Out of Control Fluid Retention

Hellok,
Have you had your blood pressure checked? I had the same swelling with my first and it was preeclampsia....I'd check in with your dr.! good luck!

Hi,

I had bad swelling in my feet and ankles and couldn't wear any of my socks and shoes. I bought a pair of Birkenstock clogs that lasted me a while, eventually I could only wear really loose sandals.

I couldn't wear any of my socks so I bought some from Footsmart. They sell socks for diabetics and people with swelling.

Also, just to warn you as another poster did, it didn't go away for several weeks. Keep off your feet for the most part, but you need to get the blood flowing so you need to get up and move around. If you have to sit, keep your feet propped on a stool or something. And when you are laying down, lay on your left side - it helps your circulation.

Congratulations! you are almost there - first time 38 yr old mom of a 7 month old IVF baby girl - isn't it amazing what scientists can do these days?

I had a lot of swelling with my pregnancies, too. I seem to remember that eating cucumber was helpful. There are also medicinal teas that can help with water retention/swelling, but I don't have a specific one to recommend(sorry). Rest often and elevate feet... remember that you onl;y have to put up with this for five more weeks. Good luck!
Also, BTW, I had my first child at 40 and he was born at home, natural childbirth that lasted only 6 hours. My second was delivered at 42, also at home/natural (only 9 hours). So, don't let anyone scare you that you are too old, high risk... be prepared for anything, but project positive and trust that it will all go well.

I would definetely get my doctor to rule out preeclampsia, a life threatening pregnancy induced condition. Sounds awful but it happened to me and extreme swelling was my first sign! Since its your first pregnancy, make sure to get a urine check and a blood pressure check as well!!

You really need to talk to your doctor about it! I would not mess around with swelling at all.

Does your midwife or doctor know how bad the swelling is? Your blood pressure ok? I was incredibly swollen in the last few weeks of my pregnancy, too. It sucked! And I was WORSE after delivery, from all the IV fluids! It took until about 8 weeks post partum to get back to normal.

yes, like everyone else said--you want to rule out pre-eclampsia; or even just pregnancy-induced high blood pressure.
It could also be a few other things like diabetes, etc.--or it could be nothing. The 2 big things to watch out for are the pre-eclampsia bc you dont want to be at risk of seizures, and diabetes bc there are other risks to the baby if you dont know you have it (like hypoglycemia-low blood suagr-- for the baby at birth). None of these medical issues have to be a big deal if you identify them early and know what things to look out for.

I had this too - it started at 33 weeks and it did end up being preeclampsia. So get that checked. It took a while to get it diagnosed (sometimes my BP was high, sometimes not, and protein didn't show up in my urine until the last week) and actually it wasn't official until I was in labor, when my BP hit 155 over 122. Yikes.

My midwife said the avoiding salt thing is unnecessary and even harmful (but don't eat extra), and also said the key is to seriously ramp up your protein to 100 grams or even more per day. That's a lot of protein!! I did this for a while and it did lower my BP and swelling. Then I went to an acupuncturist who told me to cut back and I did and then it went out of control. If I had to do it again I would listen to her and eat that protein! She cited a doctor who had proven that it works but I can't remember the name. It goes against conventional wisdom but she has 30 years of experience seeing it work.

I would keep my feet way up (up a wall) and my husband would massage them every night, pushing the fluid down from my feet to past my calves. Another thing that helps is floating in a pool of water (not a bath, but something with more volume like an actual pool).

By the way - after I gave birth, I lost 33 pounds in 4 days. That left just 5 pounds of baby weight. Man, I was swollen!

Good luck!

First of all have you had your blood pressure checked recently??? Excessive swelling (edema) can also be caused by pre-eclampsyia, a very dangerous condition especially this late in the pregnancy. I would strongly suggest if you haven't done so already is contact your doctor. I'm not trying to alarm you but to make you aware that this can be serious.

It's probably nothing, but do yourself a favor and call your doctor NOW and explain how bad the swelling has gotten. It might be preeclampsia, and you don't want to take a wait-and-see attitude. Better to go in and be checked for nothing. I hope it's nothing!

You need dandelion greens! If your lawn is untreated, go out and pick some. Eat them and/or drink them in a tea. It's the safest diuretic you can have right now, and there's tons of potassium in there too. As most everyone else suggested, check your blood pressure too. Take care, you're almost there!

Make sure your doctor knows that you're retaining fluid (more than the usual pregnancy water retention, which is very normal). Make sure your blood pressure is checking out okay...fluid retention can also be a sign of preeclampsia, which is what I got a month prior to delivery. It most likely isn't that, but its always good to check the BP and have your urine tested often, especially if you're retaining a lot of water weight. Make sure that you're resting as much as possible with your feet up.... Don't drink any sodas (diet or otherwise) and drink plenty of water. I had such horrible fluid retention that by the time I was ready to deliver, I could make a deep hand indentation in my calve if I squeezed it. I was miserable, and know how it feels...take good care, rest rest rest. Find comfortable shoes to walk in (nothing that cuts off the circulation), loose fitting clothes, no nylons / tights or tight fitting socks. Try to eat foods that have a natural diuretic in them like, onions, celery, eggplant, garlic, herbal teas (without caffeine, if you can) etc. Also eat lots of protein rich foods. You don't have to eliminate salt from your diet (salt is good in small quantities and if your body is used to having salt, you'll retain more fluid if you try to eliminated it (your body will try to hold on to it)...at least that's what my doctor said. Since I did have preeclampsia, I also ate a lot of bananas for the potassium. It was also good to get up and move around from time to time. The more I laid around, the more swollen I would get...a little walk or swim is good to get things flowing. Good luck with it all! Take good care and wishing you well!!

Hi S.,
I will only suggest to you to go to the doctors and have your blood checked to make sure your not getting Pre-eclamsia.
This is your first baby, and it may br nothing, but to be safe have your doctor...no insist that your doctor check you for Pre-eclamsia. I'm not a doctr so i can't say, but from my own experience I would definately be at that office asking for blood work. Best wishes.

Kris

Hi S.,
I know how you feel. I swelled so severely in my first pregnancy that my OB told me I was the "most swollen woman" she had ever seen in her practice (at Beth Israel in Boston). My feet looked like huge loaves of white bread and one night we went to the hospital because my toes had turned purple. I was like this for 3 weeks and my OB told me it would get worse after delivery and it did, but 2 weeks after my son's birth, I had lost 30 lbs! Definitely let your doc know what's going on, but sometimes it is just the way you are built. My doctor wasn't concerned with my swelling, even though it was the worst she had ever seen, because my BP was just under the line to be considered pre-eclampsia and I had no protein in my urine. I found that the more I walked (however slowly), the better I felt. Of course I would rest with my feet up too in the evening. Drink plenty of water as well. I wore one pair of flip flops ("elastic wedge flip flops" from JCrew) from November through mid-December. Sometimes there isn't much you can do about it...I am pregnant with #2 and the doc expects the swelling to return again. I'm a little more than halfway and already noticing some swelling! Good luck and hang in there.

You need to call your dr ASAP. Have your blood pressure checked.
With my first, I began to swell up fiercely. I felt fine otherwise but did call and was brought in and checked.... ended up with eclempsia and an emergency c-sec. Do not fool around with this.

Congrats Steph! You're almost there! Try squeezing fresh lemon into your water to help flush out your system. Also, try panty hose to try to reduce the amount if swelling in your legs and feet.I was extremely swollen with my baby- I struggled to put my poor swollen feet into FLIP FLOPS in the end:) these tricks helped a lot though!

PLEASE check with your doctor--It can be signs of many things they need to watch. If the doc says you're okay, just get use to it and rest as much as possible. Many, many more things will swell--even after you've given birth. My feet and ankles were huge for two weeks after my first baby! Your body is creating extra fluids for your little miracle. :-)

S.,

Read about Brewer's Work. If you google Brewer's Work Pregnancy Diet, you'll find some valuable information on what you are experiencing. Protien and Salt are very important parts of conquering the symptoms.

