How to recognize a pregnancy belly
The belly is one of the parts of the body that obviously changes the most during pregnancy, and if at the beginning, in the first trimester, it is only slightly hinted at, already from the second trimester it is rounded to become as big as a watermelon the third trimester. . Each baby bump is unique in both shape and size, but there is a way to recognize a pregnancy belly? And when do you start to see?
In this article
- Pregnancy belly or fat?
- Belly from pregnancy in the first month
- When do you see the pregnancy belly?
- Swollen belly in pregnancy in the first few days
- Male or female pregnancy belly
- High belly and low belly
Pregnancy belly or fat?
How to distinguish a pregnant belly from plain fat abdominal?
Those who are fattened have a flaccid and soft belly, with the fat that tends to turn downwards. On the contrary, the pregnancy belly has tightly stretched skin, it is a hard belly that aims upwards or outwards.
Belly from pregnancy in the first month
The belly, as we have said, changes and grows month after month. It doesn't change much at first and it's difficult, if not impossible, to tell that a woman is pregnant. During first weeks of pregnancy, the baby is still very small: at the end of the first month it will be the size of a poppy seed and probably the belly will begin to hint slightly only at the end of the third month, when the fetus has reached the size of a lemon.
When do you see the pregnancy belly?
At the end of third month you will begin to notice a small swelling of the belly caused by the increase in the amount of amniotic fluid and in the size of the uterus.
The real pregnancy belly it will only be noticed in the second quarter: it will still be a small belly, almost elegant in its shape and size, and comfortable to wear.
But be careful: the size of the baby bump will suddenly begin to visibly increase and the belly will grow, on average, by 1 centimeter per week.
The belly of pregnancy is characterized by three important aspects:
- the linea nigra (or linea alba): that darker colored line that starts from the navel and crosses the entire abdomen vertically;
- le stretch marks which, alas, are caused by the continuous tension that the skin is subjected to in this phase of change. Stretch marks are caused by actual tears that are caused on the skin and which have a similar appearance to scars. The more elastic the skin is, the less the risk of stretch marks forming:
- l'belly button it is not everted as usual, but begins to be more and more recessed inwards until it becomes almost completely flat towards the end of the pregnancy.
Swollen belly in pregnancy in the first few days
It is possible to notice one swollen belly right away, from the first days of pregnancy? The first symptoms of conception are so many and vary from woman to woman. Certainly in the absence of menstruation, a abdominal swelling it can lead to suspicion of pregnancy, but it can also be caused by PMS, constipation, gastrointestinal disturbances and nutrition.
According to experts, pregnancy-related swelling of the belly comes as a feeling of heaviness in the lower part of the belly, under the pubic bone.
The only way to know for sure if you are pregnant is to do a pregnancy test: nowadays the most sophisticated home tests allow you to discover a pregnancy even a few days after the missed menstruation.
Male or female pregnancy belly
One of the rather well-known popular legends concerning the methods for predicting the sex of the baby has as its protagonist the shape of the belly: it is said, in fact, that if it is a tip or low the unborn child would be a boy, while if it is higher or more distributed in the central part of the abdomen it would be a girl.
High belly and low belly
As we have said, every baby bump is different and is not only distinguished by shape and volume but also by position: what is the difference between a high and a low belly?
- La high belly it is essentially caused by the position of the baby and will generally change in the third trimester when the baby turns around;
- La low belly, according to popular belief, it is a late pregnancy belly, caused by the position of the baby being upside down (head position) and ready to be born.
