For some women, it seems almost from the day that they become pregnant that you can tell that they are expecting. It may be the “glow” that pregnant women often experience, or it may be the look of constant excitement (or bewilderment) on their faces. However, in terms of when a woman will start to show, it will vary quite a bit between women. In fact, the time that you start to show can even vary, with the same woman, from one pregnancy to the next. How long it takes you to show depends on a great variety of factors, including your build, your weight before you became pregnant, the rate at which you are gaining weight during pregnancy, and even things like the positioning of your baby.

The fact of the matter is that the large majority of women tend to start to show sometime right around the second trimester of pregnancy. In fact, research suggests that around 60% of women report that they start showing between weeks 12 and 24 of pregnancy. Of this 60% that start showing between weeks 12 and 24, more than 2/3 started to show in the first half of the second trimester, somewhere around weeks 12 to 18 of pregnancy. For subsequent pregnancies, these numbers tend to be ever sooner, suggesting either that women are more likely to show earlier during a second or subsequent pregnancy, or perhaps that they know what exactly it is that they are looking for this time around. It is conceivable that the stretching of the uterus and the other organs that occurs during the first pregnancy means that your belly will be more ready the second time around, and that it will begin to stretch much sooner and much easier.

On the average, some time right around weeks 14 or 15, you will probably notice that you need to wear some looser clothes. By the time you hit your fourth month of pregnancy to your fifth month of pregnancy, at 18 to 24 weeks, you will probably be having to wear maternity clothes. Of course, depending on your frame, you may be able to wear loose clothes much later, or even move into plus-sized clothes until you are well into your third trimester.

There is one last thing to keep in mind about when you will start to show. Just because you have started to show in your own eyes, it doesn’t mean that anyone else can tell. While it will get harder and harder to hide your expanding middle as your pregnancy progresses, the fact of the matter is that it will likely be several weeks after you start to show that others start to notice.

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