Hi S.,
Congratulations!
Has your doctor ruled out pre-eclampsia? This can be a dangerous condition and requires monitoring closely. Usual advice is bed rest and other recommendations as advised by your doctor.
The fluid and blood volumes increase in pregnancy anyway and many women experience increased swelling.
My advice, if you haven't already done so, is discuss this with your doctor or midwife.
Regards
S.

You need to consult with your doctor on this. There could be a serious underlying cause. There are several possibilities that come to my mind and with early intervention can be dealt with now, safely and effectively.
That much swelling is not something to ignore. You really do need to call your doc.
If it is simple edema..one thing you can do is eat lots of lettuce which is a natural diaretic. Grapefruit works pretty well too.
Continue with the legs up often.
Doc may want you to wear support hose , I do not know if they put support hose on pregnant ladies these days, did back in my day and it helped with the circulation.
Best wishes and God bless
Grandmother Lowell

Hi. I struggled with this as well. My feet looked like pillows and they didn't even look like they had any bones in them, they were just too puffy. By the last week of my pregnancy my feet were actually truning white, my docrtor said it was affecting my blood circulation at that point and said I had to get off of my feet and could not go back to work the next day. HTe point of the story is that I went back to the doctor 6 days later and had actually lost 5 pounds (and it was not for lack of eating)!! It was the water in my feet and legs. They still looked swollen, but not nearly as bad. So, even though you are still 6 weeks away and have to maintain in life, I suggest getting off of your feet absolutely any chance you get. It really made a difference for me. Good luck!.
K.

When I had our son 12 years ago, at age 36, I had lots of swelling in my feet and ankles. Walking a couple miles a day was a big help. Plus, putting my feet up helped, whenever I was sitting. At work, I had a box under my desk to prop my feet upon to help with the swelling. And I could only wear flip-flops much of the time. I called it my ugly feet days. It so amazed me that we took a bunch of pictures of them for posterity. (Okay, so we're a little weird!)

As many have mentioned, also check with your doctor. My swelling was not a major concern to my doctor, but it also wasn't as extreme as yours seems to be. My sister-in-law had pre-eclampsia and it's nothing to mess around with. But with consultation with your doctor, proper precautions can be taken.

For me, walking helped immensely and propping up my feet, when sitting, was the other trick. Expect a lot of water loss after the birth...yey! And enjoy that baby girl who's on her way! I'll never forget the first day our son was in my arms and I said, "Hello, little one" and he craned his neck to see where that familiar voice was coming from. : )

Hi, S.- You've gotten a lot of good advice, and I'm glad that you're staying in touch with your doc about this. One of the very best things you can do is to take deep tub baths every day. Try to make time to soak for an hour or so, comfortably warm water as deep as you can safely get it. The hydrostatic pressure will help 'push' the fluid in your tissues back into circulation- I'm sure you'll feel some noticeable relief!
M.
(midwife)

Hi S.,
Right now, call your doctor and go in today! Get your BP and urine checked. It is important to keep a tight watch now on potentially having preeclampsia. Even if all is ok now, keep a close watch anyway- your dr. should be. I was swollen for 2 weeks before it hit me. I went for a routine check up, was already spilling protien and bp out of the sky. I was induced that very day at 36 weeks. My second preg. was induced at 35 weeks but we were watching for signs more closely that time.

Don't worry, all will be fine! If you are spilling protien, the dr. will prob. do an amnio to check for lung surfactant to see if the baby is ready. That's what they did with me with #2. I was scared of the amnio but it wasn't so bad. When your belly is so big, the wall of muscle and placenta are very thin and stretched. I think they just used a small syringe for mine. You just might be having your baby sooner than you think. Congratulations!

They have these panty hose type things that older people wear to keep their legs from retaining too much fluid. You can also wear them on the airplane. Look them up, they may help. Or you could wear something like them. maternity tights or something. I know that when I wore socks it helped tremendously with the swelling.