Now that I’m 22 weeks along, it’s probably time to go ahead and announce it on SMB: Yep, I’m pregnant! We’re so happy to be welcoming our third child in October! I’ve found that with my 3rd pregnancy, it’s pretty easy to tune out advice and just go with the flow. Afterall, I feel like I’m kind of an expert at this point!
However, the truth is that even with my first pregnancy, I heard all the advice but usually ended up ignoring it.
- “Eat healthy and don’t gain too much weight” Chocolate is good for your heart so that’s healthy right? And umm…Could you define too much? Is 50 lbs too much?
- “Keep your baby name a secret!” How can I keep such a great name to myself! You do love it too, right?
- “Be sure to take off your wedding ring around 7 months. Your fingers might swell and they’ll have to cut it off!” What?! Nonsense! My fingers look fine!
As you may have guessed, with my first pregnancy, I wasn’t exactly exemplary. But I was determined to do better the second time around. So in round #2 I ate well and gained much less weight. I was also much more disciplined about keeping our name a big surprise till after he was born. But the ring thing? Well, I figured since my hands didn’t swell up the first time, I was in the clear. I just wasn’t one of those swelly-fingered-people. So, I kept my rings on and didn’t think anything of it… until one morning.
In an attempt to really watch my weight, I had gotten myself into the habit of stepping on the scale as soon as I woke up. So imagine my surprise when I discovered that in a mere 24 hours, I had gained 5 whole pounds! What!!??!?
Of course, it was water weight and I seriously think the entire 5 lbs had to be in my hands and feet!
They were huge, swollen, and unrecognizable from the day before. And my ring? Sure enough…stuck!
I was determined not to have to get my ring cut off! I tried everything my wise friend Google kindly suggested: windex, dishsoap, oil, ice… all of the above mixed together. All I got was a lot freezing pain and barely a millimeter of progress.
Since none of the recommended ideas worked, I figured the best game plan was just to tough it out! Afterall, I only had another month of pregnancy, then the swelling would go down …right? I just had to get through a few weeks of pregnancy, a c-section, and maybe the newborn phase. My fingers couldn’t stay like this forever.
So, that was my plan and that’s what I did. I toughed it out… for 2 MONTHS!!! Finally, about 4 weeks after my son was born, I decided I could no longer take the pain and the time had come to chop the ring.
We went to the fire department where a very nice group of sympathetic Scottsdale firefighters cut through the platinum bands with a special tool and then pulled apart the ring with pliers. Trying to fight back tears, I watched as the ring I put on nearly a decade ago was severed. My ring was off, my finger was swollen and bruised, and my then-3-year-old son was next to me through it all, smiling with delight (I mean we were at real live fire house with trucks and everything!)
A few weeks later, our jeweler fixed my ring, it’s back on my finger (for now!!) and that’s the end of my little cautionary tale.
My experiences with pregnancy will prove that I’m in no position to give other expectant moms advice so I’ll let my pictures speak for me… “Hey pregnant Scottsdale mamas, Don’t forget to take off your wedding rings!”
OMG! Know that you are not alone! I just wish I knew the fire department would handle it! With my 4th pregnancy I woke up at 2am with HUGE hands. In my case it was a total random allergic reaction to something but still, my whole finger was purple and my rings were stuck!
I ended up in the ER with intravenous benedryl and a $2100 hospital bill. The only plus was that the benedryl worked and my rings came off so no cutting was needed. Goodness! Great post!
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