Why Meghan Markle's bump appears to be bigger in the evening

Oh...

All eyes are currently on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as they prepare to welcome their first child together in the Spring.

The couple announced that they are expecting via Kensington Palace's Twitter account earlier this month, and have since gone on to discuss their happy news - from Meghan's pregnancy symptoms to the gender that Prince Harry is hoping for.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex touched down in Tonga today as part of their 16-day royal tour, having visited Australia and Fiji over the last couple of weeks.

But during their time in Fiji, many noticed that Meghan's baby bump suddenly appeared noticeably bigger.

At a reception dinner hosted by the President of Fiji, Meghan wore a gorgeous blue Safiyaa Ginkgo cape dress and was photographed cradling her bump.

It left those on Twitter questioning whether the more visible bump was the result of her choice of clothing - but experts have revealed that there is something more to it.

Doula Susannah Birch explained to Trimester Talk that this could be down to tired abdominal muscles.

She said: 'At night time, your abdominal muscles are tired from holding your bump [and they] loosen as they grow more tired, which allows your bump to sit out further and appear larger.'

A second expert has also offered their opinion. Obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Joseph Sgroi told Mamamia: 'A lot of women will say that towards the end of the night they do feel a lot more bloated, and that bloating sensation is a combination of them obviously having eaten over the course of the day.

'One of the things progesterone does, which is the primary hormone that’s secreted from the placenta, is it actually slows down gut motility, so it slows down the transit time from when you eat something to when it comes out the other end.'

So now you know.