Feeling some anxiety again - talk me down!

[hokiegirl82]

I'm 19 weeks today (almost halfway there!) and I've been feeling pretty good about everything, but I've had twinges of anxiety about 2 things lately - I'm still not really showing much and I haven't felt any movement from the baby at all. I'm a FTM so I know these things can happen later, anywhere from 20-25 weeks, but I still feel a little bit of anxiety over these things. I definitely look more pregnant now than I did 4 weeks ago - my stomach is rounding out a tiny little bit below my belly button, but still not very pregnant looking. My dentist mentioned this morning how early I must be and when I told her I was almost half way through she said "I'm surprised, you aren't showing at all!" Still looking just kinda fat in my opinion. And I thought I might start to feel the little popcorn or bubble feeling but nothing there yet either. I have a bit of extra padding down there so maybe that it why I'm not feeling anything.

Tell me I'm being crazy and need to simmer down, this is all normal

[smock]

It's pretty normal! I'm a few days past 20 weeks and my boss said the exact same thing to me-- "You're over halfway?! You aren't showing at all!" Well, I can tell that I look different, but apparently most people don't spend a lot of time staring at my waistline.

I'm trying to think of it as a good thing--maybe I'll somehow avoid being enormously uncomfortable at the end if I stay on the smaller side? Plus my doctor isn't concerned at all, since the baby is measuring a full 13 oz., which is a little ahead for 20 weeks.

In terms of movement, my doc also said FTM usually will feel something between 18-24 weeks, so really you shouldn't worry at all! Your anatomy scan must be soon, right? Maybe it will be reassuring to see the little bean dancing around, even if you can't feel it yet.

[VillainV]

I "popped" around 20 weeks, though how pregnant I looked really depended on what I was wearing. Maternity clothes made me look more pregnant, but I could still kind of hide it with non-maternity clothes. It REALLY depends on body type though.

As far as feeling movement, I think that was also around 20 weeks, but it wasn't really consistent until maybe 23-34 weeks.

[MrsDarcy]

It's also possible you have an anterior placenta (which is completely normal) but can hinder you from feeling movements early. I had one with my last pregnancy, I can't remember when they told me though.

[picksthemusic]

Honestly, with DD, I had a lot of extra 'padding', and I didn't really start showing at all until 20-22 weeks. And even then it was a "B" belly rather than a "D" belly (meaning side profile bump wise). It took me being about 30 weeks before I really looked pregnant. As for movement, you could try laying on your side and drinking some orange juice and seeing what happens. That would normally start a dance party in the belly for me.

[teep]

All very normal! I felt exactly this way at 20 weeks. I was really concerned that I hadn't felt any movement. My doctor said that was totally normal. I finally started feeling movements about a week ago (22.5 weeks), and now they are much more regular. I also wasn't showing, or at least to other people. I felt huge, but everyone kept telling me how tiny I was. I really only "popped" about a week ago as well. I think I look more obviously pregnant now, not just a little chubby. I was so ready to feel and look pregnant, it just took a couple weeks longer than I thought

[Deleted]

You are fine. With my first, I barely had a belly at my 20 week ultrasound and didn't have movement until maybe 22 weeks.

[catsarecute]

Normal! I wasn't showing at all at 19 weeks. Sure my stomach was a little bigger but nothing like the round bump I imagined. As for the movement, I didn't feel anything until 21 weeks.
Try not to try too much anxiety about it! I feel like there is always something to worry about in pregnant but you are in a in between phase right before things start to happen!

[mellimel19]

I think that's totally normal. At 20 weeks, I mostly looked kind of pudgy around the middle, but didn't have a visible "bump." People commented all the time about how small I was, and it would make me really nervous that our baby wasn't growing properly. But the doctors weren't concerned and baby measured in the 77th percentile for growth at our anatomy scan, so that eased my mind.

Also, I started feeling the occasional flutter that would be easy to miss at around 17-18 weeks, but it was several more weeks before I started feeling definite movement, and it was still pretty sporadic.

[pinotgrig]

Jan 16, 2014 12:52:27 GMT -5 smock said:

It's pretty normal! I'm a few days past 20 weeks and my boss said the exact same thing to me-- "You're over halfway?! You aren't showing at all!" Well, I can tell that I look different, but apparently most people don't spend a lot of time staring at my waistline.

I'm trying to think of it as a good thing--maybe I'll somehow avoid being enormously uncomfortable at the end if I stay on the smaller side? Plus my doctor isn't concerned at all, since the baby is measuring a full 13 oz., which is a little ahead for 20 weeks.

In terms of movement, my doc also said FTM usually will feel something between 18-24 weeks, so really you shouldn't worry at all! Your anatomy scan must be soon, right? Maybe it will be reassuring to see the little bean dancing around, even if you can't feel it yet.

This, this! Very well said.

I was just telling H that I was disappointed that I'll be 18w tomorrow and still have just the tiniest bump. There are worse things than having a small bump, though. I've noticed a lot of friends tend to really start to grow around 23-25 weeks.

When's your anatomy scan? My ob said not to worry about not feeling anything until about 24 weeks. At my 17 week appt last week, he drew a circle on my belly (from belly button to pubic bone) and said anything you feel in here is most likely baby. I hadn't realized my uterus had moved so far up already. It made me reconsider some things I had felt down there but dismissed b/c I thought anything around my belly button was too high.

[purplecow0206]

I probably didn't really start showing until around 22 weeks or so. I felt movement earlier, but you're still within the regular time frame. It's TOTALLY normal, I promise!