How is it?

[Preciousfaerie7]

How is that some women get really big (in the belly) and some women dont? I saw i picture of a (not to offend anyone) chinease girl who was 34 weeks and she looked like i did when i was 20!! Do people whos tummy doesn't grow that big have little babies?? I've gained about 50 pounds but my belly is ALL baby all the other weight is in my booty (which is good i didn't have one before ) but why is it that some women just dont get big tummies??

[winnie]

I think everyone is just different, not sure what the reasons are!

I am nearly 37 weeks and I knock people off their feet when I say I'm due in 3 weeks. I look like many of the people in our due date club did months ago! I only started showing at 6 months, where people could actually tell I was pregnant. My SIL is due in June with her second child, and her belly has already surpassed mine!

I don't believe that having a smaller belly necessarily means a smaller baby. I've known moms that were my size that had 7 or 8 pound babies. The size of my belly has become a little bit of an issue for me lately, because all I ever hear is how small I am, and people (strangers, mostly) act concerned about the baby, and they may even ask about my diet. argh. I'm doing everything I can to be healthy, eat right, etc!

Sorry, went on a little rant there.

winn

[aguacates]

I think a lot of it has to do with body structure. Shape of pelvis, height, unstretched stomach muscles, distribution of the rest of your weight. I didn't really start to show w/dd until I was 6-7 mos along, but by the end I was huge. My belly was a huge egg shape. This pregnany I started out way heavier, and my belly popped out immediately. It is definitely a globe shape, rather than an egg. I'm not sure if this is due to subsequent pregnancy stuff, or if it really is a boy(as per old wive's tales) as every one is telling me.

[guitarmama]

It's weird, isn't it? My mom only gained 14 pounds with my older brother and looked like she had half a basketball under her shirt at full term, and he wieghed over 8 pounds. When I was seven months she said, "that's what I looked like when I had your brother". My mom and I aren't built much differently from one another. I'm a little shorter and more athletic than she was when she was young, but we're both rather petite. Maybe it's how the baby is positioned. Who knows! There are probably loads of factors at play in belly size, but just remember, it's all normal.

[MissAnnThroap]

For me it looks as if I have a Volley ball under my shirt, and being due in 3 weeks also people are starting to get on my nerves by saying how small I am. My MW had me go in for a Ultrasound to check the size of the baby and he was the right size for the date so no worries. I was the same way with my first baby. I carried her the same way I am this one and this is a boy. So I have a hard time believing the telling the sex from the way you carry. My mom on the other hand gained weight and got big every where! She blew out a pair of shoes with my younger sister.
Jenn

[Preciousfaerie7]

I didn't start showing until 6 1/2 months and then BAM!!!! she just poped out and kept on popping and popping werid thing is my belly button hasn't popped... Its so weird.. i want to become a scientist just to figure it out.. lol

[be11ydancer]

I didn't show until 6 months with my first child. But with my second, I started showing at 3 months. I even remember not being able to button my jeans at all at about 6 weeks along, lol. This pregnancy has been much the same as my second. I have out grown all of my maternity clothes and now wear my DH's old clothes from before he lost weight. I am gigantic and it hurts, but I've gained maybe 25 lbs. total.

[musemor]

I've noticed that women with longer torsos tend to carry "smaller" than women with shorter torsos...I guess because there is more room for the baby amidst internal organs? I'm short AND short-waisted, and in general I look bigger than most people I meet with similar due dates, even though it's my first baby.

One of my friends actually ended up with a scheduled c-section because they said her baby was under four pounds and could not withstand delivery. She is very petite (wears children's-size underwear) and carried small. But when the baby was born, he was over six pounds! I think they just assumed the baby was on the small end of the ultrasound measurement (which is always +/- two pounds) because she hardly showed. I chalk it up to her torso...even though she's petite, her torso is really long and that baby had tons of room to grow without pushing out her stomach!