swollen ankles

[ellenkushner]

I'm writing a very short scene in which a character who doesn't know she's pregnant yet (and with Jessica Campion, no less!) is showing symptoms, probably late in her 2nd month (when, I'm told, spotting can still occur often enough that you can be in denial if you want). I refuse to have her throwing up - that's such a cliche! - so I've given her sore swollen breasts and utter exhaustion instead. BUT: can she have swollen ankles yet? She's spent the entire day in a carriage though the countryside. Is there anything else that could reveal her condition to the experienced countrywomen who undress her? [cut here for physical details not always for public consumption].

Comments

[unovis-lj.livejournal.com]

Not as cliched as morning sickness, but an enhanced sense of smell and strong reaction to odors, especially smoke, wine, vinegar or other sharp acidic ones. Edema is usually a little later, in the second trimester.

[msisolak.livejournal.com]

Swollen ankles are more common in the later stages of pregnancy, but I think after a jolting trip in a carriage that it wouldn't be too surprising.

You also might consider having her react to a scent or food that she used to enjoy but now can't tolerate. I can certainly vouch for food aversions, and I never had morning sickness.

[alikander.livejournal.com]

For some women, the spotting coincides with when they would have gotten their periods, which can be misleading. (This is internet hearsay, not personal experience.)

I'm not sure about ankles swelling so early. I think that's mostly a third trimester thing. (Mine started puffing up in the second-half of the second trimester, and my midwife commented that that was early.)

Many women do start "showing" a little in the first trimester due to bloating (retained water and gas). And that gas tends to come out... Also, as your metabolism ramps up, you do pee more and get short of breath more easily. Hmm... and in addition to breasts swelling, the rib cage expands by a couple of inches.

Oh, and cravings are a first trimester thing, too. In my case, it wasn't so much that I wanted, say, rampion, just that on a given day, at a given hour, rampion was the only thing that wouldn't make me feel sick.

[beadslut.livejournal.com]

In our home, if it doesn't have garlic, it's probably dessert. First trimester, garlic made me queasy, although I never had morning sickness. My jeans didn't fit anymore. My grandmother knew right away - when quizzed, she said 'you just look like you're pregnant".

Corset? You would be able to tell where it usually tied. Petticoats not meeting at the back?

[tamago.livejournal.com]

My brief time on the hormone roller coaster of pregnancy displayed sore swollen breasts, with increased vein visibility, lots of acne and increased skin oiliness, and a craving for salt and vinegar, with or without chips. Also, my sweet tooth disappeared. My breasts were so swollen that my regency era outfits would no longer close and I had to add a 3" extension when I was only about six weeks along (that is, six weeks from previous period, aprox. four weeks from actual sperm meets egg) and even then I tended to spill out of the top rather aggressively. I didn't actually try getting into my Victorian corset while pregnant, but depending on corset construction you might be able to tell "oh, this woman has put on weight recently" or, more telling, "this woman was much less bloated this morning when she put the corset on."

These changes are more dramatic if you can compare what she looked like before to what she looked like after.

Thank you for not falling back on the "if a woman vomits, she's pregnant" cliche. It has always bugged me.

[em-h.livejournal.com]

I doubt there'd be swollen ankles that early; I'd agree with the posters who've suggested that breast changes are the most likely visible sign. There's a sort of hard swollenness, with highly visible veins, which is usually a lot more extreme than premenstrual swelling; also the areolae can darken & develop bumps (have the countrywomen undressed her in the past?)

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

The nipples darken anywhere from 1-14 weeks. The breasts also become tender.

[handworn.livejournal.com]

The experienced countrywomen would have to know her original color, though, so that would only be noticed by the woman's personal attendante, if she had one.

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, on the sense of smell.

Took me forever to figure that one out: if you can't run fast, you need to sense predators sooner.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

By my second month, my waist had thickened somewhat although I'd gained no weight, and not only my cup size but my band size had increased -- from a 32 to a 36, so if she's wearing stays, they would CERTAINLY fit differently.

Of course, I was throwing up far beyond morning sickness, too.

My face was also somewhat puffy. But I didn't get swollen ankles until late in my third trimester.

[saralinda.livejournal.com]

Never having been pregnant, this thread is fascinating me...and giving me a touch of pregnancy hypochondria, I fear.

Thank you!

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

You've all been so generous with useful and fascinating information - I have lots of good ideas now for working out this scene. I just turned the complete ms. in to my editor for her first read/revisions, so when it comes back I'll attack details like the ones you've pointed out, with glee!

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh! *Finally* I get Rapunzel!

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Tremendously useful to know your experiences dealing with period costume! What a treasure trove LJ is. Thank you.

[tamago.livejournal.com]

Well, if I'm going to have a freaky hobby, I might as well make it useful somehow. ;-)

[lcohen]

i'm too late to be helpful but this was somehow a fascinating exercise!

"I'm too late to be helpful"

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

No, you're not! I'm just expressing my thanks to those who've already posted; I'm eager to hear more if anyone can add to the body of wisdom here.

In that case...

[carbonelle.livejournal.com]

It's entirely possible to feel queasy all day without ever feeling the need to throw up: rather the way one feels during PMS. I enjoyed (as it were) that phenomenon. One can also go from being a relatively calm and organized person to an volatile space-cadet.

Your heroine might also note that she's gaining weight in general if she's concerned about that sort of thing.

[mellybean71.livejournal.com]

I don't think anyone's mentioned mood swings? I know they aren't a visible symptom but maybe as a reaction to one?