I always see this as a comedy device on TV sitcoms. I have only a couple of expriences being around pregnant co-workers and both of these ladies didn’t seem to have any troubles. They could tie their own shoes and get up. Yeah it was a bit of an effort but no way near the comic effects I see on TV.
So my question is to you formerly pregnant ladies, did you have any REAL trouble maneuvering while pregnant.
Second question is did you ever get into any amsuing (well I’m sure at the time they weren’t amusing but looking back) situations where your maneuvering was difficult. Like for instance getting stuck behind a wheel of a car or such
I do realize that every woman is different, and even each pregnancy in the same woman can be different, so this is just your own experience.
Maybe not as bad as the sitcoms portray, but yes, in the last couple of months it can be tricky to maneuver. The thing is, you’re usually not that aware of the muscles you use for normal every day things, like standing up from a sitting position, or rolling over in bed.
Turns out, your stomach muscles are pretty key in those movements! And when you’re really pregnant, you can’t use them because there’s no room for them to contract. Try it…try standing up without crunching your stomach muscles. It’s doable, but you have to kind of push yourself up from behind. It’s especially hard if you’re standing up from a soft cushy couch or chair.
The last month of pregnancy, we had to switch cars because she couldn’t fit behind the steering wheel in hers. We pretty much had an understanding that when she wanted to get out of a chair, I’d be there to help her up. And no, there was no way she could tie her own shoes … hell, by the last couple of weeks, she couldn’t find her knees, much less her shoes. We have a photo of our 2-year old daughter standing under my wife’s stomach.
It’s not as comical as on TV. It can be painful. My No. 1 son was somehow sitting on a nerve and I waddled. Ooooh, it was so painful walking, but I did it. The pain was just an inch or two behind the widest part of my hip bone. I managed to tie my shoes up to the end, but it meant I had to sit, reach down, sort of reaching to the side a little, and grab my ankle and pull it up to the opposite knee.
That reminds me… The last 3 weeks of my pregnancy were spent as the first 3 weeks of the new school year. (sophmore year in high school)
I didn’t fit into the desks very well. I could sit sideways in the desks and be OK. Occasionally, if it was a larger desk, I could turn so that I was facing forward, with my belly tucked under the desktop. Until the day Jr. wedged a foot into my ribcage and effectively trapped me in the desk for about 15 minutes. Comical for my classmates, not so much for me, though I can laugh about it now.
After that, most of my classes found me alternate seating, usually at a table at the back of the room.
My SIL is 8+ months along now. I guess she is “carrying high” and her belly is quite large. Her legs are also quite swollen - she’s just not used to being this large.
It definitely is comical to see her move around.
My mom, who is just 5’2" and had 10# babies, said it was miserable for her being pregnant, as she was more egg shaped than anything.
I wasn’t much hindered, but I’m built like a beer keg anyway. Having a baby in there didn’t change my center of gravity a whole lot until the very end.
But yeah, as others have said, it’s played up for comedy, but there’s definitely some truth in there.
Please tell me that you weren’t stuck between classes. I mean, it’s really embarrassing to have to go back into the classroom because you forgot to take your book out from under the desk. I can’t imagine how embarrassing it would be to have to stay in the classroom because you can’t take your belly out from under the desk!
At only four months my center of balance had already changed enough that when I bent over to pick up a bottle of shampoo off the floor, I slipped a disc. During the next two months the disc healed faster than I got heavier, and I could walk OK with a Zimmer. By month 7 the increasing weight, and forward placement of it was moving faster than the disc could heal and it started to get worse instead of better.
By the time I delivered I was dragging my right leg behind me, I couldn’t lift it at all.
On the comical side, once while I was sitting in a restaurant booth the baby shifted, and her head moved above the table while her butt was beneath it. I couldn’t move in either direction and had to slide out sideways with a great deal of help from two of the waiters. I think they were just relieved my water didn’t break!
