Signs and symptoms - Page 49 « Back to Group Discussions

[ithappened]

funny eleuthia! your nighttime routine (even down to the couch) sounds just about like mine. I go to sleep around 11-12 get up at 1:30, 3:30 and then somewhere between 6-8 I wake up for the rest o the day..
 

[RedTree]

Just like last time ... sleep apnea.  This will be a rough 4 - 8 weeks.

[Tizzy]

Isvanyone else swelling up in the heat??
I know, ridiculous, but I've never had swollen feet. Now they are terrible! Little sausages for toes, it was so bad today after spending 3hrs in the car in the heat that I couldn't bend my ankles to squat.
I'm trying to lay with my feet elevated, but can't lay on my back for long LOL what a predicament. Any tips or suggestions?

[Ninetales]

Like bread dough.

I haven't found much that helps.  Staying hydrated, elevated, and keep moving when I am standing.  I try to get out into my little blow up pool when I can, or at least have a bath at the end of the day.  Seems to keep it reasonable but to a point I think we're out of luck.

[sallyrae17]

Originally Posted by Tizzy 

Isvanyone else swelling up in the heat??
I know, ridiculous, but I've never had swollen feet. Now they are terrible! Little sausages for toes, it was so bad today after spending 3hrs in the car in the heat that I couldn't bend my ankles to squat.
I'm trying to lay with my feet elevated, but can't lay on my back for long LOL what a predicament. Any tips or suggestions?

Swimming really helps with swelling, as does RRL tea with nettles and dandelion. Eat watermelon and cucumbers. Use sea salt on your food. Drink lots of water. 

I hope the swelling starts to subside! Only a few more weeks left!!

[sarahdb]

The past few mornings when I've woken up, my hands (especially fingers) have been incredibly stiff and a little bit swollen. I almost can't clench them into fists. And when I do, and straighten them out again, I feel a popping in the knuckle of my right middle finger. It seems to go away for the most part once I get the blood flowing into my hands, although they remain slightly stiff all day (but nowhere near as bad as in the morning). 

Also, I have no swelling anywhere else. 

Anyone else having this, or know what's going on??! I imagine this is what arthritis feels like.

[sallyrae17]

Originally Posted by sarahdb 

The past few mornings when I've woken up, my hands (especially fingers) have been incredibly stiff and a little bit swollen. I almost can't clench them into fists. And when I do, and straighten them out again, I feel a popping in the knuckle of my right middle finger. It seems to go away for the most part once I get the blood flowing into my hands, although they remain slightly stiff all day (but nowhere near as bad as in the morning). 

Also, I have no swelling anywhere else. 

Anyone else having this, or know what's going on??! I imagine this is what arthritis feels like.

With my first pregnancy I had something similar, but it was more like stiffness and numbness. Do you sleep with your hands and wrists bent by your face? You could be cutting off the circulation in your hands a bit. I took some cayenne powder capsules to try and help with the circulation in my arms, but I think it only aggravated my heartburn. I don't have the same issue this time around, so I don't really know what the difference has been.

[LilyTiger]

My swelling has gotten a lot worse this week, to the point where I had little balloon feet with no ankles whatsoever and lots of little spider veins, all of which looked revolting.  The swelling wouldn't go down at all yesterday, so last night I put a few big pillows and propped myself up on them, but on my side.  I call it "The Taco".  My head is on my pillow and my feet are on the other pillows and the rest of me is sort of hanging in the middle.  It sounds uncomfortable, but it's not, and after spending last night with my feet elevated, I had normal ankles for the first time in weeks.  Huzzah!  Now I get to watch them slowly disappear throughout the day today.  Anyway, "The Taco" might be an option for ladies who can't be on their backs comfortably (which is probably most of us at this stage).

sarah, I would ask your doctor.  Carpal tunnel is very common in pregnancy, so that might explain the stiffness, but I was told to contact my doctor if I had swelling in the hands or face particularly, since it can be a sign of pre-e. I'm sure you're already being monitored bp-wise, but random swelling of the hands would make me a little nervous.

[justchanti]

Originally Posted by sarahdb 

The past few mornings when I've woken up, my hands (especially fingers) have been incredibly stiff and a little bit swollen. I almost can't clench them into fists. And when I do, and straighten them out again, I feel a popping in the knuckle of my right middle finger. It seems to go away for the most part once I get the blood flowing into my hands, although they remain slightly stiff all day (but nowhere near as bad as in the morning). 

Also, I have no swelling anywhere else. 

Anyone else having this, or know what's going on??! I imagine this is what arthritis feels like.

Yup that;'s me to a t, except I also hav swelling in my feet.  I wake up in the middle of the night and can barely use my hands they are so stiff.  I've spoken to my midwife about it and she just says its a symptom that can occur during late pregnancy.  I have no signs of pre-e, so she's not worried.  I have my DH give me hand messages here and there and I've been going to acupuncture to help circulation.  I'm not sure what else can be done.  Hang in there!  I definitely feel like I now what arthritis feels like now too!

