mild swelling already? « Back to Group Discussions

[pastormama]

I'm 24 weeks Sunday - anybody else experiencing some mild swelling in the feet/ankles/ring area?  This was the bane of my existence with DD.  I was so dreading when it would start now.  Gets worse if I get hot, seems a little bit worse with the fingers in the morning, feet in the evening.  I can still wear my wedding band, but it gets a bit tight at times.

To be perfectly honest, I've slipped on my diet a bit in the last few days, so this is no surprise.  Not as much nettle tea as I had been drinking, more chips and candy.  I need to get back on track! 

No other signs of problems, but just this annoyance I was hoping to avoid with #2!

[moriahmoonstar]

Wow, I wish I had waited till even 22 weeks for swelling! Nothing too bad but I took my wedding ring off at 16 weeks and my shoes are all fitting too tight. Maybe I need some nettle tea. I think we should just where slippers till the end :)

[eepeepee]

This is definitely happening to me!  I took off my engagement ring a couple weeks ago (wedding band isn't as tight), and noticed yesterday that my boots felt a bit snug.  I mentioned it on Facebook and of course got an onslaught of women giving advice/telling me to call my doctor/etc.  I thought it was normal?  

Also - tell me more about this nettle tea?

[Quinalla]

Yeah, definitely noticing my rings are feeling a bit snug, but it's pretty mild. I actually wore my wedding ring the whole time, just took it off once I was in labor, but I may not make it that long this time.

Mild swelling is totally normal, here from Babycenter because I couldn't remember exactly:

When should I be concerned about swelling?
A certain amount of edema is normal in the ankles and feet during pregnancy. You may also have some mild swelling in your hands.
Call your midwife or doctor if you notice swelling in your face or puffiness around your eyes, more than slight swelling of your hands, or excessive or sudden swelling of your feet or ankles. This could be a sign of preeclampsia, a serious condition.
Also call your caregiver promptly if you notice that one leg is significantly more swollen than the other, especially if you have any pain or tenderness in your calf or thigh. This could signal a blood clot, another serious condition.

[pastormama]

  I thought it was normal?  

Also - tell me more about this nettle tea?

Yep - normal!  Toward the end of my first pregnancy, my swelling started to get a little out of control.  But I find medical professionals tend to get a bit freaked out by it.  My CNM with my first baby was always super-concerned about it and was convinced I had pre-eclampsia, even though I never showed any protein in my urine and only had a normal-high blood pressure reading a couple of times.  I think they are just really careful because it is one of the truly deadly complications.

The things to look for are:  high blood pressure (which means:  anything over 140/90 (either number) twice consecutively when read at least 6 hours apart), severe swelling in hands/face/feet/shins/ankles, protein in urine.  That's the dreadful magic combination. 

Re:  nettle tea.  I make a pregnancy tea and drink it every day.  I put 1/4 C each dried nettles, red raspberry leaf, and alfalfa into a quart of boiling water, let it steep overnight, and then strain in the morning.  I drink it half-strength all day.  So it really makes 2 quarts.  The herbs are super cheap at our health food store - way cheaper than buying bagged pregnancy tea.  The nettles are a mild, natural diuretic and a kidney cleanser and help keep swelling down.  They also have tons of minerals, vitamins, and goodness.  I have been warned by my Bradley instructor to be wary of too much diuretic action, but for me, it seems to help keep me in balance. 

[Paceman]

I have had to take my rings off this week as well.  Better to take them off when I still can then not be able to later on.  I feel naked without them however!  I have been eating so much crap since Christmas and new years so it really is no wonder.  At my last appointment (just before Christmas) I had gained a total of 10 pounds but wonder what I will find at the appointment next week.  I guess it is time to start eating a bit better as I feel I am at a bit of a risk for gestational diabetes being that both my parents are on insulin. I really hope I pass that test! I also had a lot of problems with carpal tunnel last pregnancy even though I only gained a total of 30 pounds.  I think I just put on a bunch of fluid right at the end. 
 

