s is not
an absolute sign of pregnancy, since other things or conditions may cause
it. The effect of the mind upon the body may cause it, and it also occurs
sometimes in early married life without any appreciable cause, unless it
may be then due to the effect upon the nervous system of the marital
relation. Again, the monthly sickness sometimes continues in a greater or
less degree, during a part or even the whole of pregnancy. Usually this
discharge is due to some diseased condition of the cervix. The fear of
impregnation in unmarried women after illicit intercourse will
occasionally suspend menstruation for one or two months.

Nausea and Vomiting.--Another symptom upon which considerable dependence
is placed is the morning sickness (nausea and vomiting). While this
symptom is common, yet its absence does not prove that the woman is not
pregnant. Some women go through the whole pregnancy without any sign of
this symptom.

Nausea accompanied or not by vomiting may appear at the very time of
conception, but it usually appears about the fourth or fifth week of
pregnancy and continues until the sixteenth week or longer. In some cases
it may last but a short time, in others it may continue until confinement.
It may be light or severe; It generally manifests itself upon arising in
the morning and subsides in a short time, but it may occur at any time of
the day and continue during the entire waking hours. It may be absent
entirely and, in rare instances, manifest itself in the husband alone. I
have known of one such case. This nausea may be excited only by various
odors or sights or may be caused by constipation. An increased secretion
from the salivary glands usually accompanies the stomach disturbances and
in some cases it may amount to salivation. An irresistible desire for
certain articles of food or drink, generally of a sour or acid nature, is
often developed. Indigestion, gas in the bowels and belching of gas are
frequently present. The appetite is often capricious or it may be entirely
lost (anorexia).

Breasts.--Changes in the breasts also constitute a sign of pregnancy. As
an early symptom, there may be a feeling of fullness, sometimes pain. They
become larger and firmer from the development of the individual lobules,
which have an irregular knotty feel. A fat deposit takes place between the
lobules and in the other parts of the breast. The nipples increase in
size, are harder to the touch, become more prominent.