Pregnant or Just Fat?

JANUARY - 3 months

FEBRUARY - 4 months

MARCH - 5 months

Okay, here's the thing.  I was never, in my memory, an extremely thin person except when I was like 13.  I've always had some sort of a poochy belly I could never seem to rid myself of, but before getting pregnant, I was not overweight.  In fact, I was probably the fittest I've been in my adult life so far, floating around in the lower 140 lb range.  

It's interesting to note that as soon as you get pregnant, you begin to gain weight.  It's not much to begin with, maybe 2-5 pounds or so, but you notice it.  I certainly did.  Even before I knew I was pregnant I'd tell my husband "I feel fat" all the time.  It's kind of like the bloated feeling you get when your period starts, except that feeling never goes away.  And actually, from what I've read, that's exactly what is going on with your body during those early pregnancy weeks.  Your baby might not be much bigger than a blueberry, but you are gaining water weight like there's no tomorrow.  

When I first noticed my baby bump, I know it was only myself that could tell it was more than a fat pooch.  Not even my husband really noticed it until I made him feel it.  The fact that it was hard like a rubber ball rather than squishy like a fat blob made it really obvious to me that it was my swelling uterus.  Plus, in the beginning, the bump was sort of lopsided!  It protruded mostly on the right side, which I found really funny.  Even our ultrasound tech laughed that she was hanging out over there mostly.  That has evened out now.  Now I can feel her moving all over my belly all the way to the top of my belly button area, whereas before I only felt her flutters very low down near my bladder area.  

See, I feel like I have to explain this because of the fact that so many people told me I didn't look pregnant yet, only that I might have gained a few pounds or something.  This of course is rather offensive to hear when you know that you are pregnant, and the weight you've gained is all entirely due to that fact.  People tend to think that when you gain weight during pregnancy, it's only baby weight in your belly when in fact it is all over your body.  Naturally, you are going to look somewhat pudgy before your belly starts to protrude more prominently.  In the first half of the pregnancy, your baby is concentrating on developing into a little human being rather than growing much, so your body prepares it's self for this accordingly by pumping more blood and requiring more food and water from you.  It's a huge deal on your body to create another human being!  I had no idea this was the case myself when I first got pregnant.  I really was worried about the rate of weight gain going on.  The fact that my jeans didn't fit after only 3 months along, I freaked, but my doctor always reassured me at my prenatal exams that my weight was right on track!

So, on the one hand I had people telling me I didn't look pregnant yet, and the other were the people who say I look downright huge and say things like "Wow, you're big!  Are you sure it's not twins?!"  Yeah, another thoughtless blow to a pregnant woman.  So this is my advise:  understand that pregnant women are going through a huge change in their bodies.  Not only is this physically difficult, but it is psychologically difficult as well because her image is changing at a dramatic rate.  Do her a favor and stop pointing out the obvious: her weight gain.  Instead, tell her she looks beautiful.  There is no better compliment to an image conscious pregnant woman than that.  And what pregnant woman isn't conscious of her image?