Feet Swelling

My feet were so swollen when I was pregnant with my son they were like memory foam. My husband used to make smiley faces and laugh (yeah, I wasn't laughing, being the one who felt bovine). It sounds like you have the bases covered. There really isnt much you can do about it except lay and elevate them. Other than work, stay laying with feet up. Its only a few more weeks. the housework can wait and you can get take out.

Watch the sodium. If she's on her feet a lot during the day see if she can find a good half an hour a few times a day to sit and do work. If she sits all day long getting up and taking a few minutes walk every two hours will help. Drink lots of water, remember that sodas are a sodium drink. (This was my mistake with my first pregnancy) If she's gained a good portion of weight for the pregnancy it could just be because of that.

Good luck Auntie!

One of the nutritional things to look at with swelling is protein intake. She may need as much as 75 to 95 grams of protein per day. If blood pressure is also creeping upwards she may want to keep a diet diary and make sure she is getting enough. She also should be sure to drink LOTS of water. For more ideas about getting good sources of protein to prevent preeclampsia look at www.blueribbonbaby.org

I had severe pedal edema (swelling of the feet) when I was pg with my 1st. My doc did the same thing except at 27 weeks I was taken out of work. I am sure she is stressed about money, but she HAS to do what is best for her baby!!! In the long run, one month of pay isnt worth it.
My feet were like hers, swollen all the time!! I would wake up that way. I couldnt remember how it was for them not to be swollen. It is very painful. I avoided sodium, soda, etc, everything with salt & it didnt matter. Getting the baby out is what will cure this.
I am now pg with #2 & not swelling at all!! Which is great news!!
Good luck!
H.

When I was pg with Twin I spent a lot of time in the pool. It was a huge help. Being weightless helps distribute the extra fluids. I know it would be hard to get to a pool while working but maybe she could try a YMCA or something on the weekends?

Cut all sodium, all processed foods (if it comes in a can or a box, forget it), all caffine, drink plenty of water and milk, avoid soda, get up and walk around at least once an hour, sleep on the left side. I asked my doctor about it when she told me to sleep on the left side and she said she didn't know why, but the kidneys process toxins better when you are on your left side. And yes, when she gets off work, the feet need to be elevated above the kidney height. My daughter found a wonderful "beach" chair that put her in the right position. I went through this with my first three children. With my fourth I only ate fresh foods, plenty of salad and yogurt, twice a month I treated myself to "junk food", and I had very little swelling at the end of the day. Bedrest isn't the only concern, with my first child I developed toximia and at one point had to make the chioce in the delivery if they could only save one of us, which it would be. I wish her lots of luck and much improved health.

Lots of water also! During my first pregnancy I talked to my OB about about restricting my time on my feet at work. I don't know how flexible her boss is, but my OB wrote a "note" to my boss telling her I could only 5 hours at a time. My boss had me doing other things.

Eating Parsley; Alfalfa vitamins; and Edema Relief drops by Newton Homeopathic remedies helped me with swollen feet and ankles. "Hops" either drops or tea will help with the blood pressure issues. All of this can be taken during pregnancy.
You can buy any of these items at Whole Foods.
Good Luck...I can relate.

Tell her to eat fresh pineapple. This really works! It has an enzyme in it that helps reduce swelling. She might also want to get her hubby to rub her feet.

I had the same problem and worked until the day before I delivered. Have her put something under her desk, I used a box, to keep her feet as elevated as possible while she's sitting. And have her drink as much water as possible, while it sounds counterintuitive, it does help. Wear comfortable flat shoes and try and sit with feet elevated as much as possible. Her doctor may have some good tips as well.

TET hose can be gotten at a medical supply store and are very strong support stockings. This will keep the fluid higher up.
However, the best way to get the swelling down is it elevate her feet above her heart.
I had pre-eclampsia with my pregnancy and was on bed rest for 5 weeks before my son was born prematurely. Scary stuff. The only way I could get my swelling down was to lay flat on my couch and put my feet up on the arm or the back of the couch.
Tell her she needs to be laying flat on her back with her feet up, or on her left side. Laying on her right side can be dangerous for the baby's blood flow and oxygen supply.

The bottom line is she needs to have frank discussion with her doctor about how much longer she can realistically keep working and what she can do while she's at work since you don't include for us what she does for a living. She also has to consider her health and her baby's health. She does not want her pregnancy to turn into an emergency situation. At this point it's not necessarily her diet that's causing the problem, it's her body reacting to the pregnancy(they don't fully understand what causes pre-eclampsia) and she needs to recognize that and respect what her body is telling her. I got knocked out of work and put on bed rest so I completely understand where she is coming from but if her feet are already swelling by 9 she needs to sit and talk more with her doctor. And also do not use compression/tet hose without a doctor's approval.

