"But you're not supposed to start showing/need maternity clothes til 5 or 6 months"

-Said most often by someone who's never been pregnant, it's just what
they "knew".

I find this funny, so now I'm curious about others' experiences.

By 10 weeks I had a belly big enough to require clothes in a bigger
size, but not maternity clothes. It was obvious only to those who knew,
but that's 'cause I tend to wear large loose clothing anyway. By 13
weeks until 15, I needed yet another larger size (2 sizes bigger than
normal) in trousers to account for the belly, and same for tops to
account for the growing breats (my large loose tops just weren't
enough). And now at 16 weeks tomorrow, even those trousers no longer
fit around the waist, the tops are all too small - I need maternity
trousers.

I'm still able to get away with looking like I'm getting fat, as I'm
trying to avoid telling work for 2 more weeks, but to those who know I
look very obviously pregnant. FWIW - oddly enough I've gained no
weight since becoming pg. But according to those who know everything
"You're not supposed to have a belly/start showing yet." Hmmmmm.

cjra wrote:

I'm still able to get away with looking like I'm getting fat, as I'm
trying to avoid telling work for 2 more weeks, but to those who know I
look very obviously pregnant. FWIW - oddly enough I've gained no
weight since becoming pg. But according to those who know everything
"You're not supposed to have a belly/start showing yet." Hmmmmm.

I think it varies tremendously. I have a friend who's
due in March. When she left town just before Christmas, you'd
*never* have known she was pregnant to look at her. She was
wearing a little larger clothing, but she sure as heck didn't
look pregnant. On the other hand, she's 6 feet tall. With
her previous pregnancy, we threw a shower for her about a
month before her due date. I was about 4-5 months pregnant
at the time. People were asking me if we were due at the
same time ;-)
People grow and show differently--from one another,
and from pregnancy to pregnancy. I don't think it's uncommon
for women not to need maternity clothing before 5-6 months,
but it's also not uncommon for women to need maternity
clothing much before then.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Ericka Kammerer wrote:
cjra wrote:

I'm still able to get away with looking like I'm getting fat, as I'm
trying to avoid telling work for 2 more weeks, but to those who know I
look very obviously pregnant. FWIW - oddly enough I've gained no
weight since becoming pg. But according to those who know everything
"You're not supposed to have a belly/start showing yet." Hmmmmm.

I think it varies tremendously. I have a friend who's
due in March. When she left town just before Christmas, you'd
*never* have known she was pregnant to look at her. She was
wearing a little larger clothing, but she sure as heck didn't
look pregnant. On the other hand, she's 6 feet tall. With
her previous pregnancy, we threw a shower for her about a
month before her due date. I was about 4-5 months pregnant
at the time. People were asking me if we were due at the
same time ;-)
People grow and show differently--from one another,
and from pregnancy to pregnancy. I don't think it's uncommon
for women not to need maternity clothing before 5-6 months,
but it's also not uncommon for women to need maternity
clothing much before then.

Best wishes,
Ericka

In one of the 4 million or so books that I've read on pregnancy, it was
stated that the phrases 'supposed to' and 'not supposed to' should be
elimated from the pregnant woman's vocabulary!

KD

KD wrote:
In one of the 4 million or so books that I've read on pregnancy, it was
stated that the phrases 'supposed to' and 'not supposed to' should be
elimated from the pregnant woman's vocabulary!

haha, I fully agree!

What's always funny to me is such comments generally come from one
who's never been pregnant themselves. it's just what their
sister/friend/aunt etc told them. I'm all about learning from others,
but it makes me laugh. I guess I have to suck in my belly for another
month so I can comply ;-)

I had a group of students that I taught until 26 weeks with my first and
they didn't notice and were quite surprised to realise when I taught them
again the next year that I had a baby.

As we moved to Korea when I was 16 weeks it wasn't exactly the first thing I
was saying, hello I'm Anne, I'm pregnant and no one noticed, it then started
to come up in conversation, but that still bypassed a few people and I was
gone 28 weeks when it became common knowledge.

Cheers

Anne

Anne Rogers wrote:
I had a group of students that I taught until 26 weeks with my first and
they didn't notice and were quite surprised to realise when I taught them
again the next year that I had a baby.

As we moved to Korea when I was 16 weeks it wasn't exactly the first thing I
was saying, hello I'm Anne, I'm pregnant and no one noticed, it then started
to come up in conversation, but that still bypassed a few people and I was
gone 28 weeks when it became common knowledge.



I'm envious! I wish I could go that long. I'd like to stick it out
longer before I tell work, and I think I only managed this long because
I work with mostly men. But it's becoming more obvious. It's hard
enough to stick it out for the 2 more weeks I need. I just want to wear
more comfortable clothes!

Well, with my first pregnancy at 14 weeks I needed maternity clothes! I
remember, around week 20 we went to a family party on DH's side, and his
cousin told me she was pregnant, only 3 weeks behind me. I was moving around
this huge belly, and she still wore her size 5 jeans!

