16w - first pregnancy - worried. Should I be 'feeling' more pregnant at this point???

[emeraldgirl1]

Though I absolutely hated the first trimester because I felt so godawful, I am now starting to get a little bit freaked out by this stage... 12w scan was all clear, a huge relief, but for the past 2-3 weeks I have been gradually getting insane worried that I should be 'feeling' more pregnancy symptoms and that something bad might have happened with the pregnancy.

I know these are stupid 'how long is a piece of string' questions, but should I be 'looking' more pg by now, rather than just looking as if I've had a big lunch?

Also a well-meaning friend asked if I was feeling it kicking - I think she's way out with her expectations (though she has had 2 kids) but I suddenly started to worry that I ought to be feeling more activity!!! I do feel a v occasional sharpish 'stretchy' feeling on my lower right hand side but no more than that.

Seems a long time to wait for the next reassurance scan to be sure that everything is still cooking away and growing in there...

Any advice, hand-holding, or a slap in the chops with a wet haddock for being so silly and over-precious???

Don't you have a MW appt at 16 weeks? I've just had mine. The middle trimester is usually when you feel most 'normal' though, so I wouldn't worry about not having symptoms. If it's your first you may not feel any wriggles/kicks until 18-20 weeks. At this point you might - very occasionally - feel something like a fish flopping over in your lower abdomen, but it would be more usual to feel wriggles a bit later on in your first pregnancy.

You are completely normal! I am currently 22 weeks pregnant and aside from the sickness up until recently there were moments when I forgot that I was pregnant. Out of nowhere a bump appeared around 20 weeks and now I am lumbered with a cough and cold that I can't really take anything for!

I read on here that most pregnancies are normal and trouble free so I don't think you need to be worried.

By the way, I can only feel a little fluttering in terms of baby's movement so that will come too!

I did not experience this as I was still throwing up all through this trimester, but I remember a lot of my peers getting nervous about this stage.

I wasn't experiencing much movement at this point either so you are not alone there either.

Supposedly this is the good bit where you get to glow and stuff! I found the whole of pregnancy a bit tense.... I wish they had a little 'loading' screen on the front so you could see how things were going.

I think this is normal - at 16 weeks I had no evidence I was pregnant at all. The nausea had stopped, I hadn't felt any movement yet, and I just looked a bit podgy.

I was quite a nice surprise when the midwife found a heartbeat at my 16 week appointment

I didn't feel any movement till about 20 weeks.

Thanks v v much everyone! I have my MW appointment tomorrow so of course will ask her about this then but I just wanted to get my fellow pg ladies' advice before I go asking a very stupid question in my appointment! I will still ask her, though, I'll just try to sound less idiotic when I do it!

I feel so completely OK (apart from a splitting headache all day y'day that I will of course ask about, but think it's probably just that I'm in need of a little cup of coffee) that it's easy to forget I'm pg. I have a larger tummy than usual but as I say it just looks the way I do when I eat too much. I do have pretty good abdominal muscle strength though so possibly this could account for not looking more sticky-out? I'm not in any hurry to have a sticky-out belly, btw... I'd just be happier knowing everything is OK in there. Also I'd love to start looking pregnant rather than podgy!!

Also Teladi I LOVE your idea of a loading screen... someone needs to arrange this from an evolution perspective!!!

Thought I'd add my completely normal not to feel anything comments to the pot! I didn't have any morning sickness so didn't really feel prenant until I "popped" a bit at 20 weeks. Went from looking a bit fat to looking like a bump overnight. Now it's rapidly expanding - just had the bank manager ask if I had long to go at work, erm, yes, another 3 months (sadly)...

I only really started feeling movements at 22 weeks. I think it was later than others as my placenta is at the front and so cushions the impact, maybe that's the same for you? I'm now getting lots of swooshings and she managed to kick as DH put his ear to my belly last night - it really freaked him out!

Thanks BadgerFace - yes, I was wondering if maybe I might suddenly 'pop' at some point... thanks v much for the post and the reassurance!

emerald I'm on dc3 and I have only just started showing at 32 weeks! With no1 it was around 22 before I looked at all pg AMD I didn't feel anything til around then too. Don't worry :) you mist just have tight abs, which is a good thing as you're more likely to spring back into shape after as long as you don't go overboard on the cake :o

I was in town with my mum one day around this point. I just had this terrible wobble that I was imagining my whole pregnancy, and had to sneak off and POAS in the public loos! All the books say that symptoms ease in the second trimester, but you really arent alone in worrying.

Even though I've had the 12 week scan and heard the heartbeat at 16 weeks I do keep panicking that I've just made up the whole thing. I've even still got some symptoms; sciatica being the main and it hasn't stopped me feeling like that. The 20 week scan will probably only keep me going for a week or so too before I convince myself there's something wrong or I've imagined it all!