My best friend is pregnant with her first baby. She is sssssooooooo swollen! her poor ankles are gone, and her feet are wedged in her shoes at the end of the day.
I told her she should call her doctor...the only experience that friends I've had with that bad of swelling ended in gestational diabetes and preeclampsia!
is it normal to swell this bad in the summer heat? i mean I know you swell...but this bad? I never swelled that this when I was pregnant, but both my kids were born in March)
(she is wondering if she should call and risk looking like a worry wart)
She is Due August 23rd
well she DID call the doctor, and he sent her to the hospital for some tests. they wanted to rule out blood clots in her legs (she has a medical history) Luckily they did not find any, but she was also having contractions at the same time, so they held her for a while. They are reporting to her doc and told her to stay off her feet (other than work at her office) until she sees her doctor on Thursday. Then her doc will decide what to do. Thanks for all the info!
Yes its normal even in this heat. If she gies for massages ask them to use orange oil. Also she needs to sit with feet ellevated. She cn try ice compacts on them. Cold seems to bring it down. I had the situation less than a month ago with my first n sixth one i swelled. Congrats to her!
OK, once the doctor had been called and if they find that it is just simple pregnancy issues and the heat... FIND A POOL! I kid you not, both of my boys gave me terrible swelling and and soon and I was chest deep in a pool for at least an hour, MOST of my swelling went away. In fact, I practically LIVED in a pool for the last 2 months of my pregnancy. It is a proven fact that the weightlessness you get in a pool helps to relieve the swelling becuse it "lifts" the baby off your veins and allows the fluids that are trapped at the bottom towards your feet come back up again. Remember: gravity is any pregnant woman's enemy at this point. Because I did that and self regulated my swelling, I did not have any issues with my shoes never fitting again. In fact, after both of my boys, I still fit into ALL of my shoes. So that in itself saved me a TON on money post-baby. A pool is a lifesaver if she can get in and simply walk around. That's all you need is to make yourself weightless.
i say call and get checked its better to be a worry mom then end up having something happen to mom or baby.
I am 38 weeks along and just as you said my ankles are GONE my feet are huge!! My hands are bad too as someone else said I cant even wear flip flops with no preeclampsia or gestational diabetes my dr said its not fluid retention just getting towards the end and the heat dose not help I have tried everything from elevating them to soaking them but my feet still look like fred flinstones !!! her dd is with in 6 weeks and thats about when mine started getting really bad, have her mention it to the doc but its probably just another one of those miserable 3rd trimester side affects :(
She should SEE her doctor. Intense swelling can mean toxemia. With my #3 baby, I was due in August. We had a VERY hot summer and I thought the heat was causing the probem. Nope! I was becoming toxic. Doc took me off my feet for 3 or 4 days and I had to watch my salt too. It helped to rest but the fact I had 2 other toddlers, I was glad it was for a short time. Toxemia can be dangerous for both mama and baby. Encourage her to get an appointment immediately!
Biggest advice to give is to get her into a pool! The water will take the pressure off of her body and hopefully make her feel better. I hope she feels better soon!
You don't say how far along she is (that definitely changes things)...she should be calling her doctor to let them know, but some women really swell up with summer babies. I am due with number 2 in less than 6 weeks and have had zero swelling, yay!, but with my first, who was also an August baby, I looked like my face and feet were going to pop by the end of June! It could be gestational diabetes or pre-eclampsia, but she would have to talk to the doctor and be seen to be sure.
EDIT: At this point in time, if she didn't have gestational diabetes when they tested her, she shouldn't have it now. Pre-eclampsia is definitely something to be concerned with. Have her call her doctor...she could definitely be retaining too much water!
I would say have her call. But as an RN who had my first baby (almost 21 years ago) on August 29th, it could just be the heat.
My feet and ankles were just as you described, especially after working 12 hours shifts floor nursing! My fingers were so swollen I could barley bend them. They did keep watching me for preeclampsia, but I was OK my whole pregnancy. I also did not have gestational diabetes.
Now my second one was born October 1st 4 years later. It was still miserably hot, but I did water aerobics my whole pregnancy and I think that made a difference for me.
I'd call the doctor. that's defientely something they should know about. I'm due the 22nd of August. I had some swelling last week. Drinking dandilion tea helped, also eating watermelon helps (but drink lots of water to help flush the system). Feet above heart level whenever she can sit down. I contributed my swelling to eating junk food over the holiday weekend...chips, cheetoes, fast food. Salt from the shaker is good for pregnant women, high sodium foods are not. I was also told that sometimes the swelling is due to the baby laying on a vein and the body having a hard time getting that blood back out once you lay down. Swimming in water deep enough to float her belly would help with that (shoulder deep).
When she talks with her doctor, they might have her come in. Probably will have her pee in a cup to see if she's spilling sugar or protein, and check her blood pressure. If her blood pressure is high, have her ask the nurse if she can take a few deep breaths and retest it. If she's nervous, it could show a high reading. They might have her go in and take a non-stress test if her blood pressure is high. It's no big deal, just annoying to have another appointment to go to. :)
K. - your friend should absolutely call the doctor, especially if her swelling is noticeably worse than it was before. At the very least they can check her urine for protein and her blood pressure. Symptoms of preeclampsia can have sudden onset and you don't want to take any chances. What is worse, looking like a worrywart or having potential complications with poor outcome? The thing with the swelling is that it is MOST noticeable in your feet and legs. In actuality, your entire body is swollen, you just can't see it as well. At the end stages of my preeclampsia I had periorbital edema that only the doctor could see - and sent me right to the hospital for induction. I think she should trust her doctor - just to be sure she and her fetus are fine. Good luck to her!
It's always better to be safe then sorry, so if she's worried she should call. I swelled up terribly with my twins. My feet changed colors I was so swollen. I just gave birth to a singleton a week and a half ago, and I swelled up, but definitely not as much as before. She needs to drink a TON of water and keep her feet up. At least she can still get her feet in shoes! I couldn't get my flip flops on comfortably at the end with my twins!
She needs to let the doctor decide and be sure to cut out salt and watch hidden sodium in canned or other processed foods. It could be preeclampsia which can be serious. Some women swell, some don't but it needs to be taken seriously.
I'm 36 weeks and my feet, legs, and hands are swollen off and on. I live in Missouri and it's very hot here. I tend to swell up even more when it's super hot out so I try to stay as cool as possible and stay off my feet. There's no harm in her calling her doctor to ask though. In fact, she should. that way if it's nothing her mind can e put at ease. I also had a friend who was "swollen" the last month or so of her pregnancy and she was just fine, but just very uncomfortable.
