Water retention swelling

[Josephine_Beth]

I thought I’d let off a moan, let’s face it, I’m preggers, hormones are all over and I hate the world

Recently my ankles and feet have been swelling, not just a little bit but a lot! I look like I have elephant feet!

My left ankle is the worst, even my shoe was stuck on my foot and we had to run cold water over my ankle for 15 minutes last night to take the swelling down. I haven’t sprained/twisted anything, it’s all part of the pregnancy (I think), water retention and such but OUCH! It throbs like no man has ever seen. I was out last night, in a club with my fella and 2 mates and I had to sit down. I put my foot up on the chair next to me, within 10 minutes, one of the club’s staff member’s had approached me and asked if I needed to go to hospital. I didn’t know what to think, so I asked why? He replied, well your ankle/foot is so swollen, it looks broken. I chuckled a little and said thank you for worrying but I’m pregnant, nothing to worry about.

My Gyn is rubbish and I can't afford to pay out for private, if the gov had it their way, I'd be giving birth in a flipping barn!

Is this a normal thing, for your ankles to swell maybe 4 or times the normal size during a pregnancy?

p.s. I heard that you are supposed to sit with your legs higher than your body for one hour a day, is this true?

 

[alfie]

You poor thing, I suffered with really badly swolen feet and ankles with my first pregnancy. Yes it is true, you should lay on the floor with you feet up as high as you can (against the wall or on a chair etc) they are supposed to be higher than your heart. You should do this whenever you can, for as long as you can, I'd say an hour a day would be an absolute minimum! Do they keep an eye on you over there for pre-eclampsia? Swolen ankles are one of the symptoms, do you have your blood pressure tested regularly?

xxx

 

[Josephine_Beth]

At the moment I am only still on one visit a month to my Gyn, I am not sure when I am supposed to start going every 2 weeks but it won't be for a while yet.

I have my check up this tuesday, they check my blood pressure at every check up. Unfortunately, as I can not afford to go private (you pay £50 cyp each time you visit, around £65 GBP) and just to give birth, you have to pay £800 - £1000 Cyp pund. So I am stuck with the local hospital, which apparently is good

Thank you for the advice, it's very welcoming!

 

[alfie]

Good luck Tuesday, let me know how you get on. Its so expensive over there isn't it!! If you suffer regularly with swollen feet you could buy some pee sticks that check for protein (I expect you can get them on ebay, if it's easier get them sent to me and i'll send them to you). That way if you're at all worried about pre-eclampsia you only have to pee on a stick to know you're ok.

Alfie

xx

 

[tuck]

my ankles/feet and legs all swelled badly whilst i was pregnant and also it being hot dosnt help. i used to go to bed with a couple of cushions under my feet. 2 weeks after giving birth they're still swollen but doc said it will go. bear with it.