Only 6 months pregnant but already look full-term.

[eyelash]

Oh my god! I have just replayed some video footage of my ds2?s birthday party this afternoon and even though I am only 6 months pregnant I already look full term. I was absolutely taken aback.

I have gained about one and a half stone but was a stone overweight to start so am actually at about the recommended weight gain for full-term. I am not going to diet but from now will incorporate a daily walk and cut out the c**p from my diet. I do eat very healthily but love chocolate, etc especially when pregnant.

Please tell me I am not on my own. And I would love to be able to lean on you all for support so I don't go off the rails for the next 3 months.

[Tommy]

Awwww eyelash - don't worry about it! I think it's an occupational hazard when you have 2 babies close together. I was in the same boat. DS2 10m now and I've really only just started trying to lose weight - although it is very depressing. A good walk every day is rerally heloping me and I'm sure getting fit will help with the looming labour!
Good luck

[beansprout]

We're here Eyelash!! Don't worry!
I'm only on my first, so don't speak from experience but i'm told that all pregs are differently and that we show quicker etc in subsequent ones. I'm nearly 6 months and someone told me I look full term the other day (or in his words "like you are ready to pop". I didn't say anything, but, in a mature, rational way just thought "f*ck off mate" (!)

Do you feel ok in yourself? And are the midwives etc happy with your progress?

[Chinchilla]

Eyelash - I did too. By the time I was full-term, I looked like I was going to explode! Ds was a large babe though.

[Heathcliffscathy]

eyelash i was exactly the same, but then didn't really expand much more, and also, stopped weighing myself which is imo a v good idea when preg. don't give yourself a hard time and indulge in choc when you need to. if you do try and walk and cut a bit of the crap you'll be fine...

[Samcj]

From what I'm finding, having the tiniest bump in the world on an otherwise too big body(!) I'm completely paraniod about it! I'm sure people are staring at it when I walk past it, more people than normal are looking at me even smiling at me (I live in London!). I've also had two people offer to stand for me on the tube and one person offering me a lift with my shopping! What I am trying to say is everyone is worried and /or obssessed(in my case!) with their bumps! But like everything else, bumps are individual, as long as the midwifes are happy I would just put it down to the fact your stomach muscles are weaker this time!

[Samcj]

Ooops! Supposed to read, when I walk past them, that would be an achievement to walk past your own bump! Then you would have something to worry about eyelash!!

[Lisa78]

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO with you eyelash! I was absolutely enormous - and I'm only 5ft 2 so it really emphasised this huge bump. I remember being in a budget meeting and my boss broke off midsentence and remarked "God, that baby is huge" which was nice... In fact, I remember one senior manager asking me how long I had to go, and when I said 10 weeks (or whatever) he stammered "bbbbbbut you're enormous" so that was nice too
Anyway, we went on the labour ward tour, and there was a woman there due the same week as me, I maintain she was marginally bigger, DH insists she was the same size. I felt distinctly smug that I wasn't the only one who was the size of a small country. She was expecting twins...
Hope that cheers you up a bit!

[sibble]

Hi eyelash
I am huge this time too but all bump. People do a double take when I say that I have 8 weeks to go. Saw the midwife on Friday who even commented that it was a large baby. Am seeing consultant at 38 weeks and having a scan to see size then. You are not alone. I'll email you a photo of the bump so we can compare!!!!
Hope you are well otherwise. Don't fancy chocolate thsi time but have a taste for sour sweets and jelly things from teh pick and mix. DS caught me standing in teh food cupboard shoving his sweets into my mouth last week and understandably got very upset. I felt awful but I had to have them!!!

[Lisa78]

LOL sibble!

[eyelash]

Amazed at all these replies so quickly - must be the football!

You have all cheered me up so much! Glad to know I am not on my own. Some great stories. Sibble - would love to see picture of bump but bet you haven't got a huge bum or boobs to match. Lisa78 - lol.

