Soup’s on!

Head chef at Scarleteen Heather Corinna has cooked up yet another tasty new article for you: Chicken Soup for the Pregnancy Symptom Freakout's Soul.

• The Soup de jour: If you want to just dig in right away, please click here.
• Hors d'oeuvres If you’d prefer more to hear a partial list of ingredients before ordering, please read below.

The Recipe for Distress:

Who: You (or your girlfriend or your best friend or your sister or that random woman over there...)

What: Are concerned / worried / scared / convinced and freaked out that you might be pregnant.

Where: The fear can strike anywhere: In the school cafeteria, on the bus ride home, at a friend’s sleepover, during softball practice, etc.

When: Anytime after having some sort of sexual activity.

Why: You used some form of reliable birth control properly but you just have a hunch you could/should/would be pregnant.

How: You notice one or more of these symptoms: A missed, lighter, or shorter menstrual period than usual; breast tenderness or enlargement; nipple sensitivity; frequent urination; feeling unusually tired; nausea and/or vomiting; feeling bloated; cramps; increased or decreased appetite; feeling more emotional than usual.

The Dose of Reality:

But sometimes maybe it is really is something harmless and totally unrelated: Because those spoiled spinach really can make you, well, toss your tossed salad. Yeah, you really can get that nervous before a test. And staying up all night for two days straight does eventually catch up with you.

The Details:

The article intends to help you relax and realize why you’re probably not pregnant. It also gives some tips on how to avoid pregnancy, explains what so-called surefire pregnancy signs can actually be, provides advice on buying home pregnancy kits, shows why OD-ing on internet self-diagnosis can be bad, and tells what to do should you indeed be pregnant.

Enough said, enough read: One order of Chicken Soup for the Pregnancy Symptom Freakout's Soul coming up!

But wait, you’d still like more or want to try an entirely different dish?!

Here are some more resources we’d like to offer you:

Wanna see how you can be prepared for sexual encounters (and thus sidestep such freakouts!)

• What's the best method of contraception for you? Play Birth Control Bingo and find out!
• "Where do babies come from?": http://www.scarleteen.com/article/reproduction
• Safer Sex is sexy: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/infection

Wanna hear more first-person accounts of being pregnant or a young parent or having an abortion?

• In your own words: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/words

Wanna hear about other people’s experiences with pregnancy scares?

• Click here and here for a whole list of pregnancy risk and fear questions, because you’re certainly not alone! (Thanks to Scarleteen’s snazzy tag function.)

Wanna see how your interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships can affect how you’re feeling about sex (e.g. reasons why you might be freaking out more than “necessary” about this?)

• SexYOUality:: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/sexuality
• Romantic, sexual and platonic relationships:: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/relationships
• Especially for guys: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/boyfriend (Because while you can’t get pregnant, your female sexual partner/s can!)

Wanna get your mind off pregnancy altogether with some random-but-related empowerment?

• Sexy empowerment: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/pink/an_immodest_proposal
• Be awesome, not bored: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/relationships/to_be_awesome_or_just_be...
• Chill out, adults!: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/politics/a_calm_view_from_the_eye_of_t...
• Take action!: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/politics/activism_101

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