# Women - What Embarrassing Thing Couldn't You Do When You Were Pregnant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 11, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145 "2011-06-11T20:29:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/21 "2011-06-12T23:26:46Z")
The switch for our cooker is in a corner over a counter. By the last few weeks, all I could do was shove my belly up against the counter, flap my hand hopefully in the direction of the switch and say ‘Oof.’ ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/22 "2011-06-13T00:26:52Z")
Sneeze without peeing my pants and smell food without barfing. I had no trouble reaching things and grooming things despite being massive in the belly - I’m tall and flexible so I was able to bend around the bump but the puking and the peeing really sucked. I miss neither. ---
**Author:** ![OldnCrinkly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@OldnCrinkly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldnCrinkly)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/23 "2011-06-13T07:33:21Z")
I remember being unable to turn over in bed. If I wanted to turn from laying on my left side to my right, I had to sit up, shift and turn, then lay back down. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/24 "2011-06-13T07:45:57Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > The switch for our cooker is in a corner over a counter. By the last few weeks, all I could do was shove my belly up against the counter, flap my hand hopefully in the direction of the switch and say ‘Oof.’ Likewise, the switch for the hot water (to get a bath) was at the top& very back of an under cabinet kitchen cupboard, so I’d have to lean down, in and back up again (and past a pile of precariously balanced pots & pans). I always managed to switch it on okay, but couldn’t sometimes reach to get it back off… Not embarrassing, but I also had carpal tunnel syndrome in my hands, so couldn’t open drinks bottles if they were too tight. Or the door handle first thing in the morning… ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/25 "2011-06-13T07:47:30Z")
Another one who couldn’t fit in a restaurant booth. It was embarrassing. I was sneaking off bedrest, too. I was 39 weeks and due to be induced in five days, I suspected it no longer mattered. I asked for a table, too. :o ---
**Author:** ![kbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbear)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/26 "2011-06-13T08:31:37Z")
I was carrying twins and by the 8th month, was huge. I couldn’t say more than one or two sentences without having to stop and catch my breath. I was supposed to be training my replacement at work and eventually told him he was on his own because I couldn’t talk long enough to explain everything. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/27 "2011-06-13T15:55:57Z")
> [@kbear](#): > > I was carrying twins and by the 8th month, was huge. I couldn’t say more than one or two sentences without having to stop and catch my breath. I was supposed to be training my replacement at work and eventually told him he was on his own because I couldn’t talk long enough to explain everything. That sounds pretty serious. What causes that? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/28 "2011-06-13T16:05:48Z")
Surprisingly, nobody has said, “claimed to be a virgin” yet.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/29 "2011-06-14T11:07:47Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > That sounds pretty serious. What causes that? As your uterus expands, everything crams upwards into the space where you keep your lungs and crowds them. I know how short of breath I got carrying one - two would be something else! ---
**Author:** ![I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19adc/32.png) [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Am_The_Lorax)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/30 "2011-06-14T11:29:24Z")
Don’t sit in a papasan chair past the sixth month, no matter how comfy, especially when you’re home alone. At least I had my cell phone with me. My childless sister thought it was soooo funny when she had to rescue me, because it was. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/31 "2011-06-15T00:53:34Z")
Paint my toenails. For a while, I could manage it by bending my knee out to the side and bringing my foot up, but by the end, the belly was still in the way. My mom has a hilarious story of the only time my dad took her golfing. When she was 8 months pregnant. He bent down, placed the ball for her and said, “Okay, just hit the ball.” She looked down, looked back up at him, and said, “What ball?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![amijane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@amijane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amijane)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/32 "2011-06-15T19:57:09Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > I had symphisis pubis dysfunction, and could not cross my legs without lifting one with my hands and putting it down over the other. I had this and couldn’t walk without pain from 4 months onwards. My husband was helping me into bed one night and I instructed him that he needed to keep my knees together. His reply? “If you’d kept your knees together in the first place . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/33 "2011-06-16T14:38:55Z")
Sneeze fully. When I have an allergy attack, or I am cleaning, or whatever, I have to use a pantyliner. Eew. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/34 "2011-06-16T14:47:15Z")
I couldn’t get out of the recliner when it was fully back. Actually that came in handy because while bouncing up and down trying to get the foot portion down to get out of it, my water broke. My second pregnancy was VERY embarrassing because during my last trimester, I kept falling down since for some reason she made me terribly off balance. I had to be picked up more than once by strangers. Felt like an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Lightlystarched](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/35 "2011-06-17T18:07:42Z")
I couldn’t eat without spilling on my belly. I couldn’t sit close enough to the table, and I couldn’t bend forward while sitting, so I ended up with lots of stained shirts. And I really didn’t want to go buy more maternity shirts. I also got this weird thing that I still can’t (and youngest is 8) bend at the waist without _something_ inside me shifting and hurting. It feels like a muscle or something rides up over my rib cage and binds. I have to sit up straight and wait for it to go back into position. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/36 "2011-06-17T18:16:29Z")
Not my own personal experience, since I’m a dude, but my mom likes to tell the story of when she was hugely pregnant with my older sister. My mom was leaning up against the kitchen counter and my sister apparently didn’t like it, because she kicked _really_ hard, and left my mom with a big bruise where her belly had been in contact with the counter. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/37 "2011-06-17T22:33:52Z")
> [@Lightlystarched](#): > > I also got this weird thing that I still can’t (and youngest is 8) bend at the waist without _something_ inside me shifting and hurting. It feels like a muscle or something rides up over my rib cage and binds. I have to sit up straight and wait for it to go back into position. I have something similar, stemming from the birth of my 9 year old. It’s like a hernia or something, but isn’t a constant problem. And sometimes, a muscle or something _moves_… swear to God. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/38 "2011-06-18T02:46:28Z")
> [@Susie\_Derkins](#): > > I couldn’t groom my cha-cha. Not like that was a priority or anything. My (ex) sister-in-law could apparently still groom her’s. Which our grandmother once walked in on her doing. Grandma was extremely confused because she still had a month to go before her due date and in any event “the nurses will do that for you”. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/39 "2011-06-18T02:53:28Z")
I couldn’t navigate around stuff. I had NO intuitive sense of how large I was … I would go up to the counter at work, and bounce off of it like a cartoon because my belly would hit first. Same with rolling up to my desk to use the computer. Several times I recall standing in the doorway of my office, and then turn around to talk to someone, and whack myself against the door frame. The whole thing was especially 😕 because at another time in my life, I was fatter from being fat than I ever got when I was pregnant and THEN, I never walked around running into furniture. I have no idea why I didn’t manage to adjust my mental image of size, you’d think it would be an evolutionary advantage not to beat on your pregnant belly all day. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145/40 "2011-06-18T14:13:43Z")
It was pretty embarrassing for me to grow OUT of several maternity tops. But I’m tall and I had an almost 10-pound baby, so I have an excuse. I got too exhausted to walk, there toward the end with my last, but I blame that more on age. Getting preg when I was 30 didn’t wear me out nearly as much as it did when I was 40! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-what-embarrassing-thing-couldnt-you-do-when-you-were-pregnant/585145.md?page=1)