Is this how a bump is supposed to feel?

[Writerwannabe83]

Hello ladies - really strange question alert

I'm 17wks into my first and over the last 10 days or so my bump has suddenly appeared. I didn't know what I expected it to feel like, but it feels odd. when I look at it I imagine it to be a bit wobbly but it's actually really firm. Today I have felt quite uncomfortable and my skin feels tight and stretched....and although I know that makes perfect sense, it just isn't what I expected it to be like and I find myself worrying. I yawned earlier and when I stretched it felt like my skin couldn't move with me, if that makes sense, it felt a bit like my skin was stuck to my belly and it was a really odd sensation. I have been dress shopping with my sister and when I tried to pull the dresses over my head I struggled because it felt like the bump was stopping me from being physically able to lift my arms above my head.

Does all this sound normal??

yep! means you are well toned!
it really depends on baby's position too. maybe it's back is what you are feeling.
further along you can feel little feet or bums sticking out. it is strange though!

Sounds exactly how I experienced it when my bump first started to really show, I got the over stretched feeling again a few weeks ago after a bump growth spurt.
Enjoy your bump!

You have no idea how reassured I feel!! Thank you so much!

Hope it all goes well x

Mine is firm. Sometimes it's firmer than at other times. It's weirdly changeable! I'm 22 weeks.

Mine has been firm all the way through and still is now at almost 35 weeks

I also get the stretched feeling and sometimes it gets a bit itchy because of the stretching! I use 'mum to be rich tummy cream' everyday so although bump feels stretched it doesn't look stretched.

I can feel/see my baby's little foot poking out on my right hand side now - quite odd!

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy

Mine is quite solid under a layer of flab! To the casual observer I have a nice round bump, but the first inch is definately fat if you poke it, then v solid under that!

I get the over stretched feeling too, especially when rushing to get dressed in the mornings!

I remember my bump certainly felt very tight and stretched - and I also worried that it wasn't normal! When baby was in particularly awkward positions I used to feel like she was going to burst out at any given moment! The space between my belly skin and the baby seemed very thin, if that makes any sense.

Thanks for this post. I've had this since around the same time as you and get it worse every time I'm having a growth spurt! Some days it is so tight and stretched that coughing or sneezing feel really uncomfortable and painful too. Throw BH into the mix as well and I'm super uncomfortable and quite grumpy too lol! I'm 30+2 and having another spurt. I often wondered if this was normal or just me (its my first baby) so I'm reassured that it is fairly normal /)

I'm just surprised at how tight and widespread the bump is considering baby is probably only about 12cm long. How can something so tiny need so much space?? Things feel a bit looser this morning and I don't feel so uncomfortable. I keep making my husband touch the hardest parts of my abdomen and when my bump is tight it feels like I'm just pure muscle

Have you tried measuring your fundal height Writer? Did your bump seem to grow overnight? Did you have a 12 week scan to confirm a singleton pregnancy? You could be (probably are) completely normal, or you could have polyhydramnios or something else. Nobody knows! People shouldn't really tell you 'that is how I felt, it's normal', because we all experience things in different ways - your 'tight' and somebody else's 'tight' may be very different.

I think there is a place for anecdotal evidence in pregnancy self-care. Of course, it should go without saying that we're not health professionals dispensing advice and if someone's really concerned they should talk to their doctor/ midwife/ whatever. But for first timers everything is new and potentially scary and it can help to hear other women's experiences. Particularly if, like me, you don't have a way of contacting a local midwife that works. The activity levels on boards like this really highlight failings in accessibility of care in some ways. Yes, these are questions we should be asking our docs/ midwives. The fact that for many of us that's not viable/ possible, is a fairly damning indictment of overstretched maternity resources in the NHS.

I've had 5 scans so far and definitely only one baby

I do think my bump appeared quite suddenly, I.e one Saturday I looked my normal flat self but then by the next Saturday I looked much bigger with a definite bump! Not that I know how quickly bumps are supposed to appear...

I had my last scan 10 days ago and the midwife didn't say anything looked abnormal or that she had any concerns. I will go and google polyhydrsminos as I have never heard of it.

I have got my next scan in 3 weeks so I will double check that everything is looking ok x

I agree with you Julie.

Three years ago I woke up to find that my uterus had grown overnight. It was very tight, hard, uncomfortable. Told the gp, ignored. Told the midwife, ignored. Told the ob, ignored. I asked for advice on forums etc (I wasn't on mn then), told them how big I was, how uncomfortable, had to kneel on all fours to take the pressure off, and was given the same sort of advice as you, op. Everything is normal, that sounds just like me, I'm probably bigger than you are... It wasn't my first pregnancy, but I was having twins for the first time, so I kept second guessing myself, and the responses made me think that I was just being a wuss. I didn't feel extremely tight all of the time, some days I felt a lot better than others. So I didn't pursue it any more.

Two weeks after seeing the ob, one of my lovely little twins was dead. They had ttts. I was 25 weeks and measured 45. Obviously when people were telling me that they felt just as large and uncomfortable as I did, they were exaggerating, and I felt like a complete idiot for ever feeling reassured by them in the first place.

I'm not saying all of this to panic you op, like I said, you are probably completely fine. I just wanted to balance the anecdotal evidence, and to give a bit of an explanation into why I sounded a bit hard in my other post

sorry cross posted Writer

That's such a sad story random, how heartbreaking it must have been for you. I really hope your other baby was ok x

I am a little panicked now.....

Oh shit! I've only just noticed your response! Feel like a right cow now.

Don't panic writer, like I said, it would be very unusual for it to be a real problem. If it does turn out that you have a bit more fluid than usual, this doesn't usually make any difference at all to the health of your pregnancy. Just listen to your own feelings about it, if you feel like something is not right, don't be ignored!

Ds2 is smashing now, thanks

Hope you're feeling a bit more comfortable now and everything is okay x

Well everything is kind of ok...but now I'm panicking as yesterday and last night I don't recall feeling any kind of movements and I haven't so far today either. I know they only talk about the risks of reduced movements at a much later stage of pregnancy so I'm probably worrying about nothing, but it is still on my mind.....

mine was like a rock and round as a ball!

I was genuinely asked did I have a ball up my top...