# Could this Downton Abbey actress have been several months postpartum when this was filmed? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122 "2013-07-21T17:14:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/181 "2013-10-13T13:57:26Z")
> [@TashaKitty](#): > > On a side note, does it ever happen to you where a word that you write often suddenly looks totally foreign? I don’t mean foreign as in “I can’t read it” but rather foreign as in, “wow, what a strange word that is”. After writing February six times (now seven) it suddenly struck me just how strange it is. I briefly wondered if I had spelled it incorrectly, but I hadn’t. Anyway, I’ve snapped out of it now and it’s back to looking normal, but damn, it’s such a weird sensation. Oh yeah, all the time. At some point I get stuck in this amazeballs loop where I get all meta about it and start thinking about how words are really just squiggles that represent sounds, but then the sounds themselves are just movements of our mouths and lungs to represent information and how freaking weird is it that we just vibrate air and I know what you mean and you know what I mean when the air vibrates this way, but vibrate the air \*that \*way and suddenly it’s nonsense and how the hell does anybody really know what anyone else means and maybe words are just all nonsense and we can only pretend to know what each other means, because there’s nothing inherently Februaryish about February and what were we talking about again? February Februuuuuary Febr’rary Febrooorary Feb… …who’s got the Funyons, man? February Funyons… Feb ru rare eeey… ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/182 "2013-10-13T20:00:24Z")
> [@TashaKitty](#): > > Maybe it’s a cultural thing? Where are you from? I’m from New England and February 2013, at least to me, is this February, February 2012 is last February, and February 2014 is next February. Minnesota. New England? Yeah, I figured you were from some benighted place where they don’t speak English. 😉 I had to stop describing 2:45 as “quarter of three” because my wife (SW Side of Chicago) thinks that means 3:15. Barbarians, the lot of you! ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/183 "2013-10-13T20:28:36Z")
> [@Claire98909](#): > > Protruding belly here, too (from S4E1): > > [http://i.imgur.com/D5ZuONY.png](http://i.imgur.com/D5ZuONY.png) > > Laugh all you want, guys, but when the news comes out that she’s pregnant I think in all fairness you guys should give me $100 each. That is NOT a protruding belly!!! Did you not see my earlier post about “breathing”? ---
**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/184 "2013-10-13T23:15:39Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Minnesota. New England? Yeah, I figured you were from some benighted place where they don’t speak English. 😉 > > I had to stop describing 2:45 as “quarter of three” because my wife (SW Side of Chicago) thinks that means 3:15. Barbarians, the lot of you! What? “Quarter of three” very clearly means a quarter hour BEFORE three. 3:15 is “quarter AFTER three”. And don’t forget, you might be living under the British boot if not for New England (and Massachusetts in particular) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Claire98909](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Claire98909](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire98909)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/185 "2013-10-14T00:21:21Z")
Protruding belly here too: [http://i.imgur.com/fbf7hUE.png](http://i.imgur.com/fbf7hUE.png) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/186 "2013-10-14T00:25:30Z")
> [@Claire98909](#): > > Protruding belly here too: > > [http://i.imgur.com/fbf7hUE.png](http://i.imgur.com/fbf7hUE.png) Nope. Again, perfectly normal belly for a perfectly normal woman. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/187 "2013-10-14T00:44:55Z")
I think that as long as “Claire” can squeeze any kind of response whatsoever from the members of this board, “she” will continue to post her “questions”. As they say on Daily Kos, who wants pie? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/188 "2013-10-14T03:07:18Z")
Nobody likes a wet blanket, **Ulfreida**. 😉 Anyway, I’m nearly out of my meds and have been dropped by the program that provided me with a shrink. I need **Claire** to remind me of what will happen to me if I don’t wangle a refill chop-chop. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/189 "2013-10-14T13:10:08Z")
> [@Claire98909](#): > > Protruding belly here too: > > [http://i.imgur.com/fbf7hUE.png](http://i.imgur.com/fbf7hUE.png) So is that OTHER woman in that picture also pregnant? She has more of a protruding belly! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/190 "2013-10-14T13:14:04Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > So is that OTHER woman in that picture also pregnant? She has more of a protruding belly! Didn’t you know? All women are pregnant. And some of the men, but that’s another thread… ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/191 "2013-10-14T14:48:05Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Didn’t you know? All women are pregnant. And some of the men, but that’s another thread… And they all have sex with this actress, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/192 "2013-10-14T21:54:30Z")
Is there such a thing as hysterical pregnancy where instead of you it’s someone else you think is pregnant? ---
**Author:** ![Claire98909](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Claire98909](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire98909)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/193 "2013-10-15T00:29:47Z")
She just seems to have that belly in all recent pictures now. She’s always had a bit of a lower belly bump but it just seems like it’s bigger than in the past and it’s visible in everything she wears, as opposed to several years ago when it would only be visible in certain things. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/194 "2013-10-15T00:32:38Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > So is that OTHER woman in that picture also pregnant? She has more of a protruding belly! I don’t even think those are bellies as much as they are the outline of the apron and the A-line skirts. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/195 "2013-10-15T00:54:58Z")
Maybe she does intermittent sit ups. Or maybe you should check yourself in to the nearest mental hospital. One of those. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/196 "2013-10-15T01:01:07Z")
> [@Claire98909](#): > > She just seems to have that belly in all recent pictures now. She’s always had a bit of a lower belly bump but it just seems like it’s bigger than in the past and it’s visible in everything she wears, as opposed to several years ago when it would only be visible in certain things. For exactly how long do you think she’s been pregnant? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/197 "2013-10-15T01:05:27Z")
> [@Claire98909](#): > > She just seems to have that belly in all recent pictures now. She’s always had a bit of a lower belly bump but it just seems like it’s bigger than in the past and it’s visible in everything she wears, as opposed to several years ago when it would only be visible in certain things. It’s a time-release pregnancy. She won’t have the baby for another 5 years 3 months. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/198 "2013-10-15T02:36:37Z")
> [@Claire98909](#): > > She just seems to have that belly in all recent pictures now. She’s always had a bit of a lower belly bump but it just seems like it’s bigger than in the past and it’s visible in everything she wears, as opposed to several years ago when it would only be visible in certain things. So she’s gained a few pounds over the last few years. So what? Happens to the best of us sometimes. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/199 "2013-10-15T04:19:22Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Is there such a thing as hysterical pregnancy where instead of you it’s someone else you think is pregnant? Baroness Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122/200 "2013-10-15T05:06:15Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Baroness Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome? Baroness Munchausen by Preggy Syndrome [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-downton-abbey-actress-have-been-several-months-postpartum-when-this-was-filmed/664122.md?page=11)