But you don't look pregnant!

This week marks 15 weeks into my pregnancy.

For the first time in 15 weeks, I actually feel strong. I'm sleeping well; I have an appetite for meat and I have less frequent trips to the loo.
That's the good news. The bad news (or disappointing news) is that I don't look pregnant.

Last Friday, I received my new music and DVD for my Les Mills Body Attack classes. This past February I was fortunate enough to be at the filming of this DVD in New Zealand. It was tons of fun and I had lots of camera shots of me doing a master class of Body Attack. In the video, I look almost exactly the same as I do now (except now my breasts are bigger).
I don't mind not looking pregnant however I realized that I do mind that I can't keep up with my former self.
In the video, I was doing plyometric lunges and full jumping jacks: today I would be lucky to get through a high knee run.
My issue is that I feel like I can't be taken seriously because I'm not yet showing.

I struggled with this issue with my celiac disease. My Honours thesis is actually about the perceptions of "invisible illness". This is what I've learned with pregnancy:
Pregnancy is a little different from celiac disease.
First of all, for many women at 15 weeks, it is visible. I am confident that I will pop out eventually. In the meantime, I will enjoy the sight of my toes.
Secondly, everyone's pregnancy is different as is everyone's body. I'm not the first woman to ever be pregnant nor am I the first woman to not be showing at 15 weeks.
Finally, if people don't believe me about my pregnancy, all they have to do is wait. I will be a hippo in no time.

More than anything, I believe that my pregnancy is a personal experiment in stretching social boundaries. The best part of personal social experiments is that I can completely disregard other people's perceptions of my condition and until my tummy pops out, that's exactly what I plan to do. I'm taking my pregnancy seriously and that's all that's important.