Should I be worried about the swelling in my legs, face, and hands?

Interesting that she'd tell you not to have accupuncture... did she give you a reason?
Massage can help with oedema. There are massage therapists who specialise in lymphatic drainage, however even your DH can possibly give you a little relief with some massage.
He will need to use light, stroking movements - pressing too hard will not be good for you (and will be uncomfortable anyway). The stroking movements should be made in the direction towards your heart (i.e. if he is working on your legs, he needs to stroke upwards towards your torso; if he's working on your arms, upwards towards your shoulders.)

At a guess, if she hasnt had much to do with accupuncture then Id say shes worried about the accupucturist doign the wrong points and putting you in to labour. Some specialise in pregnancy so knwo which points to use and which to leave alone.

I have also been told acupuncture is very good for water retention. It definitely seems odd that your ob would be against it.
I wouldn't have thought that inducing labour was a bad thing for you at this point even if the acupuncturist could manage it. Mine has assured me that unless the baby is ready to come then acupuncture won't change that, it just relaxes you and encourages the body to do its thing.
Swimming/ soaking in the bath can help relieve the swelling. Massage is good. Are you somewhere cool enough to wear stockings all day? I was swollen in Brisbane in summer so never tried it, but putting on pressure stockings before you get out of bed in the morning is supposed to really help with legs. Don't suppose it would do anything for your face though. :lol:

big hugs to you hun, I feel your pain.....it wasnt that long ago for me.....on the upside, after you have the baby, everyone will be amazed at how quickly you lose your "babyweight!"
keep moisturising, at that point in my pregnancy, i just couldnt be stuffed and now as a result I have stretch marks on my ankles, back of knees, thighs, feet, under my arms....its unbelieveable!
massage is good, but I found it too painfull, when my feet got really bad, I tried the alternating hot and cold water was good, ice water in one bucket and warm water in another, just pop them in one for a few minutes, then the other one.
everyone says to stay off your feet and elevate them as much as possible, it helps, but sometimes its just not feasible.
I was recommended accupuncture by the midwives at hospital, and to drink celery and carrott juice, but I never did get around to it.
I hope you find something that gives you a bit of relief.
xx

My doctor thinks that it's best I don't do anything regarding the swelling because she said it's a normal part of the pregnancy. She mentioned that acupuncture could be helpful to some but not to all... so she suggested that since I don't have too much longer to go, I should just patiently wait it out (easier said than done)! LOL

I have tried massage a couple of weeks ago... unfortunately, I am one of those which massage has made it much worst. It was just gentle strokes and the very next day after the massage, my ankle swelled up so bad I had to put ice on them. I spoke with
my doctor regarding this and apparently the massage has promoted my circulation thus increasing more fluid retention. Am I just one of those odd ones! Now, my edema has gotten to a point where I could put a little pressure to that spot, and it'll stay "dented" for a minute before returning to its puffiness.

I have also bought stockings and wore them. And guess what, it didn't do anything either. Well, I guess I am one of the odd ones AGAIN! At least I know that my blood pressure is not elevated which means I am not close to getting preeclampsia. I am thankful for that. So maybe at this point, I should just try to "enjoy" the pregnancy symptom of the last weeks!

hiya carmen, how are you today?
the "pitting odema" is just lovely isnt it??!! press your fingers in and the marks just dont go away!!;)
after I had my baby (c section) I was given the hospital strength support stockings to wear 24/7 while in hospital and to go home with, I think after a bout 2 weeks I was almost back to normal.....I was like you too, massage just made things worse, I was also wearing those "flight socks" but they didnt do anything for my swelling either.
hey, we are just "special!!" :lol:
xx

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hiya carmen, how are you today?
the "pitting odema" is just lovely isnt it??!! press your fingers in and the marks just dont go away!!;)
after I had my baby (c section) I was given the hospital strength support stockings to wear 24/7 while in hospital and to go home with, I think after a bout 2 weeks I was almost back to normal.....I was like you too, massage just made things worse, I was also wearing those "flight socks" but they didnt do anything for my swelling either.
hey, we are just "special!!" :lol:
xx

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Yay, I am not the only one! At least we are two now with the same issue. Don't we just feel special. DD has been having fun with my pitting edema... she is amazed how come my feet would have the dents after she put her fingers in. LOL
I am praying for the baby to show soon. Today I've started to get some low backache (similar to what I experienced when I had my first a day before my delivery). Also, I am still retaining more fluid. Yay, that means I'll probably be walking like a whale by the time I am ready to go to the hospital. Wouldn't that be a sight!
I have a feeling that the baby might decide to show up before my full 40 weeks. Crossing my fingers for that and hoping that I could finally feel lighter after the delivery. Did your doctor give you a diuretic for your fluid retention or did it just go away after 2 weeks from your delivery? You know what I am tempted to do... put a needle in and expel the fluid out of my feet... I bet it would feel great but at the same time, I'll most likely end up with other complication... but just the thought of it give me heads up! I stopped wearing the stockings because it just doesn't do anything so instead of making me itch all the time, I'll just leave it alone... that way, at least I don't scratch every other minute for people to think I have some skin problems!

