Laura’s Pregnancy Diary: Everyone saw my bum thanks to this pain-beating girdle

Laura Hignett is deaf and pregnant. Laura is sharing her diary entries and her experiences with us as she prepares for the birth of her first child . This week, Laura accidentally shows some commuters her bum in an effort to beat the pains of pregnancy. 

10 weeks to go!

This week I have been experiencing the joys of pregnancy: Sleepless nights (good practice for me I guess!!); aches and pains and constantly waddling everywhere I walk!

The waddle walk is not a good look at all. I have pelvic girdle pain which causes me to waddle and it’s quite common at this stage of pregnancy. However, it is hard to the commute everyday in London to go to work.

I am constantly being pushed and shoved! It’s bad enough when you can’t hear people from behind but being deaf and pregnant = experiencing constant rudeness. I think it is London in general; people are so wrapped up in their own lives that they apparently have no manners.

Even though I am obviously showing a pregnant belly and wear a ‘baby on board’ badge (Transport for London give them to expectant mothers) people don’t offer me a seat on the trains or tubes.

I have to ask everyday as I can’t stand up for long due to the pelvic girdle pain. I always politely ask if I can have their seat (there are priority seats on trains and tubes), and more often than not I get a grunt or a huff because some commuter wants to finish reading their book or paper.

The best thing about having pelvic girdle pain is having to wear a very attractive girdle which is like a tuba-grip! Yesterday, I found myself in a spot of embarrassment.

I was wearing my girdle under my dress which unfortunately yanked up the back of my dress to expose my bum! Luckily I was wearing tights and luckily being deaf meant I could ignore the giggles!

I did think to myself ‘Why is that man looking at me funny?’ and then spotted a reflection of myself walking past a shop window and saw that I had my dress yanked up – cringe!

Let’s hope I don’t find myself in any more embarrassing situations this week!

Laura x

See  more of Laura’s diary entries here

Laura is profoundly deaf, has worked as a press officer for the government and is freelance journalist. She is sharing with us her experiences of becoming a deaf parent for the first time and is campaigning for better accessibility for deaf people.