Going to a hen do at 6 months pregnant
Pregnancy insider blog
The date for the hen do was set a year ago by a bossy friend of the bride. Her bossiness was one of the reasons she wasn't an actual bridesmaid, instead she was let loose on the hen do. At the time I wasn't pregnant. But when it finally rolled around, here I am, 6 months pregnant.
I put in a request on the lead up. That I be given a single bed so as not to disturb any poor hen who might have ended up in a double bed with me, and, more selfishly, to give myself the best chance of a good nights sleep.
Sleep is something I am missing a lot at the moment, partly due to pelvic pain and general uncomfortableness. I also asked to be excused from the spa session on the Saturday morning. Hanging around saunas is not advised in pregnancy.
The rest of the hens coped by drinking massive amounts of prosecco
I must confess I wasn't much looking forward to the weekend. This was not helped by the 5-hour train journey turning into a 6-hour one after a missed connection. The rest of the hens coped by drinking massive amounts of prosecco. I didn't have that option so I got to the hen house at 10pm, starving and exhausted. I was ready to hit the sack.
Sadly this hen do was one of the worst organised ones I ever been on. Beds hadn't been allocated and everyone was too drunk to really care, so I picked a single bed in a room at the top of the house, away from most of the noise and went to bed - only to be woken 3 hours later by my two roomies turning on all the lights and talking loud nonsense for a full 40 minutes before they passed out.
Luckily the bride-to-be had eaten too much cheese and just wanted to lie down
Next morning they all went off to the spa. I lazed around and read, before going to meet them at a park at 2:30pm for a picnic. This sounds lovely but my symphysis pubis disorder means I physically can't sit on the ground – it hurts my hips and pelvis way too much. So I lay on my side or stood up for what felt like forever before we were told we were to split into teams to do a treasure hunt. Luckily the bride-to-be had eaten too much cheese and just wanted to lie down and the other girls wanted to go shopping so we got out of that.
Dinner in the evening was nice but watching everyone get paralytic on yet more prosecco was exhausting. Afterwards I made it to one overcrowded bar, but after having my bump barged into a couple of times I bailed and headed home to bed. Only to be woken a few hours later by drunken screams and laughing. Another disjointed night of half sleep.
Six hours on a train later I arrived home exhausted and with a lot of back pain
The following day we all headed home. Six hours on a train later I arrived home exhausted and with a lot of back pain. I'd tried to make the most it and although I don't want to sound like a complete misery-guts, the truth is that a hen do when 6 months pregnant will never be one of life's highlights. I do know my friend really appreciated me being there though so that did make it (mostly) worth it.
Our Pregnancy Insider is 29, lives in East Anglia, practices yoga and is a big fan of House of Cards - and she's pregnant with her first baby.
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