Uber swollen feet

jadebaby

Do any of you ladies that have dealt with this have any advice? I have been drinking a bunch of water and trying to keep them elevated any time I can. I am sitting here and can pretty much feel my pulse in my feet. Anytime I try to take a step I feel like I hear them screaming!

So what worked for you all? Help, please!

KathrynMD

Do you have compression stockings? You need to put them on immediately when you get up and they do seem to help.

Ragdolls

Ugh - just keep them elevated and try to stay off them as much as you can.  If you're going to swell, though, it's pretty much unavoidable.  I would sit with my feet up for 2 hours trying to get them to resemble normal human feet - then 10 minutes after standing up would be right back to troll tootsies.  I hated every woman in my birthing class with long, thin fingers and toes. :b

 

SarahKate31

At this point there's not much you can do unfortunately! As long as the swelling goes down some overnight, it's okay. (ETA: It's probably okay. Keep an eye on hand and face swelling too as Jen said.) I mean I know it sucks, but it's normal.

I drank tons of water, but I'm not sure how much you have to drink to get them to un-puff (I was drinking 80-100oz/day by the end). I put my feet up whenever I could and in the evenings, I'd put my feet up on pillow in bed and put ice packs on them.

My hands were painful too, but not so much puffy. Not sure if you have that also, but it's super fun!

jcsntms06

KathrynMD:

Do you have compression stockings? You need to put them on immediately when you get up and they do seem to help.

Definitely get some compression stockings. Also check your blood pressure, if you can. How are your hands and face? If you notice those starting to swell, call the doctor immediately. 

I had horrible swelling starting at 28 weeks. I would drink tons of water, elevate my feet, but nothing seemed to help. 

Mella&T

Ugh, I feel your pain. I was so swollen the last two months of pregnancy. Nothing really helped to be perfectly honest. I just kept them up as much as possible and drank as much water as I could. I had DH also massage them and try to "push" the water up from the ankles...didn't really work but it felt nice

ShandaB

The only thing that worked for me was having the baby.  I also drank a bunch of water and elevated my feet but at this late stage there really isn't much you can do to get rid of the swelling.

Lisa and Mickey

jcsntms06:

KathrynMD:

Do you have compression stockings? You need to put them on immediately when you get up and they do seem to help.

Definitely get some compression stockings. Also check your blood pressure, if you can. How are your hands and face? If you notice those starting to swell, call the doctor immediately. 

I had horrible swelling starting at 28 weeks. I would drink tons of water, elevate my feet, but nothing seemed to help. 

You also want the swelling to be symmetrical- both sides should be swelled close to the same amount. My feet were not and that was concerning to the dr but everything was ok for me, you just want to get it checked out.

Sorry I can't offer any other advice, I did what you are already doing. Hope you get some relief!

SarahKate31

ShandaB:

The only thing that worked for me was having the baby.

This does work  About 1.5 weeks after DS was born, I was stunned to see how skinny my ankles looked! Not that I have skinny ankles, but compared to the giant marshmallows they had become, they looked skinny.

ThePastor'sWife

Yep, the others have already said everything I tried - I started to swell at 21w and didn't have a single day after that until I delivered him at 39w2d that the swelling wasn't horrendous.  Lots and lots of water (I was doing 100+ oz/daily), watch the salt intake, elevate as much as possible (if you have a desk job, keep something under your desk to keep your feet propped), use compression stockings, move around frequently for short periods of time, and my OB also recommended short walks daily (20-30 mins) to help.  There really isn't a whole lot that can be done other than that, but on the bright side, you're not far from the end!

ThePastor'sWife

SarahKate31:

ShandaB:

The only thing that worked for me was having the baby.

This does work  About 1.5 weeks after DS was born, I was stunned to see how skinny my ankles looked! Not that I have skinny ankles, but compared to the giant marshmallows they had become, they looked skinny.

Hahahahahahah - I totally remember being in the hospital shortly after DS was born and marveling over my ankles and showing them off to DH, my OB, my mom, my MIL, etc.  I was so excited to see my ankle bones again!

ras26

OK, don't hate me for saying this, but I managed to avoid swelling for the most part.  I don't know if it's correlated, but I walked at least 20 min 2x per day, and swam until the outdoor pool closed (I've read that the water pressure helps push the fluid out of the legs).  I also drank lots of water, like everyone else.  Maybe I just got lucky, but the Drs. seemed to think that being active helped a lot. 

lauranne

Ditto what everyone else said.  Towards the end it's unavoidable.  Just keep an eye on the swelling and if it seems like it's getting worse mention it to your OB.