I've heard of some special socks/hose made for this. I guess she'd probably have to wear pants to cover it up...but maybe that would help her. Def cut out sodium. Make sure she knows to check the labels...something you wouldn't think has much sodium has a ton.

This is a tough one. You understand that if her pressure goes up, and I'm assuming that her swollen feet are a pre-curser for something possibly more serious, that her pregnancy can be seriously compromised. I understand needing to work for insurance and that much needed time off for maternity leave but how well off will your sister be if it comes to mandatory bed rest for the remaining weeks of her pregnancy? Does she have a job which she can work part time? Does her work allow for her to put her feet up as much as possible and/or needed while at work? While cutting sodium completely out of the diet is good, it's not necessarily the answer. Her body is reacting this way for a reason and her doctor has is concerned. I don't know where your sister's Faith is, but trust in the Lord and do what's best for the baby.

If she sits all day long (desk job?), getting up and walking around frequently will actually help. Seems like being on you feet would make it worse, but moving, helps the pooled fluids circulate.

I had very bad (painful) ankle swelling the last two weeks before I delivered (two weeks early), but thankfully, blood pressure did not go too high.

She needs to take it easy! In my little bit of experience, the earlier your feet swell the earlier the baby comes. She should at the very least put a foot rest under her desk at work (if it is a desk job). I worked too long with my first and he came 5 weeks early. I was so swollen. I took better care of myself and stayed off my feet (as much as I could with an 17-month old) and she stayed in there longer. Oh what a difference 2 extra weeks inside mommy can make!!! Just remind her that premature babies can cause complications... from their lung development to jaundice to the ability to breastfeed.

Also, she should be able to take 12 weeks time off for the baby, even if it is unpaid, right? FMLA (and if she needs to go out sooner than the baby comes, she can have her doc say so, and that would go against some of the FMLA leave time.

Good luck!
S.

Hello,

She needs to be drinking somewhere between 64-120oz of water per day. It will help flush her system. It may not stop the swelling, but it will help to keep the blood pressure down. The blood pressure is the most important factor, not so much the swelling. However, if she begins to have swelling of her face and hands, severe headaches, seeing spots, etc, she needs to call the MD right away as these are signs of pre-eclampsia (a very serious pregnancy-induced problem).

Good luck!

Have your sister talk to her Dr about support hose. Those helped me so I could work on my feet til almost the end of my pregnancy. Good luck.

keeping the feet up is a great idea.....but she really needs to look at the big picture here. Jobs come and go....kids are forever. The baby's health, and her own, need to be the first priority....even if other things must be (temporarily) sacrificed. When I was pregnant with twins, I was put on bedrest to avoid premature labor. I hated it, especially since we had just moved and my house was full of boxes to unpack! But I did what i had to do. I felt very guilty about not doing what needed to be done for the house....but what happened was, this was a complicated pregnancy and one of the twins died. The other was born premature at 29.5 weeks. That baby, my son, fought for his life for 6 1/2 weeks in ICU. I had plenty of time to unpack boxes after he was born...between caring for my other child, running to the hospital and pumping breast milk for the baby. When he came home from the hospital, the house was still there, and I found someone to help me (including my husband!). But I thank God that my son is healthy today because of the few extra weeks in the womb, given to him by my bedrest. If he had been born earlier, he might not have survived at all. Priorities!

Please feel free to pass my story along to your sister....maybe it will encourage her to look at things from a new perspective.

I had the same issue. My dr told me the only thing I could do was to keep my feet higher than my heart as much as possible...just putting them up on the coffee table won't do it. You have to lie on the couch & put your feet up on the back of the couch, for instance. Also, prenatal massage helped me a lot, but it's expensive (I only did it once, for that reason). GL!

I had a similar problem and I could not take off work either. I know it sounds cliche but drinking a lot of water makes a HUGE difference. i had no idea the impact until my office got a water cooler and I started drinking 7-8 full bottles of water a day. Within 2-3 days the swelling stoppped coming until about 3 in the afternoon. I used to wake up with it. After 3 I found it helpful to turn my trash can over underneath my desk and put my feet up. When you are at home make sure your feet are above your heart for optimal circulation. Hope this helps

E.,

Definitely remove anything from her diet with sodium in it and drink lots of water. This will help to flush the system. Cranberry juice is something that is good too, it helps the kidneys to get rid of toxins. I never had high blood pressure with my pregnancies but my sisters did and these are a couple of things the doctors recommended for them to try.

I wish your sister the best of luck.

S.
36 y/o SAHM of boys
14, 6 and 3