Did your fingers swell during pregnancy?

[wolftress]

I wasn''t sure if I should post this thread in Jewelry or this forum but I figured more mommy PS-ers come here so I would have better luck

My next jewellery project is a bezel eternity ring to wear with my e-ring. DH and I have agreed next year will most probably be the year we start trying to start a family, but I''m worried my fingers will swell during pregnancy and I won''t be able to wear my eternity ring any more.

Did your fingers swell during pregnancy? Did they go back to their normal size after you had your baby? If not, what did you do with your eternity rings?

My fingers are currently a size 2.75 and all my other rings that I wear on my e-ring finger are resizeable within 3 sizes.

 

[Sabine]

I''m currently 37 weeks pregnant, and my fingers have swelled slightly. I took off my ering a while ago because having the 2 bands on got uncomfortable, but I am still able to wear my regular wedding band. I think it''s pretty different for everyone though.

 

[Jas12]

Weirdly, i wore my rings my entire pregnancy with no issues & the only reason i took them off at 41 weeks was in case i needed a c-section and didn''t want to worry about removing jewlery at the hospital. It wasn''t until *after* the birth that i could no longer get them on

It was like my finger shape changed along with my hips. I am still wearing them, but they are so tight. I think i''ve gone from a 3.75 to a 4.5....

My advice, hold off on sizing that ring until after your first child. Not everyone notices a change, but enough do to warrant erring on the side of caution

 

[Anastasia]

My fingers only swelled with my first pregnancy. I was able to wear my rings through all of my 2nd and 3rd pregnancies.

i have gone up half a ring size over time, but it wasn''t a direct result of pregnancy. I probably finally had my rings resized about three years after having my third.

I am also about 20 - 25 pounds heavier than when I got married, so I think that is where the size change came from.

 

[janinegirly]

My fingers swelled alot (and my feet). It was also summer during my last months, so maybe that made it worse. It happened early on for me..and at about 6-7 months ( could no longer wear my rings. I was really worried they'd never go back! They did go back to the original size, but it took awhile. Not till 3mo's PP or so...

 

[phoenixgirl]

I'm 6 months pregnant and while I can still get my rings on, they are uncomfortably tight.

I was a size 6 as long as I can remember, but two years ago I lost over 20 pounds and my size went down to 5 or 5.25. I got my e-ring and diamond wedding band resized at 5.25 because I don't like them being tight. I think I'm about a 5.25-5.5 now (although I now weigh more than I did two years ago, but I guess it's more in the belly and less in the fingers this time). I'm currently wearing my original wedding band which I kept at size 6 knowing that if my fingers got smaller when I lost weight, surely they would get bigger when I gained it with pregnancy. The size 6 ring is too big unless I am outside in the heat or walk a few miles; then my finger swells and it fits perfectly. I can get the 5.25 rings on, but I don't like how they feel and I'm afraid of swelling.

I figure by the end, I'll probably be back up to a true size 6. So we'll have to see if I go back to a 5.25 post pregnancy.

I guess some facts to consider would be:

*is your finger size affected by weight loss/gain?
*do you tend to swell in certain conditions?

An eternity band is tricky since it can't be resized, at least not easily. That's a tough one.

 

[neatfreak]

Oh yes did mine swell. Mine went from a 5.5 to like an 8.5!!! It was crazy. But I am 6 mos PP and they went back to normal within a month or so.

 

[MustangGal]

I didn''t swell at all, wore my rings the entire pregnancy (all 41 weeks), and even when my lower half swelled up from the c-section my fingers still stayed the same. I did have the baby in February though, I think a summer pregnancy would be at higher odds for swelling issues. I''m 5 months pp now, back to pre-baby weight, and I think my rings are actually getting loose...

You might want to just have a small sizing bar so that things could be adjusted if necessary.

