When did you start showing? Your naval pop?

[Gracey]

Here's a fun post to liven up all the serious discussions.
1. When did you show enough that colleagues or strangers noticed?
2. Did you gain alot of weight?
3. Did your belly button pop?
***
1. I'm 5 months now and EVERY Chinese / HK person noticed months ago. Like people get up for me automatically on the MTR. But my gweilo friends and colleagues have barely noticed, and many are surprised I'm already more than half-way there. Is it because Westerners carry bigger than Chinese? (Or maybe they're just more polite and don't presume?)
2. I'm almost 23 weeks and 6 kilos, or 13-14 lbs heavier. How about you guys?
3. My belly button seems to be disappearing, like getting shallower. No idea if it will pop!

 

[lesliefu]

1. I'm 6.5mths now and some people started noticing at 6mths but still havn't had any give me a seat on a bus / MTR yet - think it's the baggy clothing I wear, the Chinese think I"m only around 4mths and the caucasian friends I have don't even realize I"m pregnant and are surprised when I tell them I"m 6.5mths now.
2. I'm 27wks and 9lbs heavier
3. yeah - belly button is disappearing, but don't think it will pop (didn't pop with my 1st two)

 

[AndreaSB]

I'm also 5 months now. I didn't fit into my trousers by week 6 and in early feb started to really pop out. Now my belly is growing slower but very clearly pregnant and not just fat It also depends on what I wear though. If I wear a very baggy t-shirt I can probably still hide it if people aren't looking for it. My boobs however are impossible to hide. 2 band and 3 cup sizes bigger already! As for my belly button, it's usually very deep and like a slit, but now it's very round and I can see the bottom of it. A friend is a week ahead of me and hers popped out already. I guess we're all different 

 

[AndreaSB]

Oh and 4.5kg more. I was concerned it wasn't enough by what the books say but Dr and scans assure me baby is doing great and he's a big one!

 

[thanka2]

When did you start showing? Your naval pop?

Here's a fun post to liven up all the serious discussions.
1. When did you show enough that colleagues or strangers noticed?

With my first child: About 5 months pregnant
With my second child: About 3-4 months pregnant

2. Did you gain alot of weight?

Yes, with both pregnancies. Gained about 40 kilos with my first. No idea how much I gained with my second as I didn't weigh myself at the beginning of my pregnancy and didn't go to the doctor until I was over 12 weeks pregnant. I think I gained about 20 kilos or maybe a little less with my second.

3. Did your belly button pop?

Not really. My belly "popped" out--at about 6 months pregnant all of a sudden it seemed like my belly was sticking straight out in front of me--this also happened with my second pregnancy but a little later at around 7-8 months pregnant. But, thankfully, my belly button protruded a little bit but didn't really "pop"--I have friends whose belly buttons really "popped" out there and actually never were the same again :/

1. I'm 5 months now and EVERY Chinese / HK person noticed months ago. Like people get up for me automatically on the MTR. But my gweilo friends and colleagues have barely noticed, and many are surprised I'm already more than half-way there. Is it because Westerners carry bigger than Chinese? (Or maybe they're just more polite and don't presume?)

It's probably because to most westerners you still look very small and will continue to look very small even when you're ready to give birth. Most Chinese women I see on the train, obviously in their third trimester (I know what that looks like now as I've been here awhile) look as small or smaller than I did at the end of my first or beginning of my second. I got almost constant harassment from my husband's Chinese family while I was pregnant with my first with things like, "Looks like you're going to give birth at any moment!" (when I was only like 5 or 6 months pregnant). Yes, westerners look "HUGE" when they're pregnant to HK Chinese eyes. But, good news that they're giving up seats for you--I still had to TELL people when I was heavily pregnant (7-9 months) to GET UP AND GIVE ME A SEAT on the MTR.

2. I'm almost 23 weeks and 6 kilos, or 13-14 lbs heavier. How about you guys?

See above.

3. My belly button seems to be disappearing, like getting shallower. No idea if it will pop!

Mine got shallower--that's normal. I sure hope that yours doesn't "pop" as sometimes they don't go back to the original spot after that.

 

[ozmerc]

I'm almost 8 months now and this is my second - started showing obviously at about 5 months with the first and 4 months with this one. I am fairly petite (for a Westerner) and I'm all belly, straight out the front, so it's impossible to miss. Most people think I'm due now but I have 7 weeks. Plenty of time to get much bigger.

I gained almost 15kgs the first time and I'm on track for that again this time around. I think if you are smaller to start with you tend to gain relatively more.

My belly button is right out there. It pooped out by 16 weeks this time around. It's pretty ugly but I don't care. No, it definitely was not the same after the first!

