When your belly 'pops', does it actually pop?

[M22]

i'm the same- i look baout 6 motns preg and i'm 35 weeks- other prego women jsut keep tellingme it's great!! i was the same with number 1 as well.

count your blessings darl!!

[Nelle]

There will come a point where bub keeps getting bigger and you'll have to stretch.
I can't find it, but there's a pic of my belly at 21 weeks, and I don't look pregnant at all. The bump definitely came a few weeks later though. If you're tall, if bub is your first, if you have good posture (stand straight), if bub is posterior, if you are a little weighty - there's many reasons you might not get a belly for awhile, and then within a week or so, there's no denying that you have a bump.

[Lolli]

Gradual the first time round until about 30 weeks- I woke up one morning and suddenly I looked pregnant, not like had a bit of a spare tire.

This time I have been fluctuating- some days people go "You're huge" (thanks, SIL) and some days I don't look pregnant at all.

[Cassius2]

mine was more of a 'pop'. i got up one day and realised i couldn't do up my pants so had a look in the mirror and sure enough, it was (finally LOL!) a pg belly...

i also didnt show up pg, until about week 23...

[~Hestia~]

For me it was a gradual thing. I never got that pop, although people said to me "Oh you've suddenly popped!!" but I think they just hadn't noticed it yet.
However I did have & still do have days where I think "Hmmm...wasn't that big a few days ago..."
Your midwife is right. I certainly got thicker around the waist before anything else happened. But don't worry about it if your midwife is happy with your progress. Everyone is different & I'm sure you'll be showing off that belly before you know it

[Just Me]

I felt like I popped with this baby one night last week - I woke up in the morning and my singlet I was wearing just felt tighter. I don't know if visually I looked remarkably different though. It has been more of a gradual thing to actually have the look of feeling pg.

Another contributing factor to you not having much of a bump maybe if you have good ab muscles. One of the reasons you pop out later in your first pg is because all your ab muscles can be holding it all in. Once bub stretches everything, you will get a belly, it might just take a bit more time.

Your 17 weeks now, I would say that in the next month you will probably start to look pg. I think most people start to look pg by the 20 - 22 week mark.

[Beautitude]

I got a gradual belly although i thought it was massive but no one else could see it. By 20 weeks i had a good sized belly and you could tell i was pregnant and didn't eat too much cake at morning tea! By the time i gave birth at 38 weeks though i had a massive belly and everyone thought i was having twins. Enjoy having a little belly for now as when its big it is big!!!