Most women are excited for when they qualify for maternity leave. Being able to sit at home, create life, and get paid for it. Why not, right?

While some women look forward to it, there are some who do not feel the same way. They prefer to work until they are told they can’t or until they go into labor.

For celebrities, there are a lot of A-list TV celebrities who worked the entire time they were pregnant, which made it a little difficult for their producers and writers who were forced to either rewrite their part or find creative ways to hide their budding belly.

A good example of a TV actress who worked well into her pregnancy is Lauren Lane (aka C.C. Babcock) from the hit '90s television show, The Nanny. Lauren was pregnant a few times while filming for the show and was made to wear big coats or hide behind either a big purse or different objects. What made it funnier is not only was it obvious she was pregnant, but they wrote in some jokes about how pregnant actresses hide behind things to try and hide their obvious pregnancies.

Here are 20 more television actresses who tried to keep their budding belly hidden from TV viewers. From Jessica Jones having to wear a preggo suit to Leah Remini having to hide behind counters — they tried, but we caught them.

20 January Jones In 'Mad Men'

When January Jones became pregnant, she did not hide behind objects, pile on tons of close to hide her belly, or have her pregnancy written into the storyline.

According to Scribol.com, instead, the creators of the show Mad Men made her wear a prosthetic to make her look bigger than she really was. During the fifth season, her character Betty Draper began a storyline of having body issues to deliberately cover up her growing baby bump.

What makes us feel sorry for January is that not only was the pregnancy uncomfortable enough, but it took an agonizing six hours to get the prosthetic on.

19 Ellen Pompeo In 'Grey's Anatomy'

When Ellen Pompeo became pregnant in the sixth season of Grey’s Anatomy, the shows creators had to step up, and like many other shows, use camera trickery to hide her growing baby bump.

According to Scribol.com, during season six, fans can see a lot of the scenes that Ellen, aka Meredith Grey, are shot from the neck upwards, in a sitting position, or behind something. Eventually, her belly became a little too hard to hide though as the birth of her child grew closer and so the show runners gave her some time off by writing her a storyline about her father needing a new liver and how she was the only one able to donate.

18 Kerry Washington In 'Scandal'

When Kerry Washington became pregnant, it was during season three of her show Scandal.

According to Scribol.com, her character Olivia Pope could be seen most of that season wearing big, baggy clothes or being hidden behind handbags, people, or even a lamp. In fact, if fans go back and watch that season, they would notice that Kerry’s entire body was rarely caught on camera.

Later on, Kerry admitted that she struggled filming that season due to not only the hardships of filming, but also having to make sure her budding belly was hidden in every scene. In 2014, Kerry opened up to The Hollywood Reporter and talked about how that season “broke her.”

17 Sarah Jessica Parker In 'Sex And The City'

When Sarah Jessica Parker became pregnant during the filming of hit show Sex and The City, it was during season five of the show.

According to Scribol.com, Sarah’s character, Carrie Bradshaw, had some adorable cute outfits to cover her growing baby belly. For a while, Carrie’s wardrobe was enough to hide her off-screen pregnancy. Unfortunately, as time went on and Sarah got more and more into her pregnancy, her budding belly became harder and harder to conceal with clothes.

With no choice, and not wanting to rewrite Sarah’s pregnancy into the show, the creators of the show had to cut the season down to only eight episodes.

16 Alyson Hannigan In 'How I Met Your Mother'

Alyson Hannigan became pregnant during the fourth season of the comedic television sitcom, How I Met Your Mother.

According to Scribol.com, Alyson adopted every trick in the book to conceal her baby bump. Her character Lily Aldrin was seen hiding behind large bags, draping herself in oversized coats, and even standing behind different objects and people.

The writers of the show even wrote in their own creative ways to conceal her pregnancy. In fact, in one scene, Lily was seen at a sausage eating competition where she flaunted a bloated food baby.

15 Cobie Smulders In 'How I Met Your Mother'

Alyson Hannigan wasn’t the only expecting mamma that had to hide her pregnancy on the show of How I Met Your Mother.

According to Scribol.com, Cobie Smulders, who plays Robin Scherbatsky on the show, was pregnant during season four also and found out shortly after Alyson did. Like with Alyson, the creators of the sitcom had to come up with some creative methods to try and hide Cobie’s pregnancy.

