Does Your Ring Size Change After Pregnancy? [Permanently?!]

Does Your Ring Size Change After Pregnancy? [Permanently?]

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Pregnancy is a time where a lot is changing in your body. Everything from your toes to your hair feels like it’s morphing. It’s a common complaint that clothing and other accessories may start to feel tight. During pregnancy, your fingers will swell, and the rings will begin to feel snug. But is that permanent?

So, does your ring size change after pregnancy? While it is normal to go through a ring size change during pregnancy (you won’t usually need to change your rings), your fingers will likely go back to the same size they were pre-pregnancy. This will typically happen a few weeks after delivering the baby. This can, however, change from person to person and depends on the amount of weight gained during pregnancy.    

You’ll want to pay attention to when the rings start to become tight. 

Besides, there does come the point where it can become dangerous.

Here is what you need to know about your fingers and your rings during and after pregnancy. 

Will My Wedding Ring Fit After Pregnancy?

Most women report that their wedding rings fit after pregnancy. For some women, there is little to no change in how their rings fit and feel. For others, they have to take off their ring and cannot wear it for weeks following the birth.

In reality, fingers can really change in size depending on the time during the pregnancy. 

So, where you may start out at (your actual ring size) may not be where you end. 

It’s common to go up in size during and after pregnancy, but it usually comes back down. 

It may not return right away, though. 

Early Pregnancy

Every woman is different, but it is generally safe to say that a woman will not experience any ring size change before middle to late pregnancy. 

Your rings should fit as normal in early pregnancy so there is no need to worry about taking them off the day you become pregnant. 

Late Pregnancy

It’s important to remember to take off your rings once they start to become tight.

Leaving them on can cause injury to your finger and even further circulatory problems if not removed.

A lot of women will start experiencing swelling in their hands around 20 weeks. 

Some women won’t experience swelling until as late as 30 weeks pregnant. 

It is important to monitor your own situation. 

Post Pregnancy

Your ring size eventually will go back to normal if you haven’t put on much additional weight other than the expected baby weight. 

However, your body needs time to recover and return to normal from all the swelling. 

There is a reason why women talk about blowing up like a balloon. 

This can take several weeks after the birth of your newborn. 

When Will My Rings Fit After Pregnancy?

While it generally takes a few weeks, there are a few different factors that can really impact how soon your rings will fit again after labor. Some women will experience more dramatic ring size changes than others. 

Weight Gained

There are some women who from the behind don’t look pregnant, and then when they turn to their side all of a sudden, they super pregnant. 

On the other end of the spectrum, some women gain a lot of extra weight that can go straight to their hands. 

Everyone’s bodies and genetics are different, which means different experiences for everyone. 

As a rule of thumb, the more weight you gain, the longer it may take to go back to your original ring size.

Recovery

Sometimes it has less to do with weight and more to do with swelling. 

When we are in hot weather are hands swell and when we are in cool climates are fingers shrink. 

When our blood pressure goes up are swelling can also increase. 

If you are in good health, you may find a quicker recovery means getting back into your rings and clothes a little faster than others. 

It’s also important to note that the length of your recovery will also determine how soon you can get back to being active. 

Fitness

If you face the challenge that most women do after pregnancy, then you know you’ll have to start exercising at some point to get your body back to where it was or where you want it.

Once you are recovered, it may take a little time to get your weight down – but when you do, it should result in your rings fitting a little bit easier. 

How Much Does Your Ring Size Change During Pregnancy?

If you are one of the lucky ones, you may not experience any change at all! A lot of women do, however. How much that actual ring size will change is very dependent on the expecting mother. Some women change a full ring size while others only may change a quarter to a half size up. It may even change pregnancy to pregnancy if you have multiple children. 

When To Take Rings Off When Pregnant

The timing for everyone is different. Some women gain a lot of weight, and none of it goes to their fingers, so they never really have to take their rings off. 

Some may experience tight rings as early as 16 weeks though it’s less common. 

As mentioned, around 20 to 30 weeks is when you should really consider taking your rings off. 

If you wait too long, they could become stuck and need to be removed in an emergency room or professional jewelry store. 

Do I Have To Take My Rings Off During Pregnancy?

Not all women have to take their rings off during pregnancy. Each situation is unique, but there are some for sure tell signs that indicate it’s time to take your ring off before it’s too late – such as losing feeling in your fingers.

If your ring gets stuck, you may have to look into trying a few different tricks to get it off. 

Sometimes a good butter or oil can grease it up to get it off. 

Let’s look at the signs a ring is too tight:

You Are Struggling to Get the Ring Over the Knuckle

If you notice that your knuckles have begun to swell, this is a good time to start taking your rings off. 

Don’t force the ring over the knuckle or what is considered to be the muffin top. 

Forcing it can cause pain and knuckle damage. 

Instead, what you want to do is run your hands under cool to cold water to help reduce the swelling. 

This should allow for your finger to shrink just enough to slide the ring off.

If this doesn’t work, there are some other tricks and options for removing the ring. 

As you go longer into your pregnancy, take note of the ease of sliding the ring over the knuckle. 

You Lose Feeling/Experience Tingling

If you feel pins and needles in your ring finger, this is a sign that the ring is too tight. 

You may notice that you are losing a little color around the finger where it may be extra light or purplish. 

This is a sign that not enough blood is getting to your fingers, and you are cutting your circulation off. 

While other signs will show before getting to this point, it is important to try and do a few things to get the ring immediately off. 

At this point, you may have to go see someone as forcing the ring off is a bad idea. 

It Won’t Rotate Easily

As we fiddle with our rings, we often rotate them around our finger. 

Once the ring feels like it is sticking and not rotating easily, then it is time to consider taking the ring off. 

Rotating your ring off around your knuckle is one of the ways to get the ring off in the first place. 

If you can’t rotate it in general, this is a warning. 

You can try to use the floss trick to try and assist with getting the ring over your knuckle. 

YouTube tutorials can show you how to thread the string through the ring so you can slide it off. 

Take Notice

Pregnancy causes our bodies to change drastically. And our fingers are naturally caught up in all of this.

The result is that our rings will generally fit differently. 

Some women don’t worry about this at all. 

But every woman should start taking notice of the swelling once they start to gain some weight. 

Which is inevitable to some extent. 

If you don’t love the idea of not having anything on your finger, some women get their rings resized or put on a temporary ring.

Thankfully, for most rings, there is no limit to the number of times you can get them resized (if you do so professionally!)

It doesn’t take too long either.

And this way, you will not feel so naked throughout your pregnancy!

Just know that once you start seeing signs that the ring is too tight, it is important you take action as soon as you can.

Damaging nerves in your finger is not a far-fetched thing when you start to cut the blood circulation off. 

Because everyone’s timetable is different, the time it could be too tight for you will be different than the next woman. 

The same can be said for when you can put it back on. 

It will depend on the weight you gained, where that weight went, the recovery time, and the fitness you have to get back in shape. 

If you decide to do so, of course. That’s your prerogative. 

An excellent way to monitor your fingers is to constantly rotate your ring and make sure it slides nice and easy over your knuckles. 

It’s possible that your ring size may change a whole size up, but it can really range anywhere between a quarter-size and a half-size up. 

Other ring-related size guides you may want to check out: