Stay-Puft

In the last few weeks I've noticed that my wedding rings have been getting harder and harder to get on and off, and after a particularly vigorous removal process several days ago that had me briefly wondering if I was just going to have to yank my finger out of its socket, or what, I haven't put them back on.

I had hoped to avoid the too-puffy-for-rings pregnancy syndrome this time around because unlike when I was nearing the final stretch with Riley it's not the dead of summer. Therefore, my ankles should remain normal-sized and my rings should go the distance, right? Well, WRONG, apparently. I also noticed the other day when I took off my socks that I had a repulsive elastic-ribbed indentation circling the flesh on my ankle, so . . . oh well, Michelin Man resemblance, here I come.

Anyway, I thought I'd ask what you did when your rings got too tight, assuming this happened to you. Did you wear them on a chain as a necklace? Forgo them altogether and flirt shamelessly with grocery clerks? Or what?

PS: I have a post up at Work It, Mom with some holiday gift ideas for kids (that hopefully do not suck). Stop by and tell me what you're getting your own kids this year, I'm nosy as hell interested.

Comments

[hello insomnia]

I took my rings off and kept them in a jewelry box until I could fit into them again. I wish I could say the same for my pre-pregnancy pants.

[Someone Being Me]

My rings stopped fitting around 7 months. I was fine and then overnight the swelling started getting bad. My ankles were so swollen it hurt to wear socks. But I gave birth about 1 week after it started so I didn't have to suffer long. My water broke at 32 weeks 2 days and my son was born 3 days later. I was horribly swollen in the hospital for 3 days and a few days afterwards from the IVs but it was nice to see how quickly the water went away after I was back up and around. That water weight was the easiest weight to lose.

[nonsoccermom]

I'm 36 weeks and starting last week the only ring I can get on is my wedding band. It must be a half-size larger than the rest or something. Anyway, when it stops fitting I'm just going to put it away until after the baby's born, I guess...with my son I wore it around my neck on a chain, but I was newly married at the time and I guess I felt the need to advertise it. Now, eh. Seems more trouble than it is worth. :)

[Robin]

My rings stopped fitting around 6-7 months. I also gained 60 pounds during the pregnancy so, hah, of course they didn't fit! And I couldn't wear them again until my son was about 2 months old. Moooo. I was newly married (pregnant 4 months after wedding) so felt I needed a ring. Just bought a cheap band at James Avery.

[Katie]

With E, I was very swollen, and from May to July when he was born I didn't wear my rings. I left them at home in my jewlery box. Within 2 weeks of birth, I could wear them again. Then with O, I wore my rings all the way through the pregnancy, even during birth, but he was born in January and I didn't really swell anywhere with him. Now my rings are all too big on me, which is strange as I haven't lost tons of weight, but maybe it's a side-effect of having two wild boys and getting older? Who knows!

[biscuit]

I stopped wearing mine at the 6 month marker. It hurt so bad trying to get them off that I figured that the pregnant belly would scream TAKEN in their replacement. They now reside in their original velvet box, ready for the day I don't have cankles or face jowls.

[DiWriter]

My hands will use any excuse to swell up and prevent me from wearing my rings. So I was done with them at about 5 months. I wore them on a chain for a while, but felt silly, so I stopped and reverted to a plain silver band I've had since high school.

My feet were another story entirely. I gained TWO SHOE SIZES! I had to buy new tennis shoes and wear the dreaded support hose which merely left indentations around my calves instead of around my ankles. By the time I was home with C, my feet looked like balloon animals. Ugh.

[Trena]

I have three rings (engagement with a plain thin wedding band on either side) and when it got uncomfortable (I was also due in the summer-July- and I *think* it was in late May, so @ 7 almost 8 months pregnant?) I just went down to wearing one of my wedding bands.

A friend whose fingers swell quite a bit when pregnant just bought a plain band in a larger size to wear for the rest of the pregnancy.

[Shannon]

I swelled up by about 25 weeks. I'm talking seriously, disfiguringly, disturbingly hella swollen. My rings were the least of my problems. It was my ankles that disappeared. I could push on my shin bone and leave a half inch deep indent that would stay for a minute or more. It was grrrrross! So if you have a little normal pregnancy swelling, not to worry. I was a total freak of nature! A freak who wore her rings on a chain around my neck because I felt really uncomfortable not having them on. Not that anyone in their right mind would have hit on me looking like I did. :)

[Jessica]

I can't remember how far along I was when I got too swollen to wear my rings, but I think it was somewhere around 5 or 6 months. (My hands swell at the drop of a hat. Too warm? Swell. Too humid? Swell. Too hormonal? SWELLSWELLSWELL.) I wore them on a chain around my neck alongside a stork charm my OB gave me at my first visit. Partly because I didn't want to be without my rings, and partly because I'd be afraid I'd put them somewhere "safe" and then when my fingers quit resembling sausages I wouldn't be able to find them.

[Ellen]

I've had my wedding ring on a chain for a few weeks now. Not the engagement one, just the wedding band. I love the look of long, simple pendants and I've gotten compliments from people who didn't realize it was actually my wedding band and not another piece of jewelry. I like still wearing it in some way - and when I started to swell this was the only way possible!