In fact, Craig Thomas, co-creator of the show, admitted that at the last stage of Cobie’s pregnancy, the stage where her belly was visibly noticeable, had to hide her belly behind huge bowls of fruit.

14 Courteney Cox In 'Friends' 

Friends, everyone’s favorite '90s sitcom. During its time, fans of the show became hooked on Monica and Chandler’s adoption story. For Courteney Cox though, her dream to become a mother became a reality.

According to Scribol.com, Courteney, who played Monica, found out she was pregnant during the final season of the show's running. Her pregnancy didn’t fit the show's storyline though and instead of writing her pregnancy into the show, producers had her hide her growing baby bump.

Creators of the show came up with some creative ways to try and hide her real-life pregnancy from fan’s eyes, some including different clothes and accessories for the rest of the season.

13 Claire Danes In 'Homeland'

Claire Danes decided to skip taking maternity leave when she became pregnant during season two of the show Homeland, and instead continue to film.

According to Scribol.com, when Claire, who plays Carrie Mathison on the show, became pregnant, she decided to keep filming and not try to hide her pregnancy behind bulky clothes, counters, or other objects.

With a part like Claire’s though, one that is not supposed to be pregnant, after a while, hiding the belly becomes necessary and when Claire’s belly became too big, creators of the show had to come up with some clever camera angles, along with CGI tricks, and even a body double to try and hide it.

12 Gillian Anderson In 'The X Files'

Gillian Anderson faced a difficult dilemma back in 1994 when she announced she was pregnant near the end of the first season of the show The X Files.

According to Scribol.com, when Gillian, who played the character of Dana Scully, told producers she was pregnant, there was a lengthy debate over if they should recast her character or not.

Thankfully, screenwriter Chris Carter had her back though. Chris wouldn’t even entertain the idea of someone else playing her part, and so they figured out a way to hide her pregnancy. Creators of the show came up with creative camera work and new story-lines, such as an abduction, to help hide her pregnancy and still allow her to play the part.

11 Julia Louis-Dreyfus In 'Seinfeld'

When Julia Louis-Dreyfus was on the show Seinfeld, she became pregnant not once, but twice during the show's nine-season run.

According to Scribol.com, Julia, who played Elaine Benes, first became pregnant it was easy to conceal, the shows writers just wrote her off the show for a few episodes.

Unfortunately, when she became pregnant a second time, it was a bit harder. Her second pregnancy was one of those pregnancies where the show's creators had to get creative. They chose to hide her growing baby bump behind bulky clothing, creative camera angles, and, of course, the go-to method: have her stand behind lots of big objects or people.

10 Amy Poehler In 'Parks And Recreation'

When Amy Poehler found out she was pregnant, it was during the production stage of season three of the NBC comedic sitcom Parks and Recreation.

According to Scribol.com, Amy’s pregnancy came to a shock to the production team. Unable to find a storyline to accommodate her growing baby bump like How I Met Your Mother or Grey’s Anatomy did (or rewrite her character, Leslie Knope, to be also pregnant in the show), creators were left with only a few options: baggy clothing and clever camera shots.

Luckily, they were able to keep to the storyline for her character they had originally wrote and hide her adorable bump.

9 Leah Remini In 'The King Of Queens'

When it came to Doug and Carrie Heffernan from the show King of Queens, they were constantly back and forth with the idea of having a child of their own.

According to Scribol.com though, when Leah Remini became pregnant during season six of the show, instead of rewriting her character to finally become pregnant in the show, they decided to stick to the storyline and hide her pregnancy with different camera angels, baggy clothes, and having her stand behind counters and furniture.

They even wrote in a period of unemployment for to make her growing baby bump kind of like a food baby brought on by being unemployed and home all the time.

8 Keri Russell In 'The Americans'

Keri Russell, who played Elizabeth Jennings, and Matthew Rhys, who played Matthew Jennings, were known for playing a couple on the hit show, The Americans.

According to Scribol.com though, their fictional life became reality in 2014 when the two co-stars started dating in real life. Fast forward three years and the couple are now expecting a child together, which was during season four of the show.

