A Girl...

From one knocked up gal to the next, your abs are fabulous! You are one lucky girl. I wouldn't worry too much about the premature growing. While baby might be smaller than a gummy bear, who knows how your uterus is responding. Also, you might just be one of those women who grows fast in the beginning and then slows down later on. I gained four pounds instantly, but have only gained 2 additional pounds in the last 2 months...so everything evens out.

Hot mama in a bathing suit! Yee-HAW!

And it's only getting better. Just better in a different way.

Yee-HAW!

-Simon.

Oh, how you lie to me, Andrea! :)

(I know it's mostly bloating right now, and I'm hopeful that the size I'm at now will be the size I'll stay for a few more weeks, but you just never know...)

Hmm. I'd say that your "belly" at 8 weeks is pretty much how my belly looks now, and I'm about 3-5 years away from being pregnant, if ever.

don't worry - a lot of it could be water weight! i remember freaking out ( i went thru my 1st trimester in Africa, don't recommend). i didn't want ANYONE to know that my pants weren't fitting or why i was puking all the time - i feigned a stomach bug. anyway, once i got to about 11 or 12 weeks i stopped retaining so much water and now i am normal size for 7 months. however, i was never able to hide the fact that BAM! i had boobs! good luck!

But what an EXCITING bloat! Way better than Mexican food bloat :)

Wow! It's so pretty and breathtaking! And also, you had such flat abs before that you have absolutely no room for camouflage. Maybe that's part of it?

Your posts are stand-alone awesome, but Simon's comments are just the cherry on top.

Jess--I think that's why I'm so surprised; most of what I've read says that thin women tend to stay thinner longer into their pregnancies, so I always expected I wouldn't show until I was five months along. Maybe I'm an exception to the rule, or maybe EVERYONE IS LYING!

Judging by your photos, I am currently 6 months pregnant.

Seriously, if I hadn't seen you in a bathing suit while you weren't pregnant I would never have known you were knocked up if I, you know, didn't know. You look fabulous.

(Also, I totally knew that dress would still look good on you)

That's going to be a 20 lb baby! I was really thin before I had my son, and I only gained 17lbs the entire pregnacy and lost it with in a week of having him. I gained 30 after and it's still hanging around my ass. Ugh.

Nope, sorry girl, you get no sympathy from me.
You look great! And, yes there is a wee wombat in there, so yipee!!

I had the same experience when pregnant. I seemed to bloat out right away and I was all WTF??! Then I gained practically nothing in the 2nd trimester. And some more there near the end. Don't fret. It will be ok!

maybe you should get one of those shirts that appear to be somewhat in fashion among non-pregnant people but whose appeal i've never fully understood. . . y'know one of those sort of loose flowy shirts that cinch just under the boobs so anyone who wears it looks pregnant?. . .

i figure since most people who wear it look pregnant but aren't, if you wear one people will assume you're not pregnant. . . and as an added bonus, you can still wear it when you don't mind people knowing. . .

I will also look like a jackass seventeen-year-old. Woo!

(Actually, the two "flowy" shirts I'm taking with me this weekend fall into that category (not maternity but might as well be), and let me tell you that they don't camoflage and conceal so much as "tent voluminously."

First of all, any pregnant belly showing any amount of full-ness during any stage of pregnancy is beautiful.
Second of all, whatifwhatifwhatif... twins? Can't help myself. =)

Oh my God. Look at your belly. Wow. I'm...just wow. I'm thrilled. I know, I've said it like 456 times before but I'm so damn slap happy for you and your expanding girth.

Beck--I know, right? As soon as we saw the heartbeat, my next question was "And there's only one, right?!"

No sympathy, You have the best abs ever. It mad eme think about that scene in Knocked up where the costumer tells her she's gained 10 lbs, all in her uterus.

Wowie. Do you find yourself staring down at it? I've just spent a few days with a pregnant friend and kept catching myself looking at her belly. Heaven knows what I'll be like when it's my turn. Nature rocks.

Hehe, it is amazing how quickly this happens. I am looking down at my 3rd trimester tummy thinking MY GAWD when the hell did this happen... it just keeps growing and growing and growing OH and my maternity shirts that I thought would last me through till the end... NO LONGER FIT!! Pregnancy rocks!!

if it makes you feel better, I could just come walk around beside you everywhere you go as I look about 5 months pregnant only am decidedly not incubating other than lunch (and second breakfast). Must. Hit. The. Gym.