The midwife wasn't at all concerned when I saw her two weeks ago. But the shock was actually seeing it on the tape. It was like I had envisioned this lovely blooming body (which of course it is but then all I could see was hugh bump, boobs and bum. I will try not to worry and know that at least with some discipline after the birth I will lose any weight gained (but said that the last two times as well .

So it's on with the trainers tomorrow night and less chocolate for me for the next 14 weeks.

BTW - I have looked at the video again and ds2 looked absolutely adorable and so cute blowing out his candles which was the real reason in the first place for doing some taping.

Thank you all again.

[OldieMum]

Eyelash, I have been looking at the academic literature about birthweight. It all suggests that big babies are healthier, for the rest of their lives, not just when they are babies. Also, babies of mothers who put on a significant amount of weight in pregnancy are healthier. All this nonsense in the media about the desirability of having a discreet bump is giving women completely the wrong message about the health risks of low birthweight in children and low weight gain in their mothers.

[costamum]

Eyelash - I'm 6 months too and huge - am very small too which doesn't help - I was the same first time round too (although DS was less than 3kg at birth!). Just ignore any silly comments! I remember in the first pregnancy I really started showing at nearly 5 months or so and when I went to buy some maternity wear the store manager very kindly gave me a complex by insisting I was way too big to be 4 months etc, etc! I'm not paying attention to anyone this time!

[nightowl]

this will sound like im lying but i assure you im not! when i was 6 weeks gone people starting asking me if i was pregnant! i then got huge up until i was about six months and looked full term but i didnt grow much more after that. i remember one day being in Adsa where i go every week and the woman behind the counter saying "awww, not long left now eh?" to which i replied "erm...yeah four months" she just stood there open mouthed! and you know how much my baby weighed? 5lb 5oz...so size means nothing!

[bloss]

Message withdrawn

[ChicPea]

Congratulations on second baby eyelash!

I can understand your concern as I was worried about weight gain more so with my first as I didn't know what to expect weight wise and I was terrified of getting stretch marks.

For my first (now 21mths) I weighed 9 stone. I felt that my normal weight for 5'6" should be 8st 7lbs and went up to 10.5. (I was 8.10 4 wks post baby). For my second (now 8mths), I weighed 8.2 and again went up to 10.5 (I got down to pre-preg weight in 3 wks because I learnt what worked). I did find though that my second preg showed earlier because tummy muscles are looser.

I read in a book "Pregnancy" by Malcolm Gillard that if you keep your weight down to a sensible weight, you have less chance of high blood pressure and definitely won't have stretch marks. I felt this was good, honest advice rather than people saying "eat whatever you want, when you want". So I ate sensibly, I cut out butter, sauce on veg and meat/fish, on salads I only had lemon juice/balsamic vinegar with a teeny bit of dressing (always asked for dressing on the side), I became puffy faced the next day with: smoked salmon, bacon, cheese so I cut those out. If I was at a party and cheese presented itself, allowed myself one bite and savoured it as really I could eat cheese until the cows came home! I don't eat chips, potatoes, bread, rice, pasta as a rule anyway but if I was so hungry in the morning I would allow myself toast which did set me up for the day. Rice cakes were fab if I needed the carb. I found egg white omelettes with veg fabulous. If I ordered chicken ceasar salad, I would have it without crutons and cheese which saved getting puffy and calories. I had choc and pudding once or twice a week and that meant I didn't feel deprived. So if you do low fat and low sugar you can still nourish your body and not feel weak/ill but will cut out the unnecessary calories.

Oh! When I needed to nibble I ate: baby tomatoes from M & S, baby gems, baby veg which is low cal and delicious, fruit such as mango (big bowl from serve yourself section in Sainsburys where you can choose the ripe bits). I found this really helped.

Forget the word diet and instead think "eat sensibly". If you cut anything out of your daily regime, promise it to yourself post preg when you will be lighter anyway.

Good luck!