By the way, due in January as well and I've definitely got some ankle/sock rings going on.

[Barbara]

Swelling, don't even go there...

I had preeclampsia and was put on a strict low sodium diet at 28 weeks. You would be shocked at the amount of sodium in everyday things that you eat and cook with. Once I was on the diet for only three days, I saw a huge, I mean major, difference in the swelling. (I ate so many fresh fruits and veggies that I swear I was going to turn into one.) I stayed on the diet and delivered at 39 weeks and litterally had almost no swelling unless I was on my feet too long and then it only showed up in my ankles and toes. I was able to wear my rings right up until it was time to deliver.

What I am trying to say in my round-about way is that you might be able to control your swelling by something as simple as watching what you eat. I know it isn't too easy with a little one, but you can give it a try. It's even a plus for that already overworked ticker with the extra blood being pumped through for the new little bundle. Just read your labels and pig out on the fresh stuff and it might help! Good luck!

[Eric's Mommy]

I did the rings on a chain around my neck thing!

[Frema]

I'm due on Monday (!), and near the end of the summer my rings were quite snug on my finger. I took them off, placed them in my keepsake box, and haven't worn them since. I can't wait to put them back on. Other than that, though, I'm not a fan of jewelry, so putting them on a chain was never an option.

[Christine]

I was about 12 weeks pregnant when I got my engagement ring (dear boyfriend felt it only "right" to make an attempt at making me an honest woman - ha!) and now, 4 months after Melissa was born, the ring is too loose! I had to take it off completely at about 6 months... I have started wearing it on my right hand, but it is a bit slippery there too. Oh well, I'll get it tightened when we get married.

[Trina]

With my first I took my rings off at about 6 months. Not because they were too tight, because my godmother had to have hers cut off because she didn't take them off soon enough when she was pregnant. I was mortified at the thought so I took them off and put them on a ring holder thing. Then twards the end of my pregnancy (8 months or so) I had hardly gained any weight so I put them back on.

This time around they are acutally loose. I lost a bunch of weight before I got pregnant (kind of like you did). I am due in 4 weeks and don't think I am going to have to take them off.

[Mary]

I'm 33 weeks, and I stopped wearing my rings a few weeks back. It was just getting too uncomfortable to put them on and take them off. It was the same thing when I was pregnant with my daughter.

Never put them on a chain. And never used a fake wedding band or anything. That would take too much effort and with being on bedrest, I'm not really out much anyway. So no flirting for me, lol.

[Swistle]

I wore them on a necklace.

[C]

My 10 year old daughter has been really into fashion design for the last year or two. She makes her own clothes for her dolls/barbies/etc.., but so far has been putting them together using..oh...glue, tape, staples, etc.., Soooo, I've decided to get her a sewing machine for Christmas, with some starter level patterns and a bunch of fun fabrics & stuff (until now she's cut up old clothes of her own that didn't fit anymore for her dolls..) I think she's going to love it. Oh, and her dad's getting her a Wii.

[kate]

I couldn't wear them for the last month, roughly, but I didn't bother with a necklace or anything, although I thought about it. I just didn't wear them, and figured my state of enormousness would explain their absence. I decided what was their to be afraid of exactly? Someone thinking that I'm an unwed mother-to-be?

[Christina]

I just stopped wearing them all together. I thought WHO cares what people think? Plus we live in fairly liberal town so I just figured people would assume several things all of which were not a big deal.

As an "aside", my husband happened to buy me a special ring for our anniversary in February (I was due in April) and I started wearing that because it was huge (it has since been resized) but it fit my sausage fingers just fine.

I too was swollen as could be and there as nothing I could do about - I thought the same thing since I was basically pregnant through the winter... UGH NOT looking forward to that...

[Melissa]

My daughter was born in Feb 2006 and I got swollen too. I wore my rings until I was terrified that they would have to be clipped off my finger. Put them on a necklace for a few days but then I got nervous that the necklace would break or something and I would lose them. So they sat in a jewelry box until the puffiness went down. I love that people stare at pregnant women who don't wear there wedding rings. What are they stupid asses? Seriously, don't they know that the rings don't grow with your body? Idiots. And if you aren't married, it's none of their business. Actually, the nice thing about winter pregnancy is that you are wearing mittens or gloves a lot so your hands are as obvious.

[Melissa]

Oops...I meant that your hands are Not as obvious. :)

[obabe]

i was 'that' pregnant person - the one who had her engagement ring CUT OFF in a strip mall jewelry store when she discovered her rings were not coming off AT ALL otherwise. (crisco, dishsoap, ice, you name it, we tried it) i was about 31 weeks. the bright side was that i got a brand spanking new ring with two more stones after the baby was born.

[Brooke]

I hope I don't get to that point, but some days they are harder to remove. I love love love my engagement ring and plain wedding band, so I'll be bummed if they get too tight, but I will put them in a box for a few months because the specter of losing them is just too awful.