One of my girlfriends has recently become pregnant and is currently around 14 weeks but is concerned because she doesn’t look ‘pregnant’ yet.

I had to laugh because I felt the exact same way when I was first pregnant with my son; it took a while for it to actually look like I was pregnant and not just like I had eaten a second helping of dessert.

Every woman is different when it comes to pregnancy and whether you are showing or not is largely down to whether it is your first pregnancy (you tend to show much quicker in later pregnancies), your body frame and the position of the baby in the uterus.

At around 14 weeks, it is normal to only have put on around 5 pounds which doesn’t often show for some women.  Very often for those that show early, it is because they are experiencing bloating from the extra hormones and changes in the body, rather than the actual baby itself (which is actually only 3 ½ inces / 9 cms long).

It certainly doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with you or the baby or that you need to eat more.

You probably won’t begin to really look pregnant until well into the 2nd trimester although some of your clothes may start to be getting a bit tight now.

If that’s the case there are many great ways to continue to use your own clothing until you are ready to move into maternity clothing.

You can buy belly bands, long flowing tops, baby doll style dresses and elastic waisted skirts and pants.

It’s actually a great time to be pregnant in regards to fashion right now as many of the current season trends are loose and will hide your pregnancy until you really start to pop.

This is hub #5 in the 30 Hubs in 30 Days Challenge.