I hope for your sake your bubba makes an early show!
I ended up being induced at 40wks exactly, due to my bp doing crazy things, up and dawn and allround......I could barely walk by then, I was also in pre labour for 2 weeks before that.
do you find the shower makes it worse? lying in bed at night would marginally improve things, only for me to get up and shower and hello balloon feet! pfft forget about sleep!!
thats a b it hard to do with restless legs, indigestion, crazy itchiness from the swelling and contractions every 10 mins.....
sorry, im still a bit peeved about all that!!:lol:
I think I said before that the bath was good, as long as my feet were up out the water on the edge.
I feel for you, hey if im up feeding i will have a look and see if youre here, looks like u were up early this morning.....
have a happy easter, as hard as it is, try to enjoy this last little bit, theres not too long to go!!
xxx

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I hope for your sake your bubba makes an early show!
I ended up being induced at 40wks exactly, due to my bp doing crazy things, up and dawn and allround......I could barely walk by then, I was also in pre labour for 2 weeks before that.
do you find the shower makes it worse? lying in bed at night would marginally improve things, only for me to get up and shower and hello balloon feet! pfft forget about sleep!!
thats a b it hard to do with restless legs, indigestion, crazy itchiness from the swelling and contractions every 10 mins.....
sorry, im still a bit peeved about all that!!:lol:
I think I said before that the bath was good, as long as my feet were up out the water on the edge.
I feel for you, hey if im up feeding i will have a look and see if youre here, looks like u were up early this morning.....
have a happy easter, as hard as it is, try to enjoy this last little bit, theres not too long to go!!
xxx

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Sorry I wasn't able to respond earlier! Hope you had a happy easter too! My easter sucked as I ended up staying home because I wasn't feeling so great with the increased swelling in my legs. I am finding it SO SO hard to pass the rest of the days. It feels like it's just dreading on forever and ever. I know there's supposedly two weeks left but these two weeks don't seem to exciting to me. I have put on another 3lbs just over a period of 2 days. This is primarily due to my water retention again. So now, wearing my sandals is almost not a possible thing. I try keeping my legs up as much as possible but don't do much either. SIGH

So far, my blood pressure has been okay. I am told to keep monitoring just in case things do get wild... I will probably try taking a bath later just to give myself a treat. Unfortunately, my bath tub does not serve an easy access for pregnant individuals like me! I have a jacuzzi type of bath tub so it's much harder to get in though once I'm in, I hate to come out. I think I will take on your advice and put my legs up while I'm in there. Last time, I spent half an hour in the tub without elevating my legs so my legs swelled up even more I had to get DH to get me out! LOL, it was a sight for DH and DD!!!:wall:

I am also putting heaps of cream these days because it's so itchy everywhere (I guess the skin is stretching so much my body is having a hard time to adjust to the elasticity)!

Oh, I live in Canada which explains why I am up early because we are in different time zones... How I wish I am in Australia with such a beautiful weather.... Maybe this will help me make my days happier!:redface:

Just a little update... my swelling has been quite the same since I last posted here except for my hands to feel quite numb and the inability to clench my hands into fists. So my doctor asked me if I wanted to speed things up a little though it's not guarantee to work 100%.After telling me how dilated I was, she went up to my cervix and stretched the membranes a little. If it does work, things could be happening any time now. So, here I am waiting for the "magical moment" to appear... I have been feeling pretty strong tightenings so maybe something will happen but then again I am not putting my hopes too high because I don't want to feel disappointment by the end of the day which I always end up feeling. All I could say is that I am happy my blood pressure is under control and I have no protein in my urine. WIth that, I should be grateful that this pregnancy is uncomplicated except the fact that I have some discomforts!:dance:

Oh no, my swelling has gotten much worst today. I don't know what happened but this morning woke up with huge hands. I can't clench into a fist at all. It's painfully numb:cry:

I went out today with DD and DH to do some grocery shopping... ended up being up on my feet without sitting for 4 hours straight... now, I come home with swollen legs and feet. It's so bad that I get red blotches on my lower legs and my ankles are just so swelled up... I have practically no ankles!

Does that mean I have pushed myself to the limit with the walking? I thought the walk would speed things up but it doesn't look too good at the moment.

My blood pressure is okay though, but just have heaps of trouble with the swelling....:wall:

I had this problem with DD1. Seeing that you've had a big day today, try and rest for a bit to see if the swelling goes down. If your bp is ok then you should be fine. However, if you do become concerned take a trip to the hospital to get checked out.

Bekz,

Was your swelling really bad with DD1? I didn't have any swelling while pregnant with DD but with this 2nd pregnancy, everything seems to act out at the same time.

Hopefully the swelling will go down by tomorrow as I'm having heaps of trouble just walking around... and it's not so easy when you've got an active toddler demanding for attention. Oh well, not too much longer to go, but I certainly hope that my baby will decide for an earlier show!

My swelling was so bad that I couldn't close my hands, I had no ankles and my feet ached even sitting down. Thankfully I didn't have it with DD2 and so far only one episode with this pregnancy but it started at 28wks with DD1 and I am 28wks next week.

Oh no, I hope that you won't get the swelling when you reach your 28 weeks. I feel for those who have swelling. I wouldn't understand how difficult it must be for those who say "I have swelling and I feel horrible" up until I have experienced it myself. It's definitely not a pleasant symptom, but it's all worthwhile because we get to meet our precious one.

I have my fingers crossed for you that your swelling will stay away!

I certainly hope that it stays away too. I don't like my chances of keeping up with a 3yo and a 1yo in the next few weeks with swelling thrown into the mix.

After giving birth to DD1 the majority of the swelling instantly disappeared..so there is light at the end of the tunnel

Can't imagine if you have to deal with the swelling plus 2 toddlers! It certainly will become quite a challenge. I am glad that my parents are helping me with DD because some days my swellings get so bad that I can't even bend to put my socks on let alone caring for a toddler who's much more active than me!

Meanwhile, I hope you are getting the rest you need in preparation of your 3rd arrival! Can't wait till I have a third, but I think I will get by with this second first!