What to do for swelling?

Put your feet up periodically, salt food to taste... hmm. Lots of water! You're already doing all those things!

Maybe laying in the bathtub would help, if nothing else it would be nice and relaxing.

Are you drinking any herbal pg tea? I bet that would help too.

Hey there, Brinda!

So happy to hear you've made it this far, hooray for you!

Swelling...now THIS is something I know about, lol! I've dealt with swelling in all of my pg's to some degree, some really bad (when I had preeclampsia), some milder (like right now), but all uncomfortable and annoying. However, five pg's worth of experience should go towards some greater good, right?

So here are some things for you to try:

1. Watermelon, cucumber, and dandelion leaf (either brewed into tea or eaten fresh with other greens as a salad) are all excellent natural diuretics and safe in pg. You can also slice up the cucumber and put it in water to drink as an alternative to eating it by itself -- cucumber water is quite refreshing!

2. Submersing yourself neck-deep in water for about a half-hour or so, as often as you can manage, is superb for ridding the body of excess fluid. A bathtub is okay in a pinch, a hottub is much better, a swimming pool is the best. FWIW, I've been floating in our hottub (turned down to bathwater temp) here at home every other night and I lose, on the average, about 3 FULL POUNDS of water weight during the course of those nights (I pee it out ), so it definitely has an effect!

3. Eat foods high in potassium (like bananas) or consider taking a potassium supplement -- potassium helps regulate the water balance in your cells, and it is often low in pg. Boosting it a bit can help you shed excess fluid.

4. Prenatal massage is not only wonderfully relaxing, but it helps improve circulation issues that lead to swelling. Acupuncture, too, can focus on water-retention points and help you get rid of fluids. I'm doing both right now for high BP issues, but the side benefits of reduced swelling have been really great!

Hope some of these are helpful for you, and that you don't have to deal with elephant ankles too much longer!

Kind regards,
Guin

I came here searching for advice on swelling, too. Just thought I'd mention that the time I was the worst swollen was with my first, and it started right after I got off bedrest (3 weeks of bedrest). Not sure why, but maybe the increased activity of finally being able to do things after being in bed so long makes the swelling worse...

oooh great advice on this thread - thanks mamas!

one week to go but my swelling is terrible, and painful

I don't have too much to add...I had lots of swelling with PG#1, but this one I haven't had any problems (thankfully), except for the one time I ate Chinese food and forgot to specify no MSG-then I found my hands and feet began to puff. With PG#1 I was told to up my protein, soak in the tub as much as possible, salt food to taste, and rest with feet elevated above heart as much as possible (I treid to sleep this way to the extent that I could.

My sister said that she would HIGHLY recommend drainage massage. She found it very helpful with her second pregnancy, and found that she swelled much less than with her first. She said that it's a special massage technique that isn't really soothing, but rather works to push the fluids out of your tissues. She said as soon as she would stand up from the massage table she'd make a beeline for the bathroom.

As an aside, the one bonus of all that water weight with DD was that I looked great (by comparison) really soon after she was born because the water all flushed out and the post-partum me looked teeny tiny compared to the uber-swollen PG me.

Thanks for posting this, and thanks for all of the good advice, mamas!! I have been having swelling in my hands, feet, and lower legs as well. It's a challenge being busy trying to get everything ready and making the time to stay off the feet. Must go swimming again soon! I REALLY miss the hot tub we left a year ago when we moved...