Depending on your stage of pregnancy, your body type, and even the time of day, sometimes your belly will feel soft and other times it will feel tight and hard. The reality is, there's no normal to compare yourself with. Pregnant bellies come in all shapes, sizes, and firmness.
How does a pregnancy bump feel? Baby bumps are different for everyone, but you will probably feel some tightening of your skin across your belly as your pregnancy progresses. You might also feel itchy or experience Braxton Hicks contractions, which typically cause mild pain and tightness that mimic signs of labor.
This is the time you can start feeling the baby from the outside. A hard spot on your abdomen during the early part of the second trimester is likely to be your fundus, which is the top of your uterus.
At 14 weeks of pregnancy, your uterus has expanded to fill your pelvis and ascend into your abdominal cavity — you may be able to feel your baby bump as a soft, smooth oval.
The Bottom Line. Typically, most mild to moderate hits to your pregnant belly won't endanger your baby as the uterus provides a well-protected space to grow. However, harder hits can cause serious harm.
Gently touch and rub your belly, or massage it. Respond to your baby's kicks. In the last trimester, you can gently push against the baby or rub your belly where the kick occurred and see if there is a response.
Your growing uterus is pulling and straining the muscles that support it. You may feel sharp pains or just a mild pulling sensation. It often occurs when you cough, sneeze, stand up, sit down, roll over, or during sex.
The reason for this is simple: If you've been down this pregnancy road before, then your stomach muscles tend to not be as tight as they were the first time, so they'll naturally stretch out a little faster. Keep these pre-pregnancy factors in mind when you're carrying your baby, and don't judge a baby by its cover!
You might be able to see that you're looking a little rounder in the middle, but your new shape might not be noticeable to others just yet. If you've had nausea and it is starting to subside, you may find your appetite increases and you'll start to gain more weight. That bump will start to show in no time.
“At 12 weeks, your growing uterus can no longer hide inside your pelvis behind your pubic bone,” says Sherry Ross, an OB/GYN at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. “Instead, it starts to protrude into your abdomen.” For some women, that shift translates to a starter baby bump.
According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, most women (59 percent) experienced an onset of pregnancy symptoms by their fifth or sixth week, while 71 percent reported symptoms by the end of week six and 89 percent by week eight. If you don't feel any symptoms at all, don't worry!
Positions in the womb
Left occiput anterior: The head is down, the fetus is facing the pregnant person's back, and they are in the left side of the womb. Right occiput anterior: The position is the same as that above, but the fetus is in the womb's right side.
Early pregnancy (first trimester) abdominal symptoms include nausea/morning sickness, cramping, constipation, heartburn, bloating, and gas. Pregnancy begins when a fertilized egg attaches to the wall of the uterus, and pregnancy symptoms may begin in some people as early as a week after implantation.
Following the 12-week mark, the uterus expands to accommodate the growing baby, making the belly feel harder instead of soft [1]. On the other hand, a fat belly is softer and you'll also tend to see fat layers on the stomach rather than a protruding belly with a smooth dome as you would with a pregnant belly [1].
Early pregnancy bloating and normal bloating feel exactly the same. Your pregnancy bloating may feel slightly more uncomfortable due to the additional symptoms and increased amounts of gas which can worsen gas pains.
How long does a cryptic pregnancy last? Most people realize they're pregnant about 20 weeks into the pregnancy. However, a person can be unaware they're pregnant during the entire 40 weeks of pregnancy. There have been cases where a person goes to the emergency room with pelvic pain only to discover they're in labor.
Don't expect to see too much of a belly bump at two months pregnant. At this stage, your body probably won't look dramatically different. (Read more about when you might start showing.) What you might notice, though, is that in addition to some sensitivity and soreness, your breasts may look fuller.
It is subcutaneous fat, which is stored just underneath the skin's surface. Subcutaneous fat is soft and jiggles easily. Soft fat can be pinched between the fingers. Everyone has subcutaneous belly fat and is normally harmless.
Soft belly fat: This is the type of fat that you can easily see with your open eyes like when you hold your belly. As per a study, almost 90 percent of body fat in most people is soft and the remaining 10 percent if hard fat.
4 months into your pregnancy, your baby will also feel it when you stroke the skin of your tummy: rub your hand against your stomach, gently push and stroke it… and soon your baby will start responding with little kicks, or by curling up into your palm!
Twists can cause uterine contractions. Early on in pregnancy, when your developing baby is the smallest and the risk of miscarriage is the highest, twists are not considered safe.
If you are pregnant and working, you may want to reduce or avoid: Stooping, bending, or squatting often. Lifting heavy objects from the floor or any location that requires you to bend or reach. Lifting overhead or reaching.