Swelling and Pregnancy

Talk with your doctor, but also be careful about drinking too much water. Your body can only process things so quickly. The excess remains within the cell structure. As always, be careful of your sodium intake. I went through this during my last trimester and it was pretty uncomfortable. My doc's suggestions...
- Water throughout the day
- Minimize sodium
- Frequent, short walks to keep up the circulation
- Feet elevated above the waist whenever possible (I kept a foot stool under my desk)
- Sleep on your left side- for some reason the body filters faster this way

K

I was very swollen with both of my pregnancies and needed to watch my sodium intake closely. One meal of eating out and I'd blow up like a balloon. Do you notice more swelling the day after you eat out for lunch or dinner? If so, might be the sodium. The swollen eyelids might have me concerned though. I'm sure you and your doctor are watching your blood pressure closely esp. with the history of pre-eclampsia, but I think swollen face is one of the signs to watch for.

hi A.. i was pre-preeclampsia with my first when doc decided to induce right away, the swelling and pressure starting to go up, etc. so, with my next 2 kids, my doc wanted to keep a close eye without having me come into the office constantly, and especially since everything always seems to be worse late at night, so what he had me do was go down the corner to walgreens or cvs or whatever and use their blood pressure chair thing on a pretty frequent basis and if i was feeling anything weird (or more weird than average, anyway!). it was a good compromise, a good way to keep an eye on things without too much stress and hassle, maybe ask your doc about it. best of luck to you.

Swimming is amazing for eliminating water weight. I used to swim every day after work and it reduced not just body pain but I was peeing for a few hours after too. Even if you don't swim much it's just the cool water and the pressure I think that make this work.

Make sure you're taking enough minerals too.

In a book called "Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition" by Marilyn Shannon she addresses what you can do for this. With your history of pre-eclampsia you need to work with your doctors closely.

Try watching your salt intake??? That was what got me with my last pregnancy. Also, the heat and humidity will make you swell up.

Try eating watermelon - that will help. (It's a diuretic, and so will get rid of some of your extra water.)

Good luck!!!

if you can soak in a warm bathtub with epsom salts for about 30 mins. might help. I've tried it, but I'm not sure if it helped or not. Though it was relaxing. lol

This is a medical question...what has your doctor advised? K

I too had a lot of swelling. Mine was from heat and humidity of the summer. I suggest you try to keep your feet up as often as possible. If you work and sit a lot try to raise your feet some. Even watching TV keep feet up. When I did this the swelling went down. Also swelling doesn't always lead to pre-eclampsia... it didn't for me! A pedicure/massage wouldn't hurt either.

Hi A., research shows there are factors that contribute to preeclampsia during pregnancy (it is possible that you are developing preeclampsia again). Here are the factors for women who are predisposed to it:

(1)Your mother developed Toxemia during pregnancy
(2) Their partner's mother developed it during pregnancy
(3) Being a working mom contributes to it
(4) Diet

Unfortunately you cannot control your family medical history or your partners; however, you can control your working conditions and your diet. Here is the plan:

Reduce your stress as much as possible through meditation and other relaxation techniques. As for diet here is a list of nutrients that are found to be lacking in women with preeclampsia:

Vitamin C
Folic Acid
Vitamin B2, B6 and B12
Calcium
Magnesium
High quality omega 3 oils (get your vitamin D levels checked. If they are low, take Carlson's cod liver oil which can be found in a health food store. It's called Nordic D-I think.

Lastly, lay off of a high carb diet (if that is what you are consuming). Cut out the breads, pasta's and rice for a week or two and see if that helps. Insulin resistance also seems to be a contributing factor for preeclampsia. Do not eat any processed foods. Since you work from home, you can cook your meals from scratch and therefore elimnate any chemical preservatives that you might unknowingly be reacting to. I hope this helps.

T. Hall Parker, Certified Holistic Health Counselor
My Food Therapy
www.myfoodtherapy.com
Momma Dont Eat It
www.mommadonteatit.com

Hi A.:

I haven't had this problem myself, but a girlfriend of mine is 38 weeks along and has had swelling since about her second trimester. Her midwife suggested natural diuretics, such as decaf green tea, cranberry juice, watermelon, cucumber, etc. (You can see a full list at http://www.progressivehealth.com/natural-diuretics.asp) I don't believe she followed the midwife's advice so I can't vouch for how well it actually worked, but it is definitely worth a try. Congrats and good luck with the pregnancy!

I heard watermelon works really well, even though I ate it every day and I was still extremely swollen. The only thing I would say differently than people before me is that I went to the local drugstore and used their blood pressure machine when I was pregnant and thought I had an unusually high number... and realized after having to rush to the hospital and take tests, that the machine was not accurate. Be careful when you use one in your area and make sure you ask the clerk when it was last serviced... even though you can't rely on that. I tried many things, but sadly if it's just swelling and nothing serious, I think all the remedies can help, but not much. Sorry! But good luck and put your feet and hands up as often as possible.

Congrats on your pregnancy! First off take a look at what you're eating. What are you eating at every meal? Whole foods: grains, greens, fruits, nuts and organic meats (sparingly)? What meals do you eat that you prepare and how many do you eat out? Is the sodium coming from sea salt? Also, more water is a good thing.
My motto when working with my family and my clients is: You are what you eat, think, do and say.
In other words, everything that you're putting into your body (and your baby's body) shows up.
Be good to yourself, walk as much as you can and get a mommy massage.
All the best, I hope this helped a little~

I had the swelling with my first child as well. I thought I was eating right, and the doctor made me list everything I had eaten for the last 3 days. It turns out that tomatoes and eggplant were making me retain A LOT of extra water and causing swelling. I know it sounds weird, but the minute I cut them out of my diet my swelling got better.

Good Luck!

A.,

Feet up. Put them up, any chance you get. When you sleep, a simple blanket folded up under your feet will work wonders. Even when you nap, don't forget feet up. Even if you have kids, do it! I had the weight of the world on my feet when I didn't get them up. They didn't fit in anything like a shoe - or a flip flop!

Keep drinking your water. You are flushing your baby's wastes as well as your own. If you don't get them out, they collect. They cause you - discomfort. With swelled feet, more discomfort is not just a drop in the bucket.

Good luck!
Get foot rubs from DH, too, that helps a lot.
M.