I Delivered a Healthy Baby but Never Had a Baby Bump & Didn’t Look Pregnant

One of the main indicators of pregnancy is getting bigger. There are several factors that contribute to the overall swelling. There’s the bloating, water retention, more blood coursing through your body, and, of course, the weight gain. Most of that weight settles in your belly in a signature bump that alerts you – and the world – that you’re carrying a new life.

No two women are the same, though. One woman wanted to wait for her bump to appear to announce her pregnancy, but that day never came.

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That woman documented her growth throughout her pregnancy.

Nicole Salazar, who goes by @nikkisalazar_ on Instagram, shared each month of her pregnancy on social media. But unlike most women who expand with each passing month, Salazar’s belly stayed shockingly … flat. We watch the video of her and her belly at month one, month two. Then at three months, there seems to be the tiniest bit of bloating, but at month four, it’s gone.

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Nicole still partied.

At six months, there was still no outward sign of a baby inside. Nicole’s story reminded me of the TLC series I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant. Because if she hadn’t known she was expecting, the way her body looked, it could have gone unnoticed. During her sixth and seventh months, Nicole was still hitting the clubs, wearing what she’d normally wear, because she had no bump.

Her baby was moving.

But internally, there were signs. Nicole said her baby was moving so much in her womb, and she even captured the movement. It just happened to a flat tummy instead of a rounded one. Her doctors assured her through ultrasounds that her son looked great and was measuring within a healthy range.

Even her labor was different than many first-time moms.

Two weeks before giving birth, Nicole accepted the fact that she was never going to have a baby bump. Then her boy Nico was born. Nicole’s labor was even an anomaly. She pushed for 55 minutes, and then Nico was out in the world, though she had no idea how he was situated in her body.

Although many women would have relished the idea of keeping their pre-baby bodies, Nicole was a bit saddened she didn’t get the bump experience. She wrote, “Maybe next time it will happen for me. But I’m so grateful for everything.”

Social media had explanations.

The comments on Nicole’s post were pretty funny as folks offered comical explanations for her lack of bump or the presence of their own.

“Black Aunties: She carried in the back,” one woman wrote.

“I am a man and I look more pregnant than she is,” another person commented.

Others shouted out her son, Nico, such as the person who wrote, “This baby doesn’t want you to spend money on changing your wardrobe. A good baby.”