Small belly at 8 months

[sensitiveintrovert]

Hi everyone!

I'm writing to ask if other mums have experienced small bellies in their pregnancy. I am rather tall (1.74 cm) and slim but my belly looks more like a 4-5 month than that of a woman about to be in labour. People are commenting 'you don't even look pregnant!', which hurts.

Midwives say this is fine - at my appointments though I was usually bloated.

One more thing, I haven't gained almost any weight in months 6-8 of pregnancy due to severe sciatic pain, taking dihydrocodeine which causes nausea, etc. I am concerned with baby's size and if she can withstand a natural birth.

Thank you for your advice!

Not an issue at all. I looked like the Michelin Man in my pregnancies and had babies 6-7lb. My colleague only looked slightly pregnant in her pregnancies by due date and produced 8-9lb’er’s.
How big you look has zero bearing on babies size.

I was v small pregnant, and full term i put on 7.5kg. Which in comparison to my SIL was half.

The greatest weight pile on came in the last few weeks.

And I didn't look pregnant for a long time.

I remember being v worried.

SIL put on 15kg and baby was born 3.3kg

I put on 7.5kg and baby was born 3.2kg

So I wouldn't really worry...

You have put on some weight though?

I made sure I didn't gain much weight during my pregnancies so even near the end of each one I didn't look that big. Mine were quite small babies (6'2 and 7.3lbs) which was in align with myself and brother and sisters size when we were born.

Labours were very easy.

We are all tall, slim adults. As long as the growth of the baby is ok, the size of your baby bump is irrelevant. One of my sisters carried her babies high and her bump was barely noticeably.

With my fourth baby I was so concerned about my relatively small bump at term I asked my doctor if it was a small baby. He examined my tummy and said no, there’s a good eight pounder in there! I was two weeks late in the end but my son was 8lbs 15oz - I was astonished!

Try not to worry OP, as long as your midwife is happy with the babies growth.

I was very small with my first and had people commenting all the time about how tiny my bump was and how small my baby must be. I became so worried and convinced I was going to give birth to a 4lb baby!

DD was born weighing 7lbs 10 but even in the Labour ward I was still getting comments telling me I didn’t look pregnant!

Hey, with my singleton I barely looked pregnant and with my twins I looked small also as if there was one on board. Don't worry and happy new years.🙂

I was the same especially with my second. I turned up to do the school run and one of the mums said- oooh I've just found out you are pregnant when are you due- my answer was '3 days ago'. Both mine were 7lb 12 and 7lb 11 respectively.
Midwife wasn't remotely worried until I was overdue and I had a growth scan.

If you have long torso then you baby has plenty of room to stretch out. I'm only 5ft so baby had zero room to stretch. I only have an inch or 2 between my rib cage and top of of my hip bones

I was the same and im under 5 foot. He was a completely average size aswell.

Yep, definitely don’t worry! I’m 32 weeks and my belly is measuring the 10th centile but after a growth scan the baby was measuring 88th!! Huge difference!! But it’s because I’m tall (180cm) and have a good pair of hips 🤣 so baby has plenty of space 👌🏼 lots of people saying how tiny i am but I don’t let it bother me - it’s a bonus if anything! I can still function a lot better than I would if bigger so I’ll take that 😝 try to focus on the positives and know that your medical team will make sure baby is on track 👌🏼👍🏼

Thank you, everyone, for the reassurance! I feel so much better now! ❤️

@App13 I did put on 10kgs by the sixth month, then around half a kilo - one kilo since (it's hard to tell with constipation... oh the joys of the journey...).
I think my worries were exacerbated by the 'your baby will triple in size in the last few months' and nothing much showing. But perhaps she will grow more in the last feq weeks :)

@Beckafett your reply made me laugh. '3 days ago' - witty and charming!

@Kelb79 thank you for the hip reminder! Mine are also accommodating so perhaps baby girl is hanging out there 🥰

And thank you for the perspective about having more mobility this way! It is only now at week 34 that I started feeling uncomfortable when sleeping... and my thoughts went out to the mamas with bigger bellies and their longer lasting sleep struggles...

I didn't look more than 6 months pregnant with either of mine, both girls. Nothing to be worried about and gave birth naturally, drug free with both in just a few hours both times.

I was very neat with both of mine-first was 8 pounds 4.5 and second was 7 pounds 12. Went to full 40 weeks with both of them!

One more thing to add - I was 4.5 kgs at birth as opposed to my much older twin sisters who were very small (2 kgs each). I think it became a source of pride (and slight mocking? 🤔) in my family.

My sister who doesn't have a baby reminded me of this a few weeks ago and told me I should aim for a baby weighing at least 3.5 kgs. I told her I am anxious enough without targets and the baby will weigh as much as she does, without adding pressure. At least I was assertive :)

I'm the same as you week wise and also very small, they don't even measure my fundal height anymore. All my growth scans have come back within normal range so it's just how people carry I think!

Imo it comes down to your body shape and whether you retain water or not.

I'm 5ft4 and although I have a relatively long body for my height, I ballooned in both my pregnancies leading to random strangers (eg cafe barista) asking if I was expecting twins. I also had spectacular water retention esp with my first. Both babies born average size. My colleagues kept asking concernedly when I'd be going on leave and I kept saying "er I've got 3 months to go still...!"

I know other mums who barely showed at all and still had babies born average size. Those mums just didn't have as bad water retention.

I think it's a sign of good all round health if you don't have too bad water retention, so don't worry op.