The creators of the show decided not to write her pregnancy into the show, and instead, are doing the traditional thing and cover it with costumes and props.

They even went the extra mile sometimes and used CGI at times to try and hide it completely on screen.

7 Kelly Rutherford In 'Gossip Girl'

When Kelly Rutherford became pregnant in real life, it was during the filming of the second season of the hit teenage drama series, Gossip Girl.

According to Scribol.com, when she became pregnant on the show, creators thought it best to try and hide her pregnancy instead of rewriting her character to either also become pregnant, or to take a mini break from the show.

To be more specific, the creator had her wear some baggy clothing to hide her little baby bump. Fans of the show might have noticed that in season two Kelly’s character, Lily Van Der Woodsen, can be seen wearing a lot of huge scarves, or sometimes holding extra-large newspapers.

6 Kristen Bell In 'House Of Lies'

When Kristen Bell became pregnant, she did not shy away from the camera at all but embraced her pregnancy and went on as if a little human wasn’t growing inside of her.

In fact, according to Scribol.com, when Kristen became pregnant while filming the show House of Lies, instead of taking time off, she kept on trucking along, and at seven months pregnant she did a sassy scene for one of the episodes that was about a leaked tape.

Afterwards, Kristen joked about the scene during in an interview with Conan O’Brien, “Now I can forever look at my daughter and go, ‘Oh, you were present for that.”

5 Jane Leeves In 'Frasier'

When Jane Leeves became pregnant, instead of hiding her bump like most celebrities must do, producers actually wrote her pregnancy into the show.

According to Scribol.com, Jane played the character of Daphne Moon on the hit '90s show Frasier. Around the time she became pregnant, producers started a storyline about how Daphne suffered from a disorder of the mind. As Jane progressed through her pregnancy though, they wrote in a part about her character leaving to go to a healthy spa to focus on her disorder, when in all actuality, Jane was taking time off because she was about to give birth to her new bundle of joy.

4 Phylicia Rashad In 'The Cosby Show'

When Phylicia Rashad found out she was pregnant, it was during her role as Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show.

According to Scribol.com, when Phylicia became pregnant it was during season three of the show and producers made sure to leave it completely out of her character’s storyline. Throughout the entire taping of that season, Clair could be seen being concealed either by kitchen counters, large objects and accessories, or baggy jumpers.

In fact, producers even got so creative, that they cut a hole into the master bedroom’s mattress as a way to hide Phylicia’s growing baby bump from cameras while she laid in bed.

3 Julie Bowen In 'Modern Family'

Fans of the show Modern Family would probably agree that without Julie Bowen, aka Claire Dunphy, there would be no show. Yes, the other characters bring their own pizazz to the table, but Julie as Claire just brings a certain sarcastic oomph that really makes her character shine.

Well, according to Scribol.com, Julie wasn’t sure if she would get the part when she first auditioned due to her being pregnant. Luckily, producers loved her so much that they hired her, baby bump and all.

During the pilot of the show, Claire can be seen hiding behind mountains of laundry or just different furniture and objects.

2 Debra Messing In 'Will & Grace'

Debra Messing learned she was pregnant during the sixth season of the hit show Will & Grace, which she played the character of Grace Adler.

According to Scribol.com, when Debra first became pregnant, producers were able to hide her pregnancy by making her character wear billowing clothes. Like most women though, as a pregnant woman progresses through her pregnancy, it becomes a lot harder to hide the adorable baby bump. Once it became too noticeable, Debra’s character Grace was written out of a few episodes of the show to allow her to take some maternity leave and focus on giving birth to her adorable bundle of joy.

1 Jane Krakowski In 30 Rock

When Jane Krakowski became pregnant there was only one option producers agreed on for her character Jenna Maroney on the show 30 Rock, omit the pregnancy.

According to Scribol.com, producers of the show decided not to write Jane’s pregnancy into the show, but to block it completely. In fact, executive producer, Robert Carlock, told Entertainment Weekly back in 2011: “No child should have Jenna Maroney for a mother.”

Wow, was her character really that bad?

Producers of the show went with some creative and unusual outfits to hide her baby bump from the camera. They even went so far as to make her wear a dog costume for one episode.

Sources: Scribol.com