Fat feet!!

Hi all

I am now 36 weeks along, have finished work (yippee!), but have been getting really swollen ankles. I know this is very common in pregnancy but what can I do to reduce them?

This has been my first week away from work and I'm really enjoying being home but can't seem to make myself just sit down with my feet up. Is that the only way to make the swelling go down? I've been keeping fairly active with household duties and trying to get the baby's room ready - am I doing too much? Surely not! I feel fine apart from the fat feet. Is there any foods I should/shouldn't be eating to help?

Anybody's experiences and help with this one would be greatly appreciated.

I had the same problem throughout my pregnancy. The only way I managed to get some relief was to put my feet up and then my feet only went down a little. I had bad fluid retention when I was pregnant som you might have the same thing.

Good luck.

P.S. I also had alot of baths towards the end which helped to relieve some fluid.

Hi
I'm 37 weeks along and have the same elephant ankles problem. I notice it always gets worse in hot weather and if I'm on my feet all day, just standing like at work, not moving around, that's supposed to help. If they're really bad a bit of a massage and lying with them raised up (which can be pretty uncomfortable lying on your back) usually helps bring them down a bit. They usually are slightly improved after a nights sleep, but never seem to recover fully. I had the same with my first pregnancy in the last few weeks, they didn't completely return to normal until after the birth. I think some people are more prone to it than others, my twin sister has had 3 babies and no swollen ankles at all. I've also read to drink plenty of water as this helps keeps your system flushed, and prevents it from retaining excess fluid. Hope this helps. smile

Hi Debs,
Congratulations, not long to go! I had the same problem when I was pregnant, particuarly in the hot weather. I remember one day when I could only fit into my husbands shoes! It helps to rest your feet up & if possible, above the level of your heart. This can be done by resting your feet on a pillow to sleep (however try to not lie flat on your back). Try resting your feet up on chair during the day when possible. Try not to wear constrictive clothing such as tight socks. I also found that a coolish bath in the evening during the hot weather helped to reduce the swelling.
In terms of foods, don't restrict your fluids, however, try not to add salt to your food. The added salt tells your body to hang on to water & this only increases any swelling.
Good luck, I sympathise with you!

Anniesmum

Hi all
thanks for all the advice ... I'm still having major problems with the swollen ankles ... they really are terrible! And the heat that we've been having lately is disgusting! Really humid/sticky heat ... not sure what it's like in Aussie ... probably worse!

I find my ankles sometimes will go down a little overnight or if I sit with my feet higher than my heart ... but as soon as I'm up walking around again they swell up like balloons! Unfortunately I don't have a bath in my house so can't try that one but I have been trying to keep my water intake up.

anyway hopefully only 3 weeks left for me then maybe they will go away!

Thanks again everyone ... have a Merry Xmas.

hi all im just reading about ya fat feet im not sure about your fat feet but ive been having very swollen feet and when i went to see my ob i told them about it and they took my bp and it was up and they told me thats why my feet were up im 34 weeks and spent 2 days in hospital coz of my feet and my bp. my feet were find while in hospital but the minute i got home my feet went straight up again coz i cant sit ive gotta be always doing something hope all is well


angel

I had such a problem with swollen feet during my first pregnancy that the swelling actually extended all the way up to mid thigh! It got to such a stage that they would not go down overnight and I would wake up in the middle of the night crying in pain because it felt like my skin was tearing apart. In the mornings when I would get out of bed my toes would not touch the ground because the swelling was so severe. This lasted from around 28 weeks and then after delivering at 41 weeks finally began to go down. The funny thing that made my husband laugh was that you could actually see the descent of fluid as the days progressed. My advice is also to keep the fluids up but not too much and try to keep them elevated as much as possible. Am 33 weeks into my second pregnancy now and thankfully the swelling is no where near as severe.