This time around, same thing: at 12 weeks I started to show, and since only
my belly seems to be growing and I am getting almost no weight, people
really notice. Heck, as I was walking down the street the other day in my
winter coat, I glanced at myself in a shop window and boy do I look
pregnant. Thin all over but for a big protruding belly!

My mother, on the other hand, didn't start to show before her 6th months
with my brother. At the same time, people were asking her friend, also
pregnant, if she was expecting twins!

So "supposed to" is not an expression I use in my vocabulary.


--

Isabelle
Mom to Mlle C, Nov. 27, 2004
Expecting Little One on June 7, 2006


"cjra" wrote in message
oups.com...
-Said most often by someone who's never been pregnant, it's just what
they "knew".

I find this funny, so now I'm curious about others' experiences.

By 10 weeks I had a belly big enough to require clothes in a bigger
size, but not maternity clothes. It was obvious only to those who knew,
but that's 'cause I tend to wear large loose clothing anyway. By 13
weeks until 15, I needed yet another larger size (2 sizes bigger than
normal) in trousers to account for the belly, and same for tops to
account for the growing breats (my large loose tops just weren't
enough). And now at 16 weeks tomorrow, even those trousers no longer
fit around the waist, the tops are all too small - I need maternity
trousers.

I'm still able to get away with looking like I'm getting fat, as I'm
trying to avoid telling work for 2 more weeks, but to those who know I
look very obviously pregnant. FWIW - oddly enough I've gained no
weight since becoming pg. But according to those who know everything
"You're not supposed to have a belly/start showing yet." Hmmmmm.

I'm envious! I wish I could go that long. I'd like to stick it out
longer before I tell work, and I think I only managed this long because
I work with mostly men. But it's becoming more obvious. It's hard
enough to stick it out for the 2 more weeks I need. I just want to wear
more comfortable clothes!

it is wierd isn't it, I had a friend who was about 10 weeks behind me with
her first when I was pregnant with number 2, she didn't manage not telling
people until 12 weeks it was so obvious, when we got back to England and I
was 32 weeks and she was 22 weeks you would have maybe put a month or less
between us in dates, in the end though our babies were fairly much the same
size mine 8lb8oz, hers 8lb6oz, though a little earlier in gestation.

Anne

with first child I wore my regular size until 4 months. With 2nd child I
was in full-blown maternity by 6 wks. One thing that can affect how soon
you show is whether you are at your ideal weight or overweight to begin
with, and also if it's your first child or not.


"cjra" wrote in message
oups.com...
-Said most often by someone who's never been pregnant, it's just what
they "knew".

I find this funny, so now I'm curious about others' experiences.

By 10 weeks I had a belly big enough to require clothes in a bigger
size, but not maternity clothes. It was obvious only to those who knew,
but that's 'cause I tend to wear large loose clothing anyway. By 13
weeks until 15, I needed yet another larger size (2 sizes bigger than
normal) in trousers to account for the belly, and same for tops to
account for the growing breats (my large loose tops just weren't
enough). And now at 16 weeks tomorrow, even those trousers no longer
fit around the waist, the tops are all too small - I need maternity
trousers.

I'm still able to get away with looking like I'm getting fat, as I'm
trying to avoid telling work for 2 more weeks, but to those who know I
look very obviously pregnant. FWIW - oddly enough I've gained no
weight since becoming pg. But according to those who know everything
"You're not supposed to have a belly/start showing yet." Hmmmmm.

cjra wrote:
-Said most often by someone who's never been pregnant, it's just what
they "knew".

I find this funny, so now I'm curious about others' experiences.

Well it was true for me. I needed maternity clothes by about 22 weeks
(especially pants) though of course what I could wear from my regular
wardrobe had been reduced during that time. I usually wear fitted
things that have some stretch to them and used tricks like the elastic
on the waistband etc. When I needed maternity clothes, I *really*
needed them. I was that person who went to work in something that fit
OK and by the end of the day was busting out of it, and that was the
end of the regular wardrobe.

It was fine by me to not be in the maternity clothes too long, I was
sick of them by the end of the pregnancy anyway and by the end hardly
anything fit regardless so I'm sure if I had bought earlier I would
have had to buy a second, larger, round of clothes. Personally I
couldn't wrap my head around how large I would get (and I didn't even
get that big, only putting on 12 lbs -- just a big belly out front) and
would have surely bought too small at the beginning of the second
trimester, especially since I am not inclined to wear baggy clothes.

Since everyone's body shape is different -- I'm 5' 4" but have kind of
a longish torso so there was lots of real estate in there -- everyone
pops out at different rates. Also different parts can change at
different rates, like sometimes the boobs grow exponentially in the
first trimester and tops can get tight. It's not always just the belly
that expands quickly!

Elle