If you start small do you stay small??

[hilltop666]

Hi im 17 wks today and am very small most people dont realise im pregnant at all- my SIL is 12 days further on and looks as if she's 2 months further on, but i was just wondering wats the chances of me staying small thoughout- or will i wake up one morning like a hippo?

We're both quite tall and slim btw.

It crept up on me!

I am usually a size 8. In both pregs I have had small and neat bumps. Though in 2nd preg, bump is bigger. Nobody can believe I am nearly 32 wks. I think good tummy muscles help.

I am also 17 weeks. I just told my boss and I don't think he believed me. No-one at work has noticed. I was the same in my last pregnancy no-one commented until I was about 6 months. In our case last time small bump was due to small baby (only 5lb 4oz) so I was actually hoping this time to be a bit bigger. Still on the plus side I have no stretch marks at all from the last one.

I think it will catch up... No one believed me I was pregnant until 20 weeks or so. I am normally size 8 and was able to fit into my prepgnancy jeans until 22 weeks. My stomach really popped strongly at 24 weeks. Now look very pregnant (probably do look 6 months pregnant)... Total weight gain by 24 weeks was 5 kg.

I think it may well catch up with you too. Starting small generally indicates strong tummy muscles, but once they've popped who knows! I went from being so small that when I asked a colleague to help me scan in my 20 week scan pic to send to family she asked me who was having the baby. But by the end of it I had a belly that defied maternity jeans from 7 months and that friends on my antental yoga class termed the 'comedy bump'. Never a good sign. This was despite cycling 10k a day til 7 months, craving nothing but rocket for the first trimester and only putting on around 2 stone for the whole pregnancy. But then DS was a 9lb 6 oz whopper - 98th centile for height. I'm actually a bit that women can grow such dinky 5lbers. And given that DS had to be hauled out through the sunroof after my waterbirth went well and truly tits up, jealous obviously.

i started not showing at all, but at about 24 weeks bump suddenly popped out in full glory! . docs said it was good tummy muscles.

but, i've now got a relatively small bump and baby for my weeks (39.5).

not sure there's any real way of quantifying what makes you have a big or little bump (except the baby's weight) throughout though...

I stayed small. Never got to a big or uncomfortable stage and even at term people couldn't believe I was.

I was told it was good strong stomach muscles too.

mmm, I'm not sure about this strong tummy muscles theory as with my 1st pregnancy I was a regular road runner, gym bunny, doing sit-ups etc and had been for a couple of years prior to falling pregnant but my bump went huge after about 5 or 6 months and midwifes comment that I must have weak tummy muscles but how can that be so considering?

I know of women who are pretty lazy, never exercised in their lives, yet have neat tidy bumps. It just doesn't hold IMO. And it's not fair.

I look back at pictures of me at 14 wks and I was size 8, toned and tiny... sadly pictures of me by 38 wks show I was bloating and huge!!! Good news is that I did regain my pre-birth shape more or less by the time baby was 10 months old.

Oh, everyone's different - i seem to start off smaller than some of my friends, but it takes me longer to lose the weight after (despite breastfeeding). I have other friends who popped back in to their pre-birth clothes within days (not fair!).

I started small in both pregnancies.

I did not end up small

I started small. Size 8 at 5'10". I was a gym bunny, active, toned etc and doctors commented on how 'good' my stomach muscles were in earlier pregnancy.

I am now decidedly NOT small. It's like a different person in pictures. And I haven't been stuffing myself at all.

On the other hand, a woman at my work started off tiny, and doesn't seem to have gained anywhere apart from her bump - I thought she was way less pregnant than me - totally isn't.

Luck of the draw!

im 28 weeks and still absoloutly tiny people cant tell im pregnant but obviously i can see a difference, but im still thinking i will eventually pop out soon, i havent gained any weight really and im still in my size 8 pre pregnancy clothes and they have plenty of room still. however last pregnancy i was noticably preg from 12 weeks and looked huge around 22 weeks but at 42 weeks my bump was tiny

Thanks for all your comments- bit of a mix so I suppose there's no hard and fast rule- i'll just have to take it how it comes- just hate the thought of not being able to wear all my clothes! But as long as baby's healthy thats the main thing!

I'm 18 weeks with 3rd pg and have no decernible bump. I have lost 9kg with HG so I look significantly skinnier than I did before, still fit easily in my skinny jeans. My mum bought me a maternity top from Gap in XS and it drowns me. I felt like a fraud wearing it. Unfortunately I tend to put on pg weight after I've given birth as I'm starving after not being able to eat for 9 months. It's a double edged sword.

Hey hilltop, I'm 17+4 & haven't got that much of a bump yet in that I'm still fitting into pre-pregnancy clothes but they're definitely getting a bit tight now whereas maternity trousers seem to be a bit too big! Hoping my bump will be more noticeable soon but not sure if it will as I have renal probs meaning, in theory, I'll have a "little baby", I don't mind as long as it's healthy. :)