness, bloating and swelling of the breasts – you might begin to believe that you are indeed pregnant. However, the next question is: what do you do if you think you’re pregnant.

First of all, you need to confirm your suspicions with an at home pregnancy test. You can find these at grocery stores, retailers, as well as your local pharmacy. For about ten dollars, you’ll be able to use a home pregnancy test that’s just as effective as the doctor’s office testing. Most tests are designed to be highly sensitive to the hormone that is produced during pregnancy, so you can use the test at any time – older tests used to need the first urine output of the morning to be able to detect the HcG hormones.

Follow the directions closely to make sure that you’re going to get an accurate result. Any human error can cause a false negative reading (false positives are harder to product) leading you to believe that you’re not pregnant when you are. You will need to urinate on the testing stick for a number of seconds, or you can urinate into a provided cup and dip the stick into the urine. After about three minutes, the test will be complete and you will have your result. For most positive readings, you will be able to see the positive reading at about the two minute point. The results will not be valid after a half an hour or so, so you need to time this exactly.

If you’ve gotten a positive reading, you’ll want to call your gynecologist in order to confirm your results. At that appointment, if your results are confirmed, you can speak to him or her about finding an obstetrician or midwife to help you with the prenatal care. Finding good medical care as you go through your pregnancy is vitally important for your health and the health of your unborn child. Just finding out that you’re pregnant isn’t enough – you need to be closely monitored throughout your pregnancy to be sure that you’re getting the care that you need.

However, if this is a pregnancy that was not planned or is something that you’re not ready for, talk to your doctor about these feelings. They may be able to guide you to options that will work for your current position – abortion or adoption. These are difficult things to consider, but talking with a medical professional about them will aid in your getting the proper care for your decision.

If you’ve excited about the pregnancy, it’s time to start caring for this little life inside of you. You want to begin reading as much as you can about fetal development and pregnancy in order to know everything that you can. At times, all of this information will be overwhelming, but it’s good that you start to educate yourself outside of the doctor’s office. When you have questions, don’t be afraid to call your doctor, your mother or your best friend for help.

And start taking care of your new life by eating right and exercising moderately. If there was ever a time to make sure that you’re getting the right fruits and vegetables in your diet, this is it. Start drinking more water and take the time to rest when you get tired. If you’re suffering from morning sickness, you might want to talk to your doctor about ways to alleviate the symptoms naturally – motion sickness bands and ginger might be some suggestions that you receive.

But before you start to delve too much into your pregnancy, tell someone! This is your time to celebrate your becoming a mother. Talk to your family, your friends, and whoever else will listen about your pregnancy. You will find that you will have an easier time in pregnancy when you tell more people as they can give you advice as well as a person to talk to if things become difficult.

Pregnancy is a joyous time that’s also filled with responsibility. For you and your unborn child, you need to begin to take care of yourself immediately. So if you think that you may be pregnant, take a home test and find out if you can begin picking out the colors for the nursery.