If you truly want to understand get a 30 lb sack of potatoes and strap it to your belly. Keep in mind that anything even brushing up against it hurts. Now, try to reach a frying pan on the stove. . .
I had really big babies. (a 9.5 lb and an 11lb) My belly sat on my kneecaps. Yep, have a look, go ahead, on my kneecaps. I couldn’t drive, because I couldn’t reach the pedals if my belly was behind the wheel. I couldn’t fit into a booth…anywhere. Dennys got a real laugh out of that. Me, not so much. A medical cart followed me through SF airport, sure I was gonna drop the kiddo out with a single sneeze, I guess.
With two weeks or so left to go, I can still tie shoes, but it hurts.
And I’m having a lot of pelvic/groin pain, so I wind up limping around a lot.
I suppose that could be considered fun for some…
I’m not especially big, and ran and did boot camp til 8 months - but even staying active and having (probably) a relatively small baby crammed in there still makes for difficulties.
Pepper Mill had lots of problems maneuvering – and there wasn’t anything funny about it. During her pregnancy everything swelled up, as if there were tons of extra water. It was forcing her finger and toe joints apart. She joked that pregnancy gave her “Fred Flintstone Feet”, but she was in a lot of discomfort, and envied those women who only seem to get a belly bump.
When the doctor offered to induce labor she signed right up. And I don’t blame her.
I had no trouble, but my next-door neighbor had twins on board that she carried to term. She made the sit-com ladies look lame. She had to have help to get out of any chair. She mostly “leaned” instead of sitting, the back of her legs on the edge of the chair, shoulders on the top of the back.
I didn’t have that much of a problem. I used to sit on the floor cross legged all the time and my mom called me Buddha and said pregnant women don’t normally do that. But I was 17 so that may have had something to do with it.
I did bang my belly on the counter and stuff sometimes, but I never got stuck anywhere or anything.
My Bradley Method book encourages sitting in tailor position (basically cross legged) - it’s meant to make sure your hips are released for labour.
I assume all of this is to come, but I’m 7 months pregnant now, and have no problems getting out of bed, tying shoes (although I bend at the hips or lift my foot up onto a bed or something as opposed to bend a knee), and I do yoga 4x a week which is still not a problem including sitting cross legged. Expecting that the last month may be hard, but by that point won’t be at work for anyone to laugh at…
I’m 34 weeks, and things have started getting really difficult in the past few weeks. I manage ok, but it’s very awkward. In order to get up out of a chair or couch by myself, I have to have something I can put my hands on to lever myself up with my arms. Using my core muscles to get up doesn’t work so good anymore. I keep forgetting where my belly is now and bumping into things with it. Also it’s effectively made my reach much shorter when I’m reaching accross a desk or table or something. It makes me feel like I’ve got little T-Rex arms.
Ooh, I still curse those customers who would leave their purchases on the far end of my register so I had to reach allllll the way over to grab their stuff with my tiny short arms and my huge belly impeding me all the way (no conveyer at my register). What’s remarkable is that all the length my arms lost when pregnant, my toddler’s arms have gained. I cannot understand how someone with arms <—thislong—> can have a reach of <--------------------thisfar-------------------->
I had a huge amount of trouble trying to wash dishes the last 6-8 weeks. My belly kept me from getting close enough to the sink to reach comfortably, and it got soaked all the time. Baby #2 was due in early February, so having a soaking wet shirt (even for a few minutes) was not fun. I didn’t have the option of slip-on shoes, so I learned to put my feet about 3’ apart and lean way over sideways to tie my shoes. Fun stuff.
I had symphisis pubis dysfunction, so from about 18 weeks on I waddled, and by the end I couldn’t get my pants on while standing up because lifting one leg was agony. I couldn’t cross my legs without using my hands to lift the leg I wanted on top. Every step felt like someone kicked me in the crotch with a steel-toed boot. Don’t even ask me about rolling over in bed–which, given that pregnant women are supposed to sleep on their sides, I had to do quite frequently.
The SPD is probably #1 on the list of reasons why I will never again be pregnant.