Thanka2 - your MTR story is what I feel like doing sometimes. Mostly I do get a seat now because I look as though I'm ready to give birth any minute and I think people are scared that is what I'm going to do if I don't sit down!

 

[thanka2]

Thanka2 - your MTR story is what I feel like doing sometimes. Mostly I do get a seat now because I look as though I'm ready to give birth any minute and I think people are scared that is what I'm going to do if I don't sit down!

I've designed a "rudeness award card" that I plan to have printed as a business card for ladies like us to hand out on the train. Below is the prototype. I designed this right after that ridiculous train incident. I think if more people just stood up and called other people on their rudeness in this city and themselves set a better example, our city might improve.

 

[Gracey]

You know what's funny? I don't really have this rudeness problem people are talking about. I commute regularly from my home in Kowloon to work in HK, and regularly take MTR and taxis. And I've only had 1 incident of someone not giving up her seat for me -- and once I asked, she did, in a bit of a huff. (Judging from her accent, overseas Chinese).
Sometimes people genuinely just don't notice -- like they're reading or on their phones. But once they do, they always get up. Sometimes even the elderly, which makes me feel bad.
Same with waitstaff, etc. OK, not everyone is going to be smiling and gracious in any big city. But I've always found people pretty friendly here, even in cheap rice-box-type restaurants, etc. But maybe it's because I'm Cantonese-speaking and polite myself? I don't know.

 

[Gracey]

I also generally chat and get along with taxi drivers. I had one b*stard coming home from a fertility treatment, but that was 6+ months ago -- he was grumpy having to cross the harbor and complained the whole time. But one or two rude incidents a year is pretty good for someone who is constantly commuting and cabbing around town.
The other day, the mainland Chinese check-out lady at the 360 in Elements helped me carry my groceries all the way to the taxi stand! I gave her a tip.
Sometimes my doormen are just spaced out. But if I ask politely, they will run and get the door for me or help me with bags.

 

[thanka2]

I also generally chat and get along with taxi drivers. I had one b*stard coming home from a fertility treatment, but that was 6+ months ago -- he was grumpy having to cross the harbor and complained the whole time. But one or two rude incidents a year is pretty good for someone who is constantly commuting and cabbing around town.
The other day, the mainland Chinese check-out lady at the 360 in Elements helped me carry my groceries all the way to the taxi stand! I gave her a tip.
Sometimes my doormen are just spaced out. But if I ask politely, they will run and get the door for me or help me with bags.

I am realizing more and more that there are little enclaves in HK that operate totally differently. Were you actually IN Mainland China when you met the checkout lady or is she working here in HK? I have to say that ML China is much better--even for taxis.

You are so fortunate that your dealings with taxi drivers have been so mild. I am also a very chatty person (and speak decent Chinese) and usually talk with taxi drivers but I had a taxi driver literally try to run me over when I was 7 months pregnant because he was angry that I asked him to drive up the driveway to my house because I was exhausted--it took 30 more seconds of his time and he was SO ANGRY. When I got out he gunned the engine and nearly hit me. I had to jump behind a barricade to get away. I called the police.

About the same time my husband and I had several experiences in a row where the taxi driver was driving so erratically (as if they were high on drugs) and recklessly that at the soonest possible time we got out of the vehicle and literally ran to get out of the way so we wouldn't get hit by the driver.

I had a driver in Ma On Shan force me to get out of the car in the pouring rain because he realized the distance I wanted him to go wasn't "worth the money"--oh, did I mention that I was running a summer camp for at-risk secondary students and had a huge suitcase of academic supplies with me and that I had to stand at the taxi stand in the rain with no cover with no other taxis in sight in a part of Hong Kong that I'm not even familiar with?

My mother and her husband were visiting Hong Kong these past two weeks so they could meet her our new baby (7-weeks-old now) and spend time with our 3-year-old. We were in a taxi and when we got in my husband politely asked the driver in Cantonese if he wouldn't mind going a bit slower than usual as my 3-year-old wasn't feeling too well and we had a small baby with us. The taxi driver continued to take hairpin turns at about 60-70 km/hour--at night on a winding road that can be dangerous. My husband asked him again (my husband is very soft-spoken usually and polite) and the taxi driver was like "Uh, huh" but continued to drive like a maniac. My husband then asked him a third time and even a fourth! And by that time we were all shaking and we finally arrived home where my husband told the taxi driver that he had wanted to tip him but now wouldn't because he not only scared his parents-in-law but he put the safety of our children at risk. The taxi driver then was visibly frustrated.

So, I'm sorry, but in our case, it doesn't come down to "just be polite and tip and taxi drivers are generally good." My experience is that generally, taxi drivers are really horrible in this city and if you find a few good ones you feel really lucky.