Picture of octuplets mum's tummy

Well maybe I am weird but I don't see anything but a pregnant woman. Admittedly she is having 8 babys. But her body has adapted to accomodate them but thats all. Nothing horrible about her body at all. In fact I think its pretty amazing.

Cloudybay, fair enough, I posted it and then realised that I'm just not very used to seeing it, it might just be normal (and might appear offensive to other people with better experiences). Apologies if I reacted in an OTT way!

It's a helluva bump. But, stretchmarks? Veins? Bellybutton sticking out? All par for the course however many babies you're cooking.

Yikes. I'm surprised she could move!

Fcuking hell, who'd have thought it - woman who has recently given birth to 8 babies has bit of a belly on her?

And I'm not even opening thelink - the cretinous headline is enough for me.

Looks like a very very pregnant womans belly to me, nothing 'not very nice' about it, its natural, after all there were 8 babies in there!

exactly WMAS. it's enough of a strain on your body growing and delivering one baby, never mind eight.

I amazed she can stand up. She looks completely unbalanced her bump is so huge.

Probably a stupid question, but her inards must be so stretched, will they all shrink back to normal despite having 8 babies?

I actually think given the strain and the colossal process her body is undertaking she looks pretty good actually

I have no idea what the unedited title of the post said but WOW..........she looks bloody amazing.

It never ceases to amaze me how a womans body can accommodate babies. I love love love seeing a pregnant belly. Does that make me odd ? Its a wonderful picture (what ever people think of the woman and her actions).

It did look enormous, and if I'm honest I didn't find it pleasant to look at whether it is natural or not.

Do you get veins etc to that extent in a normal pregnancy?

Not sure what else you expected to be honest?

You can do - all depends on elasticity of skin.

I didn't but was lucky as I got pretty large towards the end.

Veins? Christ, that's the least of most women's problems in pregnancy ? What's wroung with veins showing? It's just due to increased blood flow. Most women get amazinlgy veiny breasts during and after pregnancy.

I keep meaning to ask PL or JK - has it ever been known that a woman's skin has actually torn through over-stretching. I don't mean tearing some of the layers of the skin, but totally splitting? My stretch marks were pretty severe with Toby and my skin felt soooo tight that it was fit to split. Could that ever happen?

Sorry, I meant the cretinous headline of the DM article.

Although the (not very nice) of the topic annoyed a bit as well.

I wonder will we get 5 pages of lively discussion about what's normal vs media expectations of a woman's body after childbirth?

<wanders off muttering>

I agree - the topic wasn't very wise. I'm having a writing before thinking day.

I can't believe that the woman could stand that pregnant with eight babies who were all pretty good sizes of multiples - she looks amazing considering the size and strain that most women have with twins or triplets.

I also am amazed at how healthy the octuplets seem to be - frankly it's miraculous.

Don't want to get drawn into the debate but having seen the pictures after they were posted on BT I just wanted to mention (for the sake of those who haven't looked) that they are taken before the babies were born, not after.

Thanks Hecate and Janna - I'm not well versed in this pregnancy business?

So how much of a bump is baby and how much of it is other associated gubbins - fluid, placenta etc??

And does eight babies mean eight placentas or is there one giant uber placenta for multiple births with multiple umbilical cords?

Erm again it really depends on the individual. E was a large baby (9lbs3oz) and by the time she was born she had got the wrong way round and there was no room for her to turn. The midwife said that I had the largest placenta she'd seen!

But then I had to send H home to get me some clothes as I couldn't keep maternity trousers up - I went home in pre-pregnancy jeans

My husband as only commenting on how prominent my veins currently are, mostly across my chest but elsewhere too. I am fair skinned so they really do show up clearly when I am pregnant!

I am amazed she could stand up, she really is massive! I feel off balance and wobbly most of the time and I am only 30 weeks with just the one in there!

As I said on the BT thread, I think she looks amazing. As loopyloo said, what did you expect to see? I thought the 'trout pout' comment was rather odd actually, considering that the photograph is a stunning record of an extraordinary physical achievement.

Is it just me, or is the phrase "baby bump" toe-curlingly repulsive?

I'm surprised at how neat it is actually, considering there are 8 babies in there. She's quite pretty actually.

SophieM ? - its purely descriptive isn't it?

? I suppose it depends on the context. If the woman in question is wearing Winnie-the-Pooh dungarees then yes, it's repulsive. What is the alternative though? I think I just used the term 'bump' for my stomach as it's fairly obvious (I hope) that it's a baby in there. Actually, my first looked somewhat like a basketball stuffed up my top so perhaps I should have gone down the toe-curling route afterall. No Disney dungarees for me though.

I don't object to just "bump" so much, although it is twee. I'm afraid I find the whole idea of pregnancy a bit gross so am biased.

It all depends!

With twins, they can have their own placenta or share one. Even if they share a placenta they can still have separate sacs. Clearly non-identical (fraternal) twins can't share a placenta, however even identical twins can have separate placentae, depending on when the egg splits. So with eight there are all sorts of options!

My twins had one placenta (currently residing at Queen's Universtiy genetics lab, fact fans) and two sacs.

From babycentre.co.uk:

• At birth, your baby will weigh approximately 3,300g (7.3lb).
• During pregnancy, the muscle layer of your womb (uterus) grows dramatically and weighs an extra 900g (2lb).
• The placenta (afterbirth), which keeps your baby nourished, weighs 600g (1.3lb).
• Your breasts weigh an extra 400g (0.9lb).
• Your blood volume increases and weighs an extra 1,200g (2.6lb)
• You have extra fluid in your body, and amniotic fluid around the baby, weighing 2,600g (5.7lb).
• Plus, you will lay down some fat during your pregnancy to provide you with extra energy for breastfeeding. This comes to about 2,500g (5.5lb).

is that monochorionic diamniotic? Think that's most common isn't it? (not that I'm saying your twins are common btw, far from it ?)

I think people have been a bit unfair on the OP tbh. I think it looks pretty rank too, particularly the one from the front. Yes, pregnancy is wonderful, a miracle, pregnant bellies are marvellous etc, but at the end of the day it is not normal or natural to be pregnant with 8 children, so it's not a normal or natural looking bump. I love baby bumps, I think pregnant women look lovely, I've had 2 bumps of my own and still have the stretchmarks (as well as the children ?) to prove it, but I think that one is not the most attractive I've seen.