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

[BloominRoses]

Sorry if this is a stupid question but it's driving me nuts now.

I went for my first appt with the hospital on Monday and the midwife seemed really happy with my weight, progress, etc. She said I'm at exactly my perfect BMI which she said is a great achievement for a pregnant woman apparently and my weight gain is negligible at this point. I kept asking her about my lack of belly - I keep saying it just looks like I've eaten a big bowl of pasta at lunch - and she kept assuring me everything was okay.

She also advised that a lot of first-time mummies begin to gain weight around their waist first - thickening up or creating love handles - as opposed to showing right away. Also, I'm 5'8 (172cm), now 62.5kg and am very small-boned so she said I will most likely not carry as someone heavier than I would.

All of this makes sense and I realise that everyone carries differently and begins to show at various times, dependent on numerous factors. But when I finally 'pop', will it be an overnight thing? Will I one morning wake up and have my much-anticipated belly or will it just be a gradual process? I'm jumping out of bed each morning and rushing to look in the full-length mirror and I'm honestly starting to feel like quite the dork.

This may sound silly and so many people, including my midwife and Dr, have told me I should be grateful while it lasts but seeing other people's photos, combined with the fact that I had a low PAPP-A reading at my 12wk scan has left me freaked out a bit.

TIA if you have made it through reading this one!
Shari xo

[Pandora]

it can sure seem like it happens overnight. I woke up one morning and felt like I'd swallowed a basketball! With this bub i didnt show (well at work, no one knew) til 18 weeks. First bub was a bit earlier strangely enough, but i was a lot thinner that time so it was more obvious.

[Life is Good]

Mine definitely popped! Around 18 weeks it as like I woke up with a belly! I would say that from the start to the end of week 18 I definitely went from just looking a bit podgy to people asking me how far along I was! You are fine, darl...just have to be patient

[Taurean]

Mine was gradual, sorry hon! It feels now like it happened over night but looking at my belly pics, it was a slow process. I think people started to notice my belly more at about 16 weeks and now at 22, there is no hiding it at all. I definitley have propper pregnancy belly now but am often told how 'neat' it looks.

[rufalina]

Hun, I was 40 weeks and noone would believe I was due, they would say, no way you are only like 6 months... Some people never get that basketball belly... Hopefully you will get yours soon though...

[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!!!

[Just Me]

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!!!

It is frustrating how everyone has an opinion on the size of your belly when your pg. Everyone either says too big or too small. No-one seems to say just perfect. In one night last week I got told I don't look pg at all by about 3 different people and another couple asked me if I was having twins because I was apparently really huge for 19 weeks. I just had to laugh it was so ridiculous.

[jenc77]

Hi Shari

I've been worried too - I lost 6kgs right at the beginning because I had OHSS as a result of my IVF treatment (20 eggs at pickup!!!!) - and until about a week ago had not put on a single gram. And I'm having twins!!

I'm also not a very large person and have been hovering around 56kgs. I kind of thought that because I was slight with no extra weight that I'd show immediately - especially with two. In fact, I was preparing myself to have to tell people who see me regularly well before I would otherwise have chosen to.

But everyone is different. So please don't stress. I have a long torso, and apparently my beans are low down. At the scans they've been exactly the right size, my uterus is the right size, and my ob said weight is a really terrible indicator of whether a preg is progressing well.

Having said all that, I have popped now - and not exactly overnight - but certainly within a few days. When I stand side-on, I definitely have a swelling underneath my belly button and it is rock hard. I can't suck it in no matter how hard I try (I was just experimenting - I'm actually very pleased to finally have it!)

I think I also felt 'thicker' before I got a little bump - not that I could tell in my clothes until literally the last couple of days. I was sitting on an aeroplane on Sunday night and had to undo the top button and zipper of my favourite skinny jeans!!!

Jenx

[Evie76]

Rose, my belly still isn't very large and I'm 30 weeks. It was the same with my DS. I thought it would be different because this is my second, but it isn't. My belly really isn't large. A lot of the time I actually have to point out I'm having a baby or people don't notice. If I concentrate and suck in, I just look like I've had too much to eat.

Don't worry. My belly was very small with DS and he was born very healthy at 7lb 5oz, full term.

Then you never know - you might look in the mirror sideways one days and think, "Where the heck did that come from?" If not, don't stress. If the baby is healthy, so are you. Each to their own.

[BloominRoses]

Thanks so much everyone

I just had dinner with DF's father and stepmother, who conceived DF's half-sister through IVF and she told me that she was in the same boat as I am. Mind you she had had her stomach stapled right before she became pregnant and she thinks this may have contributed to how she carried.

She also reminded me that normally on TV, in magazines or in movies, etc... the pregnant women that are shown are the 'typical ones' people expect a pregnant woman to look like (if there is such a word) ie the ones with the perfectly popped belly as it wouldn't be so dramatic to show a pregnant woman who merely looked like she had eaten one Big Mac too many.

So after hearing your experiences I feel so much better. I guess just because this pg was such a huge shock that I wanted some sort of validation that I was in fact pg (besides the multitude of tests, scans, etc...yes I realise I'm sounding like an absolute nutter right about now). But I'm just going to keep reminding myself that I am completely blessed to have become pregnant like I did, and low PAPP-A or not, this Sprout is healthy and well...sprouting...whether I look like I swallowed a basketball or just merely a pine nut.

But please keep telling me your experiences if you can-it's both reassuring and confidence-building at the same time.

Shari xo

PS - And Townsville Girl, I think your strong ab muscles theory may be spot on with me. Considering I am tall, slim and had great abs before getting pg thanks to the 'Shred' DVD, this could be why my ab muscles are hanging on strong.

Also Jen, my Belly Buddy-the fact that you're having twins, we're both due 2 days apart and you just popped now: you have no idea how much more relaxed that makes me feel. Oh-and I'm the queen of trying the 'sucking in' move. Sadly for me it still looks like I'm trying out to be a girl in the Playboy Mansion (thanks to the newly acquired Pamela Anderson boobs) -which I guess wouldn't be so bad on a normal day but when you're desperate for a bump it just stinks.

Please everyone remind me of this thread when I'm whinging (hopefully) in a few months time about how I'm the size of a school bus. xo