It's the rumour that won't go away and pop star Britney Spear's appearance at an LA restaurant yesterday fuelled further speculation that she may be carrying her third child.

The 26-year-old was pictured at a Los Angeles restaurant with an incredibly swollen tummy.

The relaxed star looked fabulous in a shiny black dress as she enjoyed a dinner with friends but her bulging belly could not be hidden.

Is she or isn't she? Britney swollen stomach sparked more pregnancy rumours when she left an LA restaurant on Monday

Her expanding figure has been the source of gossip for months with constant rumours that she may be pregnant again, but the claims have been denied by those close to the troubled mother-of-two.

Sources in Spears' inner circle have insisted the weight fluctuation is a result of prescribed medication - shooting down pregnancy talk.

'Britney's bloated because of various medications,' one an insider told Mail Online today, adding: 'They make her weight fluctuate.'

But a baby seems to be the furthest thing from the singer's mind as she plans her next move.

The star's father  - who was given control of her affairs in February this year - has decided to sell her house in the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Studio City in the latest stage of re-organising her life.

Spears has been looking at a house in Calabasas, north west of Los Angeles, and a source close to her told People magazine: "Having more privacy and wide open spaces for her to raise her boys has been a goal for some time."    

Selling up: Britney Spears at an LA restaurant with her father in February. Jamie Spears has put his daughter's LA home on the market

The house Jamie Spears is putting on the market was the scene of the January drama which saw her forced into a psychiatric ward after she refused to hand sons Sean Preston, two, and year-old Jayden James, back to their father, Kevin Federline, after a visit.

As a result she lost custody of the boys to her ex-husband, and her father was appointed her conservator, along with a lawyer.

In March the court gave him permission to 'sell or dispose of' a number of her seven cars, and in a hearing on Tuesday approved the sale of her house. He remains in charge of her affairs until a July 31 hearing.

Spears, 26, her father, brother Bryan and her assistant are on standby to fly to Louisiana, where her younger sister, Jamie Lynn, is due to give birth any day now.

"Jamie and Britney are standing by to get a call and when they do they are jumping on a private jet," said a source.

Jamie Lynn, 17, was due to have a natural delivery, but is now believed to be having a Caesarean for health reasons.

Britney had been estranged from her sister, who is engaged to 19-year-old Casey Aldridge, but made up after Jamie Lynn announced she was pregnant.

Last month she flew back to her home town of Kentwood to attend her baby shower.

Since being under the control of her father Britney has regained visitation rights to her sons and is working on a new album.
   
But last month the court ruled she is still incapable of handling her own life and may need further medical tests.