(that last part was for me - you, you look fabulous, have some pie!)

Smooch!

My gestating uterus recently rendered me unable to put on socks without coming at it from the side.

Still, after I making it to six and a half months without really showing, my 8 month self is thrilled and elated.

Viva la belly!

Um, about the twin thing. One of the mom's in my playgroup had her first u/s and had one heartbeat, they monitored her numbers and they were rising too quickly, did another u/s...yeah, two heartbeats. I'm just sayin'! :)
Have fun in SoCal and let the belly hang, baby!

okay. first of all your at east 8 week looks like my belly. and i'm not pregnant. but maybe that's why the lady at whole foods today asked how far along i was. yeah....me pregnant, not so much!

these photos are adorable. i'm jealous.
:)
seriously, i don't think you have anything to worry about. adorable, adorable.

lindsey-who-didn't-even-ovulate-this-month

I'm pregnant with my 3rd kid. I look 6 months pregnant even though I'm 6 weeks. I understand how you feel.

Looking good, woman. I'm happy wee wombat seems to be settling in. I think you look just awesome.

Oh, and hey, what with current styles you may not even need maternity clothes. Everything at Forever 21 looks like maternity clothes right now anyway.

From someone who gained sixty (SIXTY!) pounds with her first, you, my dear, look AMAZING.

It is my experience that thin people (like yourself) show much earlier.

There are nowhere for the growth to hide :)

You are a freakin' adorable pregnant lady. I love the belly pics :)

You look nothing less than fantastic.

What a cute little belly! That is one thing I loved about my pregnancy was documenting the progress of my ever growing belly!

Thanks for the tip about the Bella Bands, I am 2 weeks behind you in the pg stakes and not looking forward to another round of being awash in giant maternity trousers at work!!

As someone who has carried the lifelong dream of having visible abs (vs. "the muscles are under all the blubber, I SWEAR I have a strong stomach"), I have to say its hard to say "poor, still-skinny gal.." All my life, I've had a gross little "pooch" down low - - even when i was doing 250+ ab excercises a DAY, even at 112 lbs/C cup/5"4'.

But as someone who will likely NEVER get even the chance to be pregnant... I can only juuust work up enough sympathy for your situation- in the sense that it must be uncomfortable trying to figure out which of your "civilian clothes" will work out. That being said: you look MARVELOUS. My sister is tall and thin too and she "popped" in similar fashion. Congratulations again!

Seriously, I advise a healthy dose of H&M: pretty much everything I took into the dressing room yesterday ended up looking like maternity wear. WHY IS IT ALL SO FLOWY? I didn't just look pregnant, I looked like a pregnant hippie.

see - kittens and bunnies have nothing on the cuteness that is the product (to be) of you two.

feel that? it's the ground shaking from me jumping up and down.

wooot!!

see - kittens and bunnies have nothing on the cuteness that is the product (to be) of you two.

feel that? it's the ground shaking from me jumping up and down.

wooot!!

You are so tiny! I mean, I always knew you were thin but seeing your flat pre-baby tummy with a hint of hipbones pressing through the taut flesh...no fair. I don't know if we can be friends anymore. :)
I kid, you looked great before and you look fabulous now, with the belly bump starting to grow. Beautiful, beautiful girl indeed.

Oh, mercy. I haven't been around, I'm thinking, but wow. So amazing. So thankful for this in your life. You look gorgeous, Leah.

I just wanted to say (although a day late) Happy Mother's Day! :) You're growing that baby beautifully!

Congratulations!! See? I disappear for awhile and WHAMMO you guys find a new hobby.

Note to Simon: I'm still working to lose my "sympathy weight" that I grew along with my wife before my now 18-month son was born. Stay away from Arby's and chocolate!

December babies ROCK. Both my boys were born in he 12 month (Dec. 26 and Dec. 11). Awesome awesome awesome. So far, we haven't screwed them up with the whole Christmas thing, but it's early.

Man, almighty! Your abs are rockin'!

You and The Gym must be BFF.

So it's been a bunch of days since you've been on here. I just wanted to stop in and say that I am thinking about you (in a totally non internet creep way) and hope that everything is A-okay!

Baby bellies make me want to touch...I never do...'cause that's creepy with me not being family and all...but I always want to.
I just know something wonderful in in there.