How to hide pregnancy before 6 months: real stories

Elizaveta Vorotnikova, 29 years old, Ufa, mother of two sons:

The first pregnancy happened at 23 years old. It passed easily, toxicosis did not torment me at all. And the tummy didn’t grow either. At all. For the first four months, only the closest people knew about my pregnancy. I had no need to hide something, but I didn’t want to talk again. When, in the fifth month, I came with the news to the boss, he simply did not believe me.

By this time, of course, I was wearing a little looser clothes, but I was still not a pot-bellied. But all this time my breasts were growing seductively! At some point, the husband said: “While there is no belly, but there is such a breast, take pictures sooner.” I did so.

In the fifth month, she arranged a photo shoot on motorcycles, emphasized her chest with a corset, and just pulled her tummy a little

The fifth month of pregnancy: a snapshot from the same photo shoot

Of course, then the tummy appeared, and after nine months I gave birth to a healthy baby.

The second pregnancy was a year ago. And everything happened approximately in the same way, just a little toxicosis tormented. Both pregnancies coincided with the same dates as my friends, but when compared, my belly was always smaller than theirs. Although then I gave birth to babies even more weight than my friends.

In an ordinary, not “pregnant” life, all these years I weigh 49 kg with a height of 169 cm. The maximum that I gained during pregnancy is 63 kg. And all the pounds left in swoop after childbirth. I don’t know why this happens, to be honest, because my mother is plump, and such “pregnant behavior” cannot be explained by genetics.

I would also like to say about the disadvantages of such a “disguised” pregnancy

Not only the boss does not believe you, but also the people on the street. I was not given a place in transport. Once the conductor even yelled at me, saying, what am I making up here, just to sit down. Then I had to ride standing with a melon in my hands. After some time, she still decided to believe and even apologized. But the non-obviousness of my belly still created problems.

During my second pregnancy, I was already driving, and when we had not parted with one lady, she jumped out of the car and started shouting: “Let the pregnant woman pass!” Of course, I said in response that I was also pregnant, but she called me a liar and continued to scream.

By that time, I had already learned to treat the disbelief of others philosophically. There are still more pluses! And also both pregnancies men often met me. Their tummy did not bother them at all.

Elena Velichko, 26 years old, mother of a daughter:

I got pregnant at 24 and did not pursue the goal of hiding this fact. It just so happened that the stomach did not appear for a long time.

To be precise, the “pregnant” belly, noticeable and round, began to take shape only after the sixth month. My lifestyle has not changed in any way: I went to the gym, swam in the pool, traveled, even went to some parties. And, of course, she continued to upload her photos to social networks. It turns out that I didn’t seem to hide, but I didn’t shout: “Hey, look, this is the 22nd week, half of the way has been passed, just a little bit more, and I’ll become a mother.”

Sixth month of pregnancy

Nothing betrayed the nascent life in me, except for the rapidly increasing size of my breasts.

On the 29th week, I flew on vacation to Sri Lanka. I flew there still practically without a belly, but returned already noticeably rounded. For me it was a real shock, suddenly came out (oh, horror) belly! So far it didn’t fit in my head that a small man was developing there, I seemed to myself awkward, fat and ugly. Only then I purposefully began to hide my pregnancy from the general public (on social networks), or rather, I just stopped posting full-length photos. I did this not out of superstition and fear of the evil eye, but simply because I believed that, to put it mildly, I was not in the best shape. Although now I understand that I was very thin, and my stomach was small and neat. It is a pity that there are no photographs left since then.

It can be assumed that I just had a pumped up abs. But this is not the case. I have never pumped the abs separately because of a chronic disease in which exercises on the abs are undesirable.

Only during pregnancy, I went to the pool, where I did exercises on the oblique abdominal muscles in the water, but very light, as they say, without fanaticism. In general, in the first trimester I was so tormented with toxicosis that I lost weight, and then I was sick and coughing a lot, perhaps this still somehow influenced the weight gain. Or maybe it’s just an anatomical feature. In the 20th week of pregnancy, I weighed 47 kg, and before childbirth – 63 kg.

Doctor’s comment

Olga Panfilova, obstetrician-gynecologist, PhD:

– As a rule, during the first pregnancy, the “special position” becomes noticeable at 12-16 weeks – when the uterus enlarges and outgrows the pelvic cavity. In re-pregnant women, the abdominal area may begin to enlarge earlier due to the fact that the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall were already stretched during the previous pregnancy.

Of course, all these terms are rather arbitrary and a huge role is assigned to individual characteristics – the constitution (is there overweight), the number of previous pregnancies, the pathology of pregnancy (oligohydramnios, polyhydramnios, large fetuses, small fetuses, etc.), the presence of problems with the functioning of the gastrointestinal -intestinal tract.

Until the 12th week, a pregnant woman can also sometimes pay attention to “swelling” in the lower abdomen, which can be caused by increased gas production, constipation, decreased muscle tone of the abdominal wall, overweight, multiple pregnancy.

There are no clear universal norms here, and if you are worried about the size of the abdomen (very large / very small for the corresponding period), the most correct solution would be to undergo an examination by a gynecologist, an ultrasound examination and an assessment of the condition of the fetus. As an example: a pregnant woman may have a large belly, but, for example, a small fetus and polyhydramnios. Or a small belly, but due to lack of water in the normal size of the fetus. Or maybe a subjectively small / big belly – and at the same time a perfectly healthy baby of normal size and a sufficient amount of water. Your doctor will definitely dispel doubts.