[Trisha Kalous]

I want to encourage everyone to visit this website www.drbrewerpregnancydiet.com 

There is sections on herbal diuretics http://www.drbrewerpregnancydiet.com/id86.html

swelling http://www.drbrewerpregnancydiet.com/id35.html

and diet http://www.drbrewerpregnancydiet.com/id96.html

Following this diet, you are almost certain to avoid pre-eclampsia. When I follow the diet completely, I feel so much better, have no swelling and have much more energy. I have a print-out that I keep on my fridge so I can check off which foods I've eaten for the day. I don't make it every day, but it really helps keep me focused on making sure I'm getting nutrition all day long and good nutrition at that. There are variations on the diet if you're lacto-ovo vegetarian, vegan vegetarian and also if you're having multiples. Joy Jones, the woman who runs the website, is a personal friend of mine and is sooo knowledgable about all things nutrition related in pregnancy. Her contact info is on the website and she's always happy to answer questions. Give the diet a try. It seems like a lot of food, but the serving sizes aren't as big as you might think and as long as you're eating all day long (which may require a little bit of planning) and not skipping hours in between when you eat, then it's really very easy to stick to.

[Lynann]

Have you tried increasing your protein consumption? Extra protein always helps me when I start getting any swelling. Also making sure you salt to taste and are drinking lots of fluids, but also not too many.

[pastormama]

Yep - I do all that.  I follow the Brewer diet closely, and even have a Brewer diet recipe compilation on my blog!  (See the link in my signature.)  I've just been including too much junk on top of the other stuff, and I'm paying for it.  That said, I don't think the Brewer diet is a magic bullet, and one has only to look at the pre-eclampsia foundation website to see story upon story of women who have followed it to a tee and still ended up with severe eclampsia.  So, it can't hurt - but it's not perfect either.  I guess I agree with Brewer diet on foods, but disagree on herbs. 

[eepeepee]

Thanks for all the links, ladies!  I have some reading/tea-drinking to do...

[moriahmoonstar]

I saw my chiropractor today and she was a little concerned with my edema since it wasn't noticable to her 3 weeks ago and is now, along with general inflamation. This isn't too surprising since I have had a rough week, I attended a 4.5 day birth and wasn't about fluids and food and then spent the last 4 doing nothing, recovering. So she recommended nettle and dandelion root tincture to help with kidney and lover function and to make sure, in addition to the yoga I'm doing to take a 20 minute walk a day and after the walk lay against a wall and raise my feet.

I agree that increasing the protein sounds good, and I will work on that too. It's normal but can be controlled. Good luck ladies. I'm using this as a chance to get back on track.

[Lynann]

I followed the Brewer Diet with my previous pregnancies and still ended up with the beginning of Pre-E with DS1 (wasn't confirmed by lab results until a few days after his birth, but it had been building for a few weeks.)

With DS2 I made sure to concentrate on being more high protein, especially towards the end of the pregnancy, and did much better.

This time I'm doing something very different, but still very centered on high protein consumption. I'm already feeling much better and more energetic since switching to what is essentially a low carb/low glycemic index way of eating, which is still very much about eating lots of good proteins.

I do think that a lot of the principles in the Brewer Plan are really good, but for me there is too many high glycemic foods in there. Its a totally personal thing about what style of eating suits each of us. What I do see as a common thread in all the healthy pregnancy eating recommendations/plans is to make sure you are getting adequate amounts of protein, and that everything else is in balanced amounts.

Pastormama, I do hope your swelling goes down some and doesn't become more of an issue. I'd say that at this point a little swelling isn't a big deal, especially since you know the junky food probably caused it. Getting rid of the junk should solve that, and if it doesn't just keep a close eye on it to make sure it isn't something else causing it.

[pastormama]

Pastormama, I do hope your swelling goes down some and doesn't become more of an issue. I'd say that at this point a little swelling isn't a big deal, especially since you know the junky food probably caused it. Getting rid of the junk should solve that, and if it doesn't just keep a close eye on it to make sure it isn't something else causing it.

Thank you Lynann.  I hope it goes down too!  It's already better.  My body just seems to be incredibly reactive in terms of water retention.  Like if I'm stressed, I swell immediately (I notice my ring is tighter within seconds of my heart rate increasing due to stress).  If I'm hot - like I have to sit in a hot room - same thing.  I'm this way when I'm not pregnant, too.  Probably have some underlying kidney function stuff to work on at some point!

[timesway]

i have tonnes of swelling already also.. been in sooo much pain with it, really feel for you. I'm waiting for results from urine cultures to see if my kidneys are playing up again..mite be something to look into (uti's that is)