 

[vespergirl]

I was able to wear my ering through the whole pregnancy, but my wband didn''t fit for the last 2 weeks only. Within a week after the birth, my fingers were back to their old size 5. My friend who normally wears a 7, however, had really bad swelling during her pregnancy in her hands and feet, and she can''t wear either her ering or band anymore - they are both eternity, and neither are resizable. She is going to have to get all rings/settings. Her son is 6 months old now, and because she is still carrying a lot of the baby weight, her fingers haven''t gone back down to their old size.

 

[Mandarine]

Mine have started to swell as well (I'm 6 months pregnant). I can still wear them, but really just wear them if I'm leaving the house because they're just a little tight! (it's also over 90 and very humid right now!).

My wedding band is 4.5 and my e-ring is 4.75...my ering is pretty thin and a tiny little bigger so that's still pretty comfortable to wear...my wedding band not so much so I limit the use

ETA: 6 months with twins...so I'm growing faster!

 

[Black Jade]

No.
But I gained little weight during pregnancy, none at all until the last two months each time. I kept LOSING weight, which wasn''t all that surprising because I''m one of those thrower-uppers. I got morning sickness for all nine months all three times. I wanted more kids, but my husband had had it with the crisis level morning sickness after this.

My engagement ring is size 7 1/2 and my wedding ring is size 8. I haven''t gotten them resized though they are now both much too big--my ring finger is now 6 1/4, because I lost a lot of weight in the last 7 or 8 years due to getting diabetes and changing to a healthier diet (I''m now officially not diabetic anymore but hyperglycemic--and 50 pounds less than in 2001). I wear one of those plastic inner tuby things on my wedding ring, because it''s not resizeable. it has a design around the edge that won''t line up if it''s resized and also there is engraving inside which is going to disappear if I change it.

On the other hand, my pregnancies left with me horrific stretch marks on my belly (which is what happens when you gain thirty pounds all in the stomach during a two month period, three different times); my feet grew from 8 1/2 to 9 1/2W and never went back; my hairline changed--it thinned a little around the front permanently and though no one notices but me, I don''t like my new hairline and always wear bangs to hide this. I have a widow''s peak that got a lot less prominent. I also acquired hemorrhoids (yes, I know TMI, but I wish someone had told me). However I feel quite lucky because I didn''t get varicose veins at all, which a lot of my friends are now cursed with (one had her husband give her laser surgery for a push present) and I actually have smaller hips that I did when I was girl. They''re now 34 1/2 inches around, which a lot of people envy,although it makes it difficult to find pants, except in junior sizes, or even kids sizes which sounds nice until you go and look in the junior section and see what the pants there look like (how would YOU like to be a 50 year old lady in bleached out prink sequinned jeans with ''SEXY" written across your behind?) Also, hubby is trying not to complain, he prefers women who have curves down there. I think most men much prefer Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce type figures to that of, Sarah Jessica Parker for instance (although I''m not as bad as she is yet--I do have a decent sized bosom).

I think what happens to you during and after pregnancy is genetic, so talk to your mom and also to your paternal grandmother to get hints on what to expect. Though you do have some control--I have too many who have six, seven, eight or even nine kids and still have lovely figures to think that you permanently have to keep excess weight on forever and ever after. (though it''s important to be realistic--you''re not going be thin the day after delivery, or even probably six months after delivery). They say they lose weight running after all those kids! Of course they can''t afford to eat out much, either and cooking at home is definitely less fattening than eating convenience foods or restaurant meals in those portions they have nowadays.

 

[so cal girl]

Well, I''m about 7 months pregnant, and I can still get my rings on, but getting them off is a little more difficult! I don''t think it being the middle of summer and hot as heck is helping, though.

I am still wearing my ering and wedding ring together, but if my fingers swell much more, I''ll probably switch to just my wedding ring, which is an eternity. I had my wedding band made a quarter size bigger than my ering (6.25 vs. 6), to account for a little bit of swelling. I would suggest getting your eternity made just a tiny bit bigger if you are concerned.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Yes, but they went *mostly* back to normal about a month or so later. At 5 months PP my fingers are now about 1/4 size bigger than they were preprego, but I still have about 12lbs ob baby weight to lose.

 

[puffy]

they swelled a little. i wore my rings for the most part up until 2 weeks or so before i delivered.