[motherinferior]

Eyelash, IME it's not just a weight thing; I only put on a stone in my second pregnancy, but I looked ENORMOUS. Lorry drivers leaned out of their lorries to comment. Emails were sent to me from halfway around the country saying how huge so-and-so had reported me to be. Total strangers made impossibly personal remarks.

B*stards

PS and it ALL went off, really quickly, much to my amazement after being a huge wobbly jelly for the first year of dd1's life! So don't despair too much, honey!

[Canadianmom]

Oddly, I've also had the opposite experience as well and it lead me to believe that people are just cruel! I met an old friend in Safeway who was also grabbing last minute things for Christmas dinner and we both commented on how big our children had grown since we last saw each other (we had spent a year overseas since our last encounter). After exchanging pleasantries, I headed on my way and was shocked to hear that she reported back to a mutual friend that it was really obvious that I hadn't lost the 'baby weight' after our ds. Thankfully, the mutual friend retorted with "Sure! Except that she is 7 months pregnant with number 2!" I have just never been very big with any of my pregnancies and people can't keep their noses out of it! Always commenting on how I should eat more or how the baby must be small... ODD! Am 16 weeks along with number 4 and hoping to look pregnant this time as this will be our last. Would be nice if people noticed that it was a baby I was carrying and not a few extra croissants! Not sure that I envy the uncomfortable part of being big...Sorry to hear about that part.

[dinny]

Eyelash, I am seven months pg with second (2 year gap)and feel ABSOLUTELY HUGE. And can't stop pigging out on crap. It's a vivious circle. Shall we try to stop pigging out and eating healthily from now? I could do with some moral support as I keept hinking "sod it, I'm huge anyway". Dinny x

[eidsvold]

I am 20 weeks pregnant with no2 and I know with this pregnancy - belly got bigger quicker and I was in maternity clothes sooner than I was with the first pregnancy.

[sweetkitty]

I'm just eating what I want when I want as long as I'm getting my 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. Us women spend far too much time worrying about calories etc so pregnancy is a nice break. Doesn't stop people commenting on the size of my bump though.

[eyelash]

Thanks again for all the support and advise.

Yes - my first two babies were biggish (9lbs 6ozs and 8lbs 9ozs) and they were very happy babies. I assume this baby will be 8lbs plus as well.

ChicPea - you incorporated some good advise in your reply. Thankfully my blood pressure has never been a problem and I have never had stretchmarks despite doing absolutely nothing to avoid them. You are right though - for me cutting out even some of the high fat low nutrition foods will make all the difference.

To all who are having/had the same experience - thanks so much for your stories. It is so good to know that it isn't just me.

Dinny - I would love to have the support as well. Should we start a separate thread and see how we go. It would def help me to have somebody else to talk to about it. I do not want to diet as such - and to be fair I do eat very healthily with plenty of fruit, veg and the major food groups. It is just the sweet stuff that I can't also resist. I have started already today which is the easy bit - it's the sticking to it is the problem.

[eyelash]

Canadianmom - I hope you get a lovely obvious bump this time .

[beansprout]

This is not an original point but the way our bodies just keep changing and changing is hard enough as it is, without the constant comments from the amateurs. I am routinely told that I am small/big/ready to pop, obviously/not obviously preg etc etc.

I, like many women, had an eating disorder for years and the constant stream of comments on what I look like is just rude on a good day and hurtful on another. What's wrong with plain and simple "how are you?"!!!

[Turtle35]

Here here bean!

it is such a damn shame that pregnant woman should have to suffer through constant comments on how they look. I too am sick of folks commenting on how I look - is it because they are so small minded they have nothing else to say

Eyelash I have virtually NO stomach muscles, never have and as a matter of fact my tummy has always stuck out even during my skinny period. Therefore as soon as I conceived I looked 6 months pregnant I am not 6 months yet and look as though I am about to drop - people at work CAN'T believe I still have 18 weeks.

please just take good care of yourself and worry about the weight once the baby is born.