[pennywhistle]

I've been having tightness in my hands, too.  I don't think they're swollen - they're a bit puffy, but not too bad - but when I move my fingers around it definitely feels tight.  It seems to go away during the day.  And, of course, my ankles swell during the day, so basically it all just travels down!

[andaluza]

I get swelling in my hands when I do my walks, but it goes away. I think Lily's right Sarah, it may have to do with carpal tunnel.

I really don't know if this is pregnancy related or not, but I forgot to mention it at my appointment today. Before pregnancy I had a little bit of tinnitus from time to time. I usually noticed it when I was overtired and trying to sleep. But now at night I don't have the light ringing I'm used to. Instead, in my right ear, which is the one always up, I hear a really faint rustling, like a flag flapping in the wind. At first I though it was our ceiling fan, but it must be a variation of the tinnitus, only not ringing. I wonder if it has to do with the bloodflow in my head in pregnancy (?). I have been getting bleeding gums occasionally lately, too.

[Tizzy]

After having a 24hr stomach bug go through our house, I'm happy that my swelling has pretty much disappeared!  I guess I got pretty dehydrated, plus the weather has cooled off a LOT.  And I spent pretty much 20hrs horizontal.

Thanks for the reminder about nettles and dandelion, I had been adding nettles to my RRL and alfalfa tea but ran out and forgot to re-stock :)

.

[sarahdb]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with the stiff hands! It's not a symptom I was expecting at all. Lily, I will definitely bring it up at my next appointment in a few days. I'm not too worried about pre-e though, since the swelling in my hands is only very slight, and I have no swelling anywhere else. I've also had very low BP up to this point. The stiffness feels like it goes deeper than just swelling-induced stiffness--it's more in my joints, I guess? Carpal tunnel would make sense. There's probably not a lot I can do about it? Sallyrae, I do sleep with my hands/wrists bent by my face, so that could be part of it. 

[pennywhistle]

Andaluza - a friend of mine got calcium deposit buildup in her ears during her pregnancy, and now has to wear a hearing aid.  I would definitely mention any ear-related stuff to your doctor!

[iixivboots]

I haven't been on my feet for long stretches (I will be going back to work for 7 days before leave, though, so we'll see) but I am SO with everyone on the swollen hands. They flush and puff up when I'm walking around too much, and then today for the first time I woke up with them swollen. Also not really concerned about pre-e here, check my BP when it happens and it's always normal, nurse says it's normal. It has been getting worse around the 35/36 week mark.

I think it feels weird to elevate my hands but it does help!

I need to get to a pool this weekend.

[andaluza]

Thanks for the info Penny although that's totally scary! My grandmother had hearing loss so I should be more proactive about it. I always thought the tinnitus had to do with all the concerts I went to in my teens and twenties. Ugh.

[Ninetales]

You know, I've been feeling stiffness in my fingers too.  I said the other day it felt like arthritis.  I wonder if it's just all that extra fluid, because they're not crazy swollen or anything.

[lakeruby]

I, too, have the swelling of the hands :)  I wake up with swollen, stiff fingers, and they remain swollen during my morning walk-- but I don't notice much swelling during the rest of the day.

I spent my lunch hour at the pool yesterday and it was HEAVENLY!

[LilyTiger]

OK ladies, I need some help here.  The baby seemed to drop Monday, causing pelvic pain and hip soreness later in the day.  I did a long walk last night and had a ton of what I guess are B-H and maybe even a real contraction or two (it started at the top rather than below and lasted longer).  When I got home I was totally exhausted and my back was killing me.  I took a bath and got into bed.  During the night I woke up to what I think was a contraction (kind of hard to remember how it started since I was asleep) and it moved into that cervical lightning (which I assume is the baby smashing his/her head against my cervix) and alternated between that and very sharp menstrual cramps combined with back pain.  There was no rhythm to it that I could tell.  I got up to pee once and then tried to go #2 later because it really felt like constipation, but nothing helped.  Walking improved the back pain a little, but not much and since it was 5am, I didn't really feel like walking around the house.  When I got back into bed I felt waves of mild nausea before everything sort of subsided and I could go back to sleep.  

I woke up this morning feeling generally PMS-y with a mild lower back ache.  My lower uterus feels like someone used it as a punching bag.  It all feels very very similar to the start of my period except worse. 

So, my long drawn-out question for you all is whether this sounds like what happens when baby drops or whether this sounds more like pre-labor?  I just can't get a read on it. Soooooo confused!!!  I have my regular appointment later this morning, so I guess I'll get some answers there too.  Just wanted to see what BTDT moms experienced in the hours/days leading up to actual labor.

[sallyrae17]

That sounds like pre-labor stuff to me, Lily!