 

[D&T]

yep, I was about a size 3.75 before I was pregnant and wore my size 4.5 band until I delivered. then got my anniversary ring at a size 4.25 (thought that was my size initially) then I had it resize down to a 4 three months after, now after 8 months post delivery. I"m back to about a 3.75 a tad under 4.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I went from a 4.5 to a 6. It took awhile but my fingers are back to their normal size. If anything they might be a tad smaller.

 

[Shoopy]

I was told to take off my ring at around 24 weeks. My fingers were extremely swollen. Now (13 days pp) my ring can fit although it is still a little tight. I''m sure in a few days it''ll fit the way it used to.

 

[Pandora II]

I had to stop wearting mine at 7 months as my fingers were swelling too much. I''m now 8 weeks PP and although I''ve lost all but 4lbs of the baby weight I still can''t wear them comfortably yet - they just fit...

However, I got married with two wedding bands - the second is a plain gold band a size larger than my normal rings which I wear when I''m travelling or don''t want to wear my diamond band (it''s curved and I don''t care for the look without my e-ring) so I still have a wedding band to wear!

 

[lili]

Depends on the person.
My officemate said hers went up a size during and post pregnancy.
My sisters and I remained the same. We were able to wear our rings throughout our pregnancy and afterward.

 

[softly softly]

My fingers did swell with both my pregnancies and I was unable to wear my rings during the last few months. It took a couple of weeks but they went back to normal both times.

 

[wolftress]

Thank you for all the responses, especially the PS-ers who advised that I talk to my mother about whether her fingers swelled. It would be a pretty good gauge, except she doesn''t remember and doesn''t even think she wore her rings at all before, during or after pregnancy! My mother''s and my body types are completely different though, so I''m not sure if I would be able to judge entirely based on that.

To all the moms who said that their fingers did swell, were you prone to swelling in different weather conditions? My fingers don''t seem to swell much even in summer and never to the point that my rings are uncomfortable. But I know pregnancy does wacky things to your body so who knows what might happen! Maybe I should get a small sizing bar, but I do so love the look of bling all the way around my finger, and I''ve wanted a full bezel eternity for years

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Mine do swell in the heat but never enough where I can''t wear my rings (of course I do like them on the loose side). Have you seen Snlee''s bevK? I think a sizing "ball" would be an awesome solution. Fingers/knuckles do change with age as well.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Yes, my fingers swelled. Both times I was pregnant in the summer so everything swelled up!

Both times, after pregnancy, my fingers went back to normal. After my second son was born, I lost more weight than what I had weighed before and my eng. ring had to be sized down. My wedding ring is engraved so it cannot be sized down. It still fits.

 

[hlmr]

Yes, my fingers swelled, quite a bit. But then again, I had toxemia, so that is to be expected. I must admit though, my fingers never did return to their pre-pregnancy size, even when I lost the weight. Summer weather always makes it worse too.

 

[vetrik]

I just gave birth to my daughter 9 days ago, so I was pregnant in warmer weather.

My fingers never swelled any more than they did during a normal summer, and I was technically able to wear both my wedding band and engagement ring up until the day of delivery. I did stop wearing my engagement ring a week or so before she was born just because it was more comfortable and I was paranoid!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Yes, my fingers swell in warm weather. I also retained a lot of water in the last month of my pregnancy, I think I dropped about 30lbs in 10 days!

So there was a lot of water.

 

[jill_s]

I just gave birth to my first child in March. During my pregnancy I gained nearly 50 lbs, most of it in the last 2 months from water retention. I''m normally a ring size 6, but at the end my fingers swelled to a size 10! Needless to say, I couldn''t wear ANY of my jewelry (even my neck swelled and I couldn''t wear most of my 16" necklaces)! I''ve lost almost all of the weight now (just 4 or 5 more pounds to go), but my fingers are about 0.5-0.75 size bigger than pre-pregnancy. I know my case was somewhat extreme, but if I were you, I would probably wait to see if pregnancy will permanently affect your ring size...especially if you''re considering an eternity band.