Why are some pregnant bellies shaped differently than others?
In many ways, pregnancy is a life-changing event. One of the most obvious outward signs is the pregnancy “bump,” or visibly pregnant belly. A woman’s belly increases in size as the uterus enlarges over the course of the pregnancy. In the first trimester, many women do not appear “noticeably” pregnant, and many women look forward to the moment when their belly has “popped.” This occurs at different times for women due to a variety of reasons. Women who are very physically fit and have good abdominal muscle tone may appear to have smaller bellies than other women at the same gestational age in pregnancy. On the other hand, many women experience some relaxation of their abdominal muscles following pregnancy and will notice that their belly “pops” at an earlier point with each successive pregnancy. As common sense would dictate, women who have larger babies tend to have larger bellies in pregnancy. Your physician or midwife may place her hands on your abdomen to perform a series of measure
