When did you get your baby bump?

I know every woman start showing (their pregnancy) at different weeks but I am curious: 

When did you start showing? 

When did you realize that your body was changing, even ever-so-slightly?  And how? 

How long did you wear "normal" clothes and when did you start buying maternity clothes? 

Feel free to share any other info about "showing" and normal/maternity clothes, or whatever else. 

Another Question:  What kind/type of shoes did/do you wear? 

When I first found out I was pregnant, I was about 5 weeks along and I wore regular clothes; and put a rubber band around my button starting in the 7th week.  I've always had a flat stomach (and hopefully will have a stomach that is slightly flat after this baby!) so I went out and bought those cute little empire waisted shirts at H&M and century 21 that concealed a little bit of a belly that I had.  Around the 11th and 12th week; my core started getting pushed up; so it looked like I was carrying very high; which I didn't mind becuase I looked cute-prego from the start;  it was easy to tell I was pregnant; since I had upper belly instead of lower belly.  CLothing is SOOOO hard in the first trimester.  By the 2nd I could justify wearing maternity.  By the 16th week I was defintily bigger; and now I've started to carry much much lower starting in my 26th. 

I've gained some weight-  the non-baby weight seems to have affected my face :( becuase some people tell me my face is fuller.  Which really cannot be good.

Heels??  I went to walking to work from the train in 4inchers to flats after th 7th week!  My feet got so swollen and sore.  For our holiday part at 13 weeks; it was torture to get my feet back in them.  But by that time everyone at work knew I was pregnant; but still wanted to look good anyway!!

From day one my boobs went up a size; and then another size starting my 16th week.  They've started to "even out" I don't know how much larger they can possibly get.  My rings didn't fit last week; but they are back on :) but I went out to dinner tonight and I'll probably end up taking them off tomorrow!!!

The only clothes that have not changed are my pjs.  I still wear my big t-shirts and same drawstring pants that I wore five years ago; which is keeping me sane.  I had a full out body moment today in front of the mirror.  I'm def all belly; some face, major boobs; but no back fat; or bigger arms.  Hips are wider; butt's slightly bigger; thighs really have not changed.  Feet and calves are the same size.

So now I have 11 weeks to go and I'm watching the belly button pop out and I'm fascinated that there's a little baby in this big but cute belly of mine!!!  I'm quite proud of my bump!!!  I can still see my obliques!!!!

I can't remember with the 2nd pregnancy, but with the first I recall I had to buy some bigger clothes at 5 months. They weren't maternity just bigger sizes. I think around 6 months I had to get maternity stuff. It was nice to have be bigger stuff to wear once some of the post-baby weight came off.

I didn't start showing until I was about 23 or 24 weeks pregnant.

My regular clothes fit until I was about 21 weeks...and then I started transitioning into maternity clothes...which I happen to love!

I noticed that my body was changing around week 20 when it started to look like my uterus was tilting upwards.  That was one of my favorite things so far...noticing that change with my husband!

As far as Maternity Clothes: Try not to waste too much money! Sale shop...it is totally worth it.  I happened to hit JCPenny's (somewhere I never shop) one day and they had just marked all of there maternity clothes down to 1.97...I couldn't believe it...It was heaven!  Also try buying things that you can wear post-baby like longer empire waisted tops.  Make sure you have a few good pairs of maternity jeans though...that is important.  I had a hard time with this because the only Maternity store in Madison wisconsin is Motherhood...and they do not carry longs...therefor all of the pants looked like Capris!  I ordered some Gap full-panels though...those are great!

two words for cheap maternity clothes.....

OLD NAVY!!!

I can't remember when I started showing with my first pregnancy, but I do recall that it was kind of later.  I'm 23 weeks today, and I just started really showing within the last 3 weeks.  I started to feel 'thick' around my waist almost from the start, though.   

I've been wearing maternity shirts from the start.  LOL!  Since I conceived in December, I had tons of shirts from when I was pregnant during winter before.  I wanted to get as much wear out of them as possible.  Now that it's hot in Texas (what else is new?), I'm still wearing my regular shorts.  I also wear maternity shorts, but the regular ones still fit, so I just wear whatever matches the shirt I pick out. 

As for shoes, I only wear flip flops.  But that's what I wear year round (unless I'm working of course :). 

