It looks like "Scandal" season 3 is going to end earlier than expected but seeing as its star cast member Kerry Washington, 36, is pregnant with her first child we probably should have seen it coming.

According to Hollywood Life, the ABC hit series cut back on the number of episodes that will round out Season 3 due to the fact that the lead actress' growing baby bump has nothing to do with her character Olivia Pope.

Although the actress has been doing a good job at hiding her baby from the public eye there is only so much time left until the bun in the oven starts to become noticeable onscreen.

TVLine reported that, "ABC has trimmed Scandal's Season 3 episode order from 22 to 18." In turn, "The network gave no official explanation for the cutback, but it's safe to say the decision was made in response to the real-life pregnancy of leading lady [Kerry]."

The site alleges that shooting the final four episodes originally planned for the season may prove difficult seeing as the actress is set for a spring due date and her baby bump is not being written into the plot.

This is not to say that the network didn't consider writing Washington's pregnancy into the script but ultimately they figured it wasn't a good move for her character and decided against it.

While filming her latest episode of "Scandal" in Los Angeles on December 9th, Kerry Washington kept her pregnant belly bundled up and concealed in a detailed white coat featuring shiny buttons.

Not only did it coincide with Olivia Pope's chic White House style but it flattered the actress as she did her best to hide her pregnancy.

The show's fall finale is set for December 12th which will result in a total of 10 episodes and will return February 27, 2014 for the remaining eight.

What are you thoughts of "Scandal" season 3 being cut short? Do you think the writers should have added a pregnancy into the script? Let us know in the comment section below.