When does the belly start to grow during pregnancy?

When does a pregnant belly start to grow?

It is impossible to predict when exactly your pregnant belly will become noticeable. Between about 13 and 16 weeks of your pregnancy, you may feel like your favorite jeans are getting a little tighter. This happens because your uterus begins to grow and enlarge, pushing your belly up and out of your pelvis.

Then, around week 20, your doctor will begin measuring your fundal height, which is the distance from your pubic bone to the highest point of your uterus. From now on, you may begin to feel noticeable growth in your belly. Amazing, right?

You know your body better than anyone, so when your belly starts to grow, you'll be the first to notice! If you are concerned about the size of your belly, talk to your doctor about it.

APPS FOR PREGNANT WOMEN

When tone is dangerous

Regardless of whether the belly is soft or hard in the early stages of pregnancy, you need to register in a timely manner. The doctor will examine the expectant mother, rule out possible pathologies, and prescribe tests. You can’t put off a visit to the gynecologist if you have pain in your lower abdomen and a pregnancy test shows two lines. Timely seeking help will help prevent miscarriage.

In a healthy woman, uterine tension is observed only periodically. If the stomach is constantly toned, this can lead to disruption of the blood supply to the fetus, premature placental abruption, and spontaneous abortion.

Unfortunately, increased uterine tone is a common pathology of pregnant women. This diagnosis is made in 65% of cases. The likelihood of developing pathology in women over 35 years of age increases significantly. Expectant mothers who work in hazardous industries, eat poorly, and do not follow a daily routine are at risk.

Physiological reasons (for example, sexual intercourse) can provoke contraction of the muscles of the uterus. Therefore, with the development of uterine tone, a woman is advised to avoid excessive physical activity and sexual intercourse.

The tone of the reproductive organ in early and late pregnancy often increases due to hormonal imbalance. The problem often occurs in women with high androgen levels and progesterone deficiency.

Compression of muscle fibers will be observed against the background of overstretching of the walls of the uterus. The organ rapidly enlarges, the muscles begin to contract reflexively. This condition is observed in women with multiple pregnancies or polyhydramnios. Anomalies in the structure of the organ can also provoke the development of a pathological process.

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Tests and ultrasound

At this stage, you will have to undergo 1 screening during pregnancy to determine the risks of congenital malformations of the fetus.

It includes:

biochemical blood test for hCG, PAPP-A protein;
ultrasound examination, with the help of which a specialist assesses the size of the fetus, the location and degree of development of its internal organs, the symmetry of the cerebral hemispheres, etc.

A special computer program analyzes the data obtained, as well as information about the patient and the nature of the pregnancy. As a result, you will receive a form with the results, which will indicate the possible risks of pathologies as a percentage. A gynecologist will help you decipher the information.

When does the belly start to grow earlier during pregnancy?

There are several reasons why your belly may become rounder earlier:

Bloating.
Early in pregnancy, a surge in progesterone can lead to a variety of symptoms, one of which is bloating. It can be mistaken for a rounded belly. In the early stages of pregnancy (e.g. eight weeks), when the uterus and your baby are still very small, any growth around the waist may be due to hormones or a slight increase in weight early in pregnancy.
Read also: The child crawls backwards: reasons, development standards, doctor’s recommendations
Pregnancy with twins.
If you're pregnant with twins or triplets, your belly may start to grow a little earlier. It's likely that you'll gain weight faster than if you were pregnant with one child, so your waistline may begin to grow a little earlier.
Second pregnancy.
Every pregnant woman's belly starts to grow differently, but if this is your second pregnancy, chances are your belly will round out sooner. This is just one sign of how your second pregnancy may be different from your first. Why does the belly begin to grow earlier during the second pregnancy? Your abdominal muscles were already stretched during your first pregnancy and may not have fully returned to their original position, so you'll notice a baby bump sooner this time.

What do you know about nine months of pregnancy?

Pregnancy lasts nine months, right? It seems something like this. It is believed that it is more accurate to say 40 weeks (almost 10 months) and count from the first day of your last cycle. Babies are often born a couple of weeks earlier or later than expected. Besides, there are just over four weeks in a month. However, sometimes it is difficult to determine the specific date of conception. So, taking all this into account, nine months is a fairly arbitrary period. This is why gestational age is usually measured in weeks rather than months. You'll often hear "week 12" or "at week 32." Another important category is the so-called trimester.

First trimester: 0–13 weeks
Second trimester: 14–27 weeks
Third trimester: 28–42 weeks

So how can you tell how many months pregnant you are? There are different calculation methods. Typically, you find out you're a month pregnant between the fifth and eighth week. These are the weeks that have passed since your last cycle. Remember that you may have conceived a few weeks earlier than the first month of pregnancy.

Due date calculator. In the first month of pregnancy, you will definitely want to know when you are due to give birth. The Pampers due date calculator makes it easy to find out your expected due date. If you have an irregular cycle or don't remember the date of your last period, your doctor can run tests to find out how long you've been pregnant.

What to do when you're ready to talk about your pregnancy

Only you have the right to decide when to tell others about this good news. You may want to talk about your pregnancy long before your baby bump is visible. Or you can wait until the rounded lines make your pregnancy a little more obvious.

Some expectant mothers report this news immediately after receiving the coveted confirmation of pregnancy. Others wait until the second trimester, when the likelihood of miscarriage is much lower. And there are those who prefer to go with the flow and act according to their feelings.

The moment when you tell about your pregnancy depends on who exactly you decide to share this good news with. For example, you can make your partner happy right away, but tell your colleagues about it later, after some time.