I have to agree with JC Penney's.  I bought all of my winter maternity clothes there, and they were so cheap.  If you look at the right time, you can get some great deals like vitenser mentioned.  My sister-in-law got a great black dress for $4.  Although, I haven't liked anything they've had out this year...I did buy some maternity clothes at Kohl's.  They were having a 50% off sale, so they were also very cheap.  A lot of their stuff looked cheaply made to me, though.  I typically don't shop there, but the price was good and now I have plenty to wear around the house or just running to the store. 

Clothes are not my friend either!  I'm 13 weeks tomorrow (1st pregnancy) and I can't find anything that I don't feel fat in.  My clothes all "fit," I just don't want to wear them that fitted.  Plus, people at work don't know, and my shirts have been tight--so I had to buy some of the empire-waisted shirts that are in style now to camoflauge for awhile.

I feel like I'm showing, but I know to the general public I look nowhere near pregnant.  My waist started thickening around week 9, and I'm still in that stage.

BabyGap has great sales and I bought my first pair of maternity pants for $12.  They are heaven :) 

Gretamarie ~ Congrats on your pregnancy!   

UTR-  Oldnavy.com has very good deals online for maternity.  I love them!

Original Post by vanessa1031:

UTR-  Oldnavy.com has very good deals online for maternity.  I love them!

 I'll definitely have to check it out then.  Thanks!

I just spilled tomatoe sauce on my baby bump from my healthy grilled chicken wrap.  :(  I better get used to getting food all over me once this baby comes!!!!  :)

I started showing with my first around 6 mos, this time I am at 21 weeks and I've been in maternity clothes since about 16 weeks. Just a heads up to everyone, something I wish somebody would have told me instead of assuming I already knew, You will probably get stretch marks and they don't go away, they fade but they never go away. I was 19 when my husband and I got pregnant with our first and I had only met one pregnant women before and it was for all of about 10 minutes, I had never been around babies before except to meet the one "pregnant women's" son. I babysat for her once and flipped out after her son choked a little on a cheerio. Needless to say I had no idea what I was doing. But back to the point, enjoy the baby belly but take care of it too, drink plenty of water and eat healthy so your body has plenty of nutrients to work with, you will be less likely to get stretch marks this way, also lotion your tummy, your , butt, your thighs, and your breasts. My 20 year old body looks like a map of the US with every lake, road, and river mapped out from my thighs to my breasts. And I have a "flap" a little uglier than the one that Adam Sandler has in the movie Click. So take care of your prego body, workout even if you are just walking around the block (don't let your heart rate get above 140, your baby starts losing oxygen) eat healthy and get lots of water. :)

I never had anything like this for my pregnancies, not sure if you girls know about these, but heres a link

http://www.cheekymonkey.ca/BellyBands.htm

I haven't seen that before, Spuckine.  Interesting.  Thanks for sharing.  :)

ONE TIP FOR ALL YOU PREGO'S OUT THERE...GET A BELLY BAND!  I am only about 8 weeks along and none of my clothes fit. I came across a belly band online and it is so wonderful. You can use it during your entire pregnancy and even after.  Basically what it is is a cloth band that will hide your unbuttoned pants, when you start to show it will support and cover your belly completely so no skin showing from under your maternity clothes and also will hide the ugly bands on maternity pants. Now I can wear my old jeans with the band and it hides the buttons and I can breathe!!!!!!!1

It has saved my sanity...Please just google it and you will see it will save you too....

Congratulations to all you expectant mothers!

 

I have a question, staesha, if you do not mind me asking? 

Are your pants still comfortable even though they are not fully buttoned (with the belly band of course)? 

In the past 2 years, 3 of my sisters have been pregnant a total of 4 times between them. They all LOVE and SWEAR BY the belly band. They have plain black ones, and you can unbutton your pants, and use that to cover the top, and also then your belly doesn't show under your shirt if the shirt is a little short. I'm not sure where they bought them, but I kind of want one for myself, and I'm not even preggo!

Hey Undertherainbow. Yes they are so very comfortable! and the pants to ride down or anything so I dont have keep tugging at them. My last pregnancy I did the rubber band thing and it is not very comfy.

Thanks!  I am going to look into getting one.