What determines belly size during pregnancy?

Expanding belly is one of the most visible and important signs of pregnancy. But the size of the abdomen may be different: one woman it is relatively small and neat, the other highly prominent forward, great. It depends on many factors, including not only the pregnancy, but the weight of the baby, amount of amniotic fluid, the structure of the female body, the position of the fetus in the womb.

At each visit the gynecologist during pregnancy not only check the woman's weight, but the girth of her belly. Too rapid growth may indicate the presence of internal swelling or accumulation of excess fat, so doctors may advise to adhere to certain rules of nutrition and lifestyle. Some women, on the contrary, you're worried about too small and inconspicuous belly, which, in their opinion, says slow development of the child. It is important to understand that the size of the belly depend on many factors, and fruit size is one of them. If the gynecologist says that pregnancy is progressing correctly, a small tummy can be a feature of the structure of your body.

The size of the fetus

The main factor that affects the size of the abdomen during pregnancy, weight and volume of the fruit. In the first months, these indicators can only be measured using transvaginal ultrasound, in which the sensor is inserted into the vagina, and by the third month, when the stomach is already becoming visible, to assess the size of the fetus is by measuring the volume of the stomach. At the sixth-seventh week of pregnancy the size of the fetus is very small – only two to four millimeters, so the stomach is not yet speaking. By the eighth week, the diameter of the ovum reaches twenty-two millimeters, is beginning to appear a little tummy.

By the end of the fourth month, the embryo weighs around a hundred grams and has a length of twelve inches. At the time five months, he already grows up to a pound, and its dimensions are almost three inches. By the eighth month, the body weight of the child reaches one thousand seven hundred grams, and on the last month of pregnancy comes to two and a half kilograms, and the body length is nearly fifty centimetres.

To the size of the fetus was normal, you need to eat right and lead an active lifestyle.

Uterine size and volume of amniotic fluid

The size of the abdomen of a pregnant also depends on the size of the uterus, which increases throughout the nine months and the amount of amniotic fluid. The volume of water increases unevenly in ten weeks of their thirty milliliters in fourteen weeks – about one hundred and eighteen to four hundred milliliters. Towards the end of pregnancy the amount of water is on average more than a litre, in norm – up to half a litre.

Standard not met – oligohydramnios or polyhydramnios – says about the violation of the right of pregnancy.

Other factors that affect the size of the stomach

A big belly can be observed in multiple pregnancies, when a woman's body at the same time developing two children or more. Also the size of the stomach depends on the position of the fetus in the uterus: in some cases, the baby is not head down, and across the uterus, so the belly is not as protruding. Visually on the size of the stomach affects the growth of women – tall girls belly seems smaller than low. If the woman before pregnancy is involved in sports and led a healthy lifestyle, she has a good tone of the abdominal muscles which support the abdomen, so it grows to a moderate size, with malnutrition more Mature women, the belly more.