When do most women start showing

by Jenny Leach |

There isn't a set stage when mums-to-be begin to show a pregnant belly. Every woman is different.

If you're a first-time mum, you'll probably notice your waist starts to be a bit thicker around 11 weeks, but other people won't see any difference just yet. At about 13 weeks, you may see a small bump.

If you're already a mum, you may start showing sooner. This is because the muscles in your womb (uterus) and belly may be stretched from your previous pregnancy.

In the early days of pregnancy, your womb is the shape of a pear. Over the first 12 weeks, it gradually becomes more rounded, until it is about the size of a grapefruit. This is when your bump may begin to form.

This early growth of your bump is only partly caused by your growing baby. Before 11 weeks, your baby is still an embryo. He doesn't need much room yet! Your womb thickens out to support your tiny baby, which is why you may feel a bit bigger round your middle.

At 16 weeks of pregnancy, your womb will be stretching to fit your growing baby. This is when your bump may really begin to show to other people.

However, there are all sorts of factors that may influence when you can start shopping for maternity clothes.

Your age can influence when you start to look pregnant. Older mums often start showing earlier than young mums. This is because younger women are more likely to have stronger stomach muscles, which can disguise their bumps.

Your genes can affect when you start to look pregnant, too. Ask your mum, sister or other female relatives on your mum's side when their bumps began to show. This may give you some idea of when your bump will appear.

Your pre-pregnancy size can also play a part in when you will start to show. If you are carrying a little extra weight around your tummy, your bump may be hidden in the early stages of pregnancy. But as your baby grows, you will soon notice a growing bump!

If your belly is expanding sooner than expected, it could be due to:

• your body laying down fat for your baby
• water retention
• bloating from wind
• constipation, a common pregnancy side-effect

Another possibility is that you may be pregnant with twins.

If you're showing later than expected, try not to fret. You may have a retroverted womb. This means that your womb tilts more towards the back than the front. This won't affect how your baby grows. The backward tilt is usually corrected around 17 weeks, as your expanding womb moves out of your pelvis and into your abdomen.

If there's any reason for concern about the size of your bump, your midwife will arrange for an ultrasound scan to make sure you've been given the right due date, and to ensure your baby is about the right size for your stage of pregnancy.

Check out our beautiful bumps slideshow to see other proud mums and their bumps.

When I found out I was pregnant with my first baby, I pictured my future self with a big belly that looked adorable in floaty dresses and empire-waist tops. Even though my stomach was still flat and completely un-pregnant-looking at the time, I never thought about how my body would make the transition from normal-sized tummy to one that looked like I had swallowed a watermelon.

Turns out, it’s a pretty slow progression. Getting from point A (for Absolutely no bump) to point B (Biggest bump ever) has lots of in-between stages. What’s more, those stages brought up all kinds of questions and feelings I never saw coming. Can other people tell that I’m walking around with a teeny person inside of me? How much longer will my favorite jeans fit? And why do I suddenly feel so self-conscious?

If you're expecting your first baby, you might be wondering some of the same things. Here are some thoughts pregnant moms have about starting to show.

 1. I don’t look pregnant at all. Wonder how long this will last? Probably not for very long! Despite the fact that you’re probably bursting with excitement, enjoy this very short period. It’ll be gone before you know it. I found out I was pregnant when I was around 5 weeks along. And to me, my belly only stayed looking like its normal self for another two weeks or so. During that time, I made an effort to wear all my slim-fitting, high-waisted pants as much as possible, because I knew it would only be a matter of time before I’d have to pack them away for a good, long while.

2. My stomach looks different. But I don’t think anyone else notices, do they? Chances are, they don’t. Hormone-related bloating can start to give you a slightly rounded belly when your baby is still teeny-tiny. (Like, the size of a pea!) I started noticing the change around 7 weeks. It sort of looked like I had eaten a huge meal … all the time. Unsurprisingly, those aforementioned pants were starting to feel uncomfortable. 

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Could anyone else tell? The few family members we'd broken the news to insisted that I looked the same. (But they weren’t seeing me in my underwear, obviously.) Even my husband said he barely noticed anything, but part of me thinks he was just being nice.

3. I can still hide this, but it’s getting kinda tough. Even in the second half of the first trimester, most moms-to-be can easily keep their belly (and pregnancy) under wraps with the right clothes. By 10 weeks pregnant, my stomach was really starting to stick out, and only a handful of my loosest pants, skirts and shorts still fit. This wasn’t just because of the bloating and my slowly expanding uterus. Pregnancy had also made me totally ravenous. I was eating nonstop, and I’d already gained a few pounds.

At this point, being able to hide my pregnancy came with some perks. My husband and I still weren’t ready to make a big pregnancy announcement to our friends and extended family, and I doubt many of them suspected we had a baby on the way. Another thing: We could still sit at a bar (with a non-alcoholic drink for me, of course) and not get any weird looks. That was nice.

There were some downsides too, though, like when I had to fly cross-country and got stuck in the middle seat. I knew I was going to have to pee a lot, but I felt slightly weird asking the person sitting in the aisle to switch seats with me. I explained to her that I was pregnant, but what if she thought I was making it up just to get a little more legroom? That might have been a bizarre thing to worry about, but it crossed my mind.

4. I look sort of pregnant … depending on what I wear. By week 13, my belly had grown enough to where I looked visibly pregnant … sometimes. It wasn’t noticeable when I wore loose tops. But it was around then that I put on a stretchy knit dress to go out to dinner and noticed a very clear outline of a tummy that hadn’t been there before.

After weeks and weeks of trying not to draw attention to my stomach, letting it all hang out felt strange. I was excited that this moment had finally arrived, but I also felt a bit vulnerable and self-conscious. I had moved through the world with this secret for so long, and now any stranger who looked at me would be able to guess it.

That first time was fun, but part of me was glad that I could still turn my pregnancy “off” in public when I wanted to. So for a few weeks, I switched back and forth. When I wanted to feel like regular me in public, I’d put on something flowy. When I wanted to try on pregnant me again, I’d reach for something form-fitting.

5. My bump has officially arrived. Let’s show this thing off! My doctor predicted that I would likely start showing between 16 and 18 weeks. And just like that, my belly began really rounding out in earnest by around week 16. I don’t know if I would have noticed the change on my own, but a picture that my mom posted of us on Facebook confirmed it: I definitely had a baby bump.

Suddenly, everyone was commenting on how cute I looked. Some friends and family started gently touching my belly and greeting my baby when they would see me, which was kind of endearing.

The combination of being on the receiving end of all that positive feedback and getting more comfortable in my pregnant body made me feel better about showing my baby bump off when I was out and about. And I started to look forward to that moment when I’d really start to pop, by about month 6 or 7.

6. The whole world is now majorly interested in my baby bump, and it’s kind of too much. I don’t mind when close friends or family touch my belly, even if they don’t ask first. But I have a feeling that as I enter my third trimester and finally start to look like that woman I pictured from the beginning, more people might decide to share unsolicited advice, or comment about how huge I am, or put their hands on my stomach.

The good news? As with every other stage of showing when you're pregnant, it won’t last forever. And anyway, I can handle a few over-enthusiastic strangers when the end result is getting to meet my sweet baby.

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