Swelling of hands and feet--is this within the range of normal?

[Anonymous]

I'm starting to wonder if my swelling levels are normal or not. I drink plenty of fluids, keep my feet up at work when I can, and take frequent short walks. I have also tried to lower my salt intake and I drink lots of lemonade (my midwives suggested lemon for swelling). My blood pressure has consistently been great (just had it measured Monday). But I'm up two whole ring sizes (and sometimes even that doesn't fit) and up about a size and a half in shoes. Super uncomfortable! I have mentioned the swelling to my midwives but without mentioning specific numbers or major complaining, and they have checked my ankles with their hand and never seemed concerned. Do I just have to deal with it? (I'm 32wks)

I'm glad the weather is warming up, because I may be relegated to flip flops for the rest of my pregnancy...

[Anonymous]

I'm being monitored closely for preeclampsia during this pregnancy because I had it with my first. I've had minor (but increasing) swelling since about 29 or 30 weeks, mostly in my legs, but a little in my fingers. There is no way of knowing whether the swelling you are experiencing is normal-- other than normal BP and urine. While pregnancy books give you the characteristic signs of abnormal swelling, preeclampsia doesn't always present that way (rapid swelling or swelling in your face)-- mine didn't. On the upside, I've heard from Drs., nurses, and experienced moms that you can get pretty darn huge and still have a normal pregnancy. I know it's hard not to wonder/worry, since given my history, I worry all the time. However, the real indicators are urine and BP and I'm sure your midwives are keeping a close eye on both.

[Anonymous]

I don't really have any answers for you, other than to say that I feel your pain. I'm 34 weeks and have had stellar blood pressure too, but my feet and ankles recently have gotten pretty swollen. My calves turned purplish-reddish. I did call my dr, who said for now, there was nothing terribly concerning and that this might be the way my body deals with late-term pregnancy. It's odd b/c my rings still fit but my feet and ankles are swollen. Good luck to you. It's very uncomfortable, isn't it?

[Anonymous]

It might not help your hands but compression stockings, put on in the morning, can help with leg swelling. I have no scientific basis for this but I also felt like a lot of sugar caused me to swell. Are you making lemonade with very little sugar? (And it's a great idea, I'm going to try it.)

[Anonymous]

Having the same problem. Have gone up a shoe size and now wear my rings on a chain. My mom, who is a doctor, said that basically, this is a hydrolics issue (her exact words) and that I should do all the things you are doing (minus the lemon thing which I hadn't heard). If your swelling extends to your face and is accompanied by any of the other PE signs, be concerned. If the swelling goes down when you put your feet up (I find that lying on the couch with a bunch of pillows under my feet so they are over heart level helps), just accept it for one of the crappy parts of this stage and wait for it to pass.

I also found that my feet started feeling instantly better when I just sucked it up and bought shoes a size up. Spent a day cramming my feet into too small shoes, with the predictable result that they swelled even more and ached.

[Anonymous]

I swelled up around 28 weeks. Couldn't wear my rings or any shoes. So I lived in flip-flops for three months (good thing it was spring/summer). I didn't have any blood pressure issues or any other health concerns.

[Anonymous]

I think that at about 30 weeks I was too big for my shoes and ended up wearing big cloth strapped flip flops for the duration of my pregnacy (in my executive office job) and had to wear my wedding ring on a chain around my neck. BP was fine, urine was fine. Apparently, this was something my body needed to do. I slept with my feet propped up on pillows at night to try to get the swelling to go down and had my husband give me foot massages to push the puffiness down which worked briefly. If you midwives aren't concerned, you're probably fine and will get some relief after the baby is born.

[Anonymous]

Does your swelling go down after you have been lying down all night? When I eventually developed pre-e, the swelling stopped going down, ever, no matter what. And I was really grossly swollen. I'm not sure that permanent swelling means pre-e but it you can get it to go down, that sounds good.

[Anonymous]

Sounds normal and I had worse without pre-e. Just keep checking in with your m/w if you're concerned. I gave birth last June and I was deformed by edema (despite cutting down on salt, keeping up feet, drinking lots of water, walking). For some women hormones cause this no matter what you do. I went up TWO WHOLE shoe sizes by the end. And I started as a size 10 for shoes. When I broke down and bought a pair of size 12 shoes for the last month, it was me and a 6'4" transvestite guy browsing the same size at Nordstrom Rack, no joke. But we both had a laugh over it.

Not to scare you but FYI, the swelling actually got worse for a few days after delivery. That was a shock to me. Those stretchy hospital socks would not even go on my feet. I was like Elephant Man. Then it just started dropping off. The good part of it all is that you get rid of the water weight relatively quickly after that. I lost 30 lbs without trying at all within 4 weeks. I'm still trying to lose the other 5 from the pregnancy, of course.