This Timeline Of Maggie's Pregnancy On 'The Walking Dead' Explains Why She Still Isn't Showing

Maggie's pregnancy has started to baffle fans of The Walking Dead, because it seems like she's been inching along at a shockingly slow pace. Whereas most women would have a two year old child by now, Maggie is still only two months pregnant. It's a little bit easier to make sense of when you take a look at the timeline of Maggie's pregnancy on The Walking Dead, though it still doesn't explain some of the inconsistencies.

Maggie announced that she was expecting way back in the Season 6 episode "Now," the fifth episode of the season. It aired on November 8, 2015, about two and a half years ago (give or take). So much has changed on the show since then: Negan will a semi-distant threat in Season 6 and countless characters who have since died were still alive and well, Glenn included. But Maggie didn't actually know that when she revealed her pregnancy. Glenn was missing in action during "Now" because he was trapped under a dumpster evading a zombie horde; neither Maggie nor the audience knew if he'd be okay. She and Aaron were attempting to search for Glenn when she told Aaron that she was going to have a baby.

Glenn did return in subsequent episodes, but his and Maggie's joy was short-lived. They got a few moments of happiness about being new parents, including a visit to Hilltop in "Knots Untie" that allowed them the use of a sonogram machine, but there were still so many dangers to face. Maggie feared the lack of crops in Alexandria, and her safety became more of a pressing concern because of the baby. She and Carol were kidnapped by Saviors in "The Same Boat," the thirteenth episode of Season 6, and made it out alive, but the worst was yet to come.

In the final two episode of Season 6, "East" and "Last Day On Earth," Maggie faced some complications regarding her pregnancy. What was going on wasn't exactly specified, but she was in a lot of pain and had a fever. Her sudden illness prompted a trip to Hilltop to meet with their obstetrician, but the Saviors had decided to take action against the Alexandrians at this point as retribution for the murder of an entire Savior outpost. They blocked the van carrying Maggie at every turn.

Season 7 picked up in the exact same spot where Season 6 left off: right when Negan was killing Abraham and Glenn to punish the Alexandrians. That meant no time had passed between seasons, so Maggie's pregnancy hadn't progressed at all; still, the Season 7 premiere aired on Oct. 23, 2016, so it felt like it had been awhile since Maggie first shared the news even though in-universe barely any time had gone by. The entirety of Season 7 was quick, spanning only nineteen days from start to finish, though the audience was seeing each episode week by week over the course of months.

In that time, Maggie recovered from whatever was ailing her, though it became difficult to catch up with her as the show dedicated whole episodes to various characters instead of checking in with everyone every week. Her pregnancy was no longer the main focus of her story throughout Season 7 and 8; part of that was the shortened timeline, and part of it was that she was more consumed with running Hilltop. The timeline of Season 8 has been as short as the season that came before it, so once again there's a disparity between the time passing in-universe and in real life.

The timeline of Maggie's pregnancy on The Walking Dead explains how she could still be two months pregnant two years later, even if other details (like baby Judith's more-than-two-month growth spurt) do make it a little difficult to believe.

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