We’ve been talking about baby bumps lately, so I wanted to focus on the D shape specifically. This is the shape you have when you stand to the side while pregnant, making you resemble the letter D.
But does it mean you’re healthier? Having a boy? Or something else? Nope, nope, and maybe.
What’s the maybe?
Well, it’s important to know that no two baby bumps ever match. If you’ve been pregnant before, you may look completely different this time around with your baby bump.
D tends to be the most common silhouette, though the B-shaped belly usually happens when you’re plus-sized. Babies can make our bellies look very different, and much of it is due to our body shapes and sizes going into the pregnancy, plus how the baby lays themselves out in your womb.
Not every D shape will look the same
Here’s why:
Smaller torsos mean bigger bumps
I recently wrote about women with small torsos and pregnancy. If you’re shorter or have a short torso, you will more likely have a more prominent bump that sticks out further. It could be a D shape but a very LARGE one because the weight from the pregnancy is in your hips and bottom, while someone taller would carry that baby more to the front.
Skinny gets the small bump
You’ll likely gain very little weight if you are tiny going into the pregnancy with a slender physique. This will give you a tiny bump, and most people won’t realize you’re pregnant at all from behind. Lucky you, though not really.
My friend Kim has always been a slender thing. She eats like a horse too, believe me. She could eat an entire pizza in one sitting and never gain an ounce. While that sounds nice, Kim would call me crying because people would make rude and judgy comments about her weight while pregnant.
I told her to ignore them and only listen to her doctor. Her doctor said she was healthy, and so was the baby. The doctor was not at all worried about her weight. Kim had her son, who was perfectly healthy and had another pregnancy a few years later with no issues. She’s still slender!
Second bump around
Even if you’re average in size, you may have a much bigger D bump for your following babies. Those muscles in the abdominal area and your pregnancy hormones make things expand a bit more early on. Everything is stretched a bit, so you’re likely to show a more prominent D the second bump around.
D flat
If you’re into music, you’ll know. Anyway, puns aside, fit women with toned abs usually won’t have much of a bump at all. You may not even get a D shape, and no one may notice you’re pregnant, even in your 9th month.
Blame your husband
If your husband is a big guy, get ready. His genes will impact the baby’s birth weight and affect the shape and size of your bump. You could have a big D!!!
High or low D
Some of you will carry high while others will carry low. And fascinatingly, babies are getting heavier on average. In the 1970s, they were around 6 lbs. 2 oz. But these days, the average baby comes out at 7 lbs. 5 oz. And it’s going to continue. Where the baby is in your belly depends on the other things I’ve already mentioned…your size, your muscles, and the baby’s position and size.
In general, most women have a D shape for pregnancy. But if your D shape looks gigantic, small, or very elongated, it’s nothing to worry about unless your doctor expresses concern.
B shapes are a bit more concerning just because it’s usually an indication of being overweight. But as long as your doctor is involved and says all is well, don’t you go worrying either.
Because, and I’ll be frank, there are way more important things to worry about than the shape of your baby bump. High, low, D, B, long, short…it doesn’t matter as long as the doctor says you and baby are doing fine.
Shapes can and do change during the course of your pregnancy, so don’t get all hung up on it. Instead, focus on making your health the best it can be to ensure you have a healthy pregnancy and delivery.
Leslie Berry lives with her husband and two young daughters in Los Altos, California, where she loves helping other moms get comfortable with motherhood and embracing the insanity with facts peppered with laughs.
She loves eating too much sushi, exercising, and jamming out on her Fender. Read more about Leslie here.