Tell us about your pregnancy when you feel ready to do so. You can even announce your pregnancy in an unusual way.

Alarming symptoms

The expectant mother should seek help if there are any unpleasant signs. Increased tone of the uterus will be indicated by discomfort in the pelvic area, nagging pain in the lower abdomen, and increased hardness of the abdominal wall. The localization of discomfort will depend on the duration. In the first weeks of pregnancy, discomfort is felt closer to the pubic bone. As the uterus grows, the area of pain will increase.

Starting in the middle of the second trimester, the hard uterus can be easily felt through the abdominal wall. Against the background of organ compaction, expectant mothers have an increased urge to urinate or defecate. Fetal movements may also increase. The child feels uncomfortable in the contracted womb.

The pain threshold for all women is different. Therefore, unpleasant sensations with uterine tone are not always observed. Sometimes a woman does not pay attention to a slight tingling sensation in the pubic bone. As a result, a slight tone develops into a threat of termination of pregnancy.

Hospitalization is needed if:

cramping pain appears in the abdomen;
against the background of hardening of the abdominal wall, bloody discharge is observed;
the nature of the fetal movements has changed (the child began to move chaotically);

The expectant mother should be able to listen to her feelings. Abdominal tension is a reason to consult a gynecologist.

What to do if you are not ready to share the news yet

If you want to keep your pregnancy a secret for the time being, that’s also normal. Wear loose clothing until you decide to show off your new curves. As your pregnancy progresses, maternity clothes may start to feel much more comfortable than your regular clothes. But keep in mind that some styles are actually designed to help accentuate the belly you're not ready to show off just yet.

Plus, even if your belly isn't noticeable, you may already be experiencing some early signs of pregnancy that you'd like to hide from the rest of the office. For example, if you're worried about nausea, try to always have unleavened crackers and ginger tea on hand to help your stomach settle.

Checklist 3 months pregnant

Spend at least 1 hour a day outdoors.
Play sports that are safe for you and your baby - yoga, swimming, Pilates, special gymnastics for pregnant women.
If before the 12th week, flights could worsen your condition, then at the end of the 3rd month you can already plan a trip to the sea. Choose a resort without extremely high temperatures and within 1-3 hours of flight time.
It's time to take a closer look at maternity clothes. Choose loose silhouettes and specially supportive bras without wires.

Complete 1 pregnancy screening at the Women's Medical Center. We use the Delfia-LifeCycle system, which is 98% accurate.

What affects the shape of a pregnant woman's belly?

The shape of a pregnant woman's belly is influenced by many factors.

The first is the woman’s build . Typically, a woman who tends to be overweight or overweight has weak abdominal muscle tone. In plump girls of short stature, the stomach, as a rule, has a regular round shape, less often - square and pear-shaped, since the waist “blurs”.

If the fetus is large, the belly will most likely also be round. With a small weight of the fetus and mother, the abdomen is often pointed, very neat and miniature. A similar situation will occur if the mother has a large build, but is also tall.

In very thin women with a narrow pelvis, the tummy is also usually miniature, but against the background of a slender figure it appears large.

The position of the baby in the womb most affects the shape of the abdomen. Whatever figure the mother has, the elongation of the abdomen in the horizontal or vertical direction, as well as asymmetry, depend precisely on what position the baby took in the uterus. If the baby is positioned correctly, the stomach will be stretched from top to bottom. A horizontal oval is a sign of the child’s transverse position. If the abdomen has an irregular, asymmetrical shape, we are talking about oblique presentation of the fetus.

Not so much the shape as the size of the abdomen depends on the volume of amniotic fluid, or amniotic fluid. The shape of a regular ball is a sign of polyhydramnios, and a pointed one signals a small amount of amniotic fluid.

If two or more fetuses Obstetricians also note another pattern: during the first pregnancy, if it suddenly turns out to be multiple, the severity is usually directed upward, and during the second and subsequent ones, the severity is directed downward.

When determining the shape and size of the abdomen, an amazing paradox is often observed: the taller and larger the woman, the neater and more modest the belly looks, and vice versa.

The relationship between the anatomical and physiological characteristics of a woman and the shape of her abdomen can be summarized as follows:

The more trained the abdominal muscles are, the smaller the belly;
If the abdominal muscles are weakened, it will reach an impressive size;
The larger the fruit, the larger the belly;
With multiple pregnancies, the belly grows quickly and becomes very large;

Nutrition and lifestyle: do's and don'ts

Toxicosis has a big impact on your diet now. Sometimes you just don’t feel like eating, or after any meal you rush to the toilet. To survive these unpleasant moments and not leave yourself and your growing baby without nutrients, follow these rules:

eat in small portions, 6-7 times a day;
be sure to have breakfast, perhaps immediately after waking up, without getting out of bed: leave some fruit or cereal bread next to your bed in the evening;
do not wear tight clothes and do not put pressure on your stomach;
watch your drinking regime;
do not forget about taking folic acid: it is believed that it reduces the symptoms of toxicosis;
Avoid fatty, fried and smoked foods, which irritate the stomach and cause nausea.

To avoid complications, do not lift weights of more than 3-4 kg, avoid other serious physical activities - this is a common cause of early miscarriage.

Is it possible to fly while 2 months pregnant?

Despite the lack of convincing studies proving the negative impact of flights on an uneventful pregnancy, obstetricians and gynecologists do not recommend flying until the 14th week of gestation. This is due to hormonal changes in the body during this period. A long flight can increase nausea, headaches, and provoke vomiting.