Welcome to Gaia! ::

I'd prefer to speak with women who have been/are pregnant, just because I'd prefer to speak with someone out of experience.

I recently lost my health insurance due to my mother getting a new job, and having no way to prove I'm in school (because I'm not), and with my new insurance (which I now pay for myself), I cannot afford my Neuvaring. So, needless to say, I haven't been on it in awhile. Well, the problem is, I've still been sexually active (with my long term boyfriend), but we haven't been using condoms. Obviously I've come to the conclusion that I could be pregnant.

For the past week or so, I've been having strange cravings, I've been horribly hungry to the point if I don't eat every two or three hours, I get bad stomach cramps, I've been getting dull back aches, odd headaches and I've been feeling dizzy and sick. Naturally, being a realistic person, I figured it was all in my head, because I've been scared of being pregnant before, but this feel different...I have never had an experience quite like this before. My period is due any day now, but I have this odd instinct that it isn't going to start.

Now I know from stories that stress can delay a period up to two months or more, but I'm a really relaxed person and I've never once missed a period.

I wanted to talk to someone that's been pregnant before: what did it feel like the first couple weeks? Did you even notice it? What were your earliest symptoms and how long did it take for them to arise?

I'm going to take a test, but I'm waiting to see if my period starts first because they're expensive, and it would be a waste...My last period was exactly four weeks ago today. And in case you are wondering, I'm nineteen (that's not terribly young to have a child, is it? I'll be twenty in November).

Those symptoms could mean pregnancy or they could mean many other things. Early pregnancy symptoms are very vague. The only way to know if you are pregnant is to take a pregnancy test.

Being short on cash is no excuse for not using protection if you don't want a baby right now. You can get birth control, paps, a pregnancy test, and more for free or low cost from a clinic like Planned Parenthood or Family Planning. You can use www.plannedparenthood.org to search for a clinic near you. Let them know you'd like a pregnancy test, birth control, and a pap if you're overdue for one.

Let us know how it goes!