very swollen ankles

[sirenz]

just wanted to share with you my misery.. my ankles get sooo swollen if i stand up for over 15 mins.. i know some swelling is normal.. but it just seems so excessive... can't do anything without my ankles swelling up

i think i am just so over being pg.. but i still have ages to go

also, i feel really, really tired all the time but i can't sleep very well because my hips hurt when i try to sleep.. i am really starting to dislike being pg.

[hopefullmum2b]

Hi Sirenz,

I'm hearing you and totaly understand what you are saying. My ankles are the same as yours my left ankle is more swollen then my right though, and very painful it is really annoying. I've got 7 weeks to go and can't wait.

[JordieC]

Well my ankles didn't swell till about 2 weeks before I was due but when they did boy did they swell!!! Oh my god - after the epidural they were even bigger! My DH and I laughed so much at my marshmellow feet! Try to keep them elevated whenever you can that's all I can suggest - hope it settles down for you!

[Kaylene]

Hang in there not long now.

Its really tough going towards the end and your body will continue doing amazingly annoying and distasteful things. BUT you can see the finish line now Single Digits Girl!!!

Keep smiling and sleep as much as you can cause it wont be long before you wont get that opportunity to relax for a long time possibly years.

K

[Willow]

I also get excessive (and I mean excessive!) swelling in my feet and ankles. Since I've finished work they have improved greatly but I feel your pain - it is sooooo uncomfortable. I've had days where I could barely walk.

Hearing you on the sleeping thing too!

But hang in there - I know it seems like you have ages to go but you'll get there and at the end is the biggest reward you could ever hope for!!

[Dragonbub]

I totally hear you with the swelling. Mine seem worse in the mornings after sleeping! I live in a house with stairs and going down them in the morning feels really strange because the fluid build up prevents them bending properly It seems to creep up my legs as well into my calves, so they feel really hard with the fluid. Not long to go now though, and apparently after bubs is born you do a nice long wee and get rid of alot of it (I am really hoping this is true).

[mako]

I too know what you mean about the swollen ankles and feet. Mine were so bad last night that I had to sit on a chair to cook dinner. They were so swollen that the skin was purple and pins and needles were constant for a few hours. Not a pleasent feeling but its all worth it in the end( I have to keep telling myself this anyway lol).

[sconeonamission]

I went grocery shopping on the Friday and the Friday night my feet and ankles were HUGE. I had had swollen feet for about a mth previous, but this was huge! By the time my water broke and we got to the hospital in the weee hours of Saturday morning, the swelling was so bad that it went right up to my knees, and I had it for about a day after Jensen was born.

[New Dawn]

maybe you should check it out with your doc as with my 1st I too had swollen feet and turned out to be high bp and had to be watched, I had to go to the hospital every day to get my bp checked in the end I was amitted for 2days before I was induced with DS. if you press your feet and you get little dots that stay there and if you are getting headakes in the front part of your head then please see your doc and tell him or her whats been happening dont want to scare you but swollen feet can be so much more than just that..

[SueB]

I am also suffering very very swollen feet, like you dragonbub my calf swells and goes hard as well

Oh you ladies are so much closer to your dates then me

[Amelia]

Ohhhh I have had swelling for about two weeks now!! And it comes within 30 minutes of standing....Its good that I haven't worked since 13 weeks so I haven't had it as bad!!

But I feel all your pain and I only have 3 weeks left so I am cheering bout that!!

[goldilocks]

Sorry to hear about your pregnancy woes, Sirenz!

Try and keep your feet elevated as often as possible throughout the day (easier said than done, I know!) Doing ankle rotations (both clockwise and anti-clockwise) should help to keep the swelling at bay.

And as for sore hips in bed, try sleeping with a pillow between your legs...that should take the pressure off your hips somewhat and help you get some shut-eye

Hang in there!

[blue daisy]

Hey sirenz

is there a pregnancy yoga class that you can join?

yoga is excellent for reducing swelling by regulating blood flow and increasing venous return, and reducing blood pressure

reflexology is also very useful for reducing the swelling

xx yogababy

[suse]

Natalie (yogababy) - a question for you if you don't mind!

I'd been doing preggie yoga up until 35 weeks, when my feet got so swollen that I couldn't stand comfortably during the standing exercises (and these were a relatively minor part of the class - about 20-30 minutes in total). I wasn't able to focus on the pose because of the pain, so not only missed most of the benefit of the posture but also ended up with feet that were even more sore. I stopped doing the classes (at yoga instructor's recommendation) because she felt that there wasn't much point if I couldn't do parts of the class.

Since then, I've been doing what I can at home with floor exercises to keep my back and hips happy, and have found that I can do some modified standing exercises in the pool using the resistance from the water. 1/2 hour per day in the pool being weightless helps somewhat, but I still find it really hard being on my feet for longer than about 20 minutes. I recently moved to a hotter climate (Nth Qld from Sydney at 24 weeks) which probably has contributed to the problem, and my BP has been fine - hasn't changed since pre-preg which was 100/50-60.

Sorry, this is very long winded but I'll get to the point!

Do any of your clients have a similar problem, ie: feet being so sore that they are unable to get the blood flow benefits from yoga, and do you have any particular exercises that you suggest for them? Or am I doing the right thing?

I only have a couple of weeks to go, so can put up with the discomfort of sore feet, but would like to continue getting as much benefit from yoga as I was previously.

I'd be so grateful for any advice you can give me (or if you have already posted on this please point me in the right direction). I'd love to attend your classes but being on the other side of the continent may present a slight problem... (LOL). BTW, I've found your contributions to be so helpful and informative - particularly the 'pain in labour' thread. It is so wonderful having professionals like yourself so willing to share your time and experience!

[tracey*]

Can you have someone give you a foot and leg massage? That helps me. Swimming helps too xx

[suse]

Cheers Tracey!

I co-opt dearest man into giving me a foot massage whenever I can, but because he doesn't finish work till really late and is completely knackered, I tend to feel a little bit guilty asking him to help out! But I've just found someone to give me a good therapeutic massage who specialises in pregnancy, oh joy!

(And yes, agree on the swimming - if we didn't have ready access to a pool I think I'd go nuts)

You're getting pretty close now to your EDD, hope all goes well for you!!

[blue daisy]

Hey Suse

sorry i didnt reply earlier...just realised there was a question there

in my classes I do have some women that find what the main class is doing, a little too much...everyone has days when they feel a bit weak, heavy, light headed...but I always structure the class so everyone can participate...if you couldnt do parts of your class why could the yoga instructor not give you your own little sequence while everyone else was doing the standing work?

standing poses are intense and dynamic...and not suitable for many pregnant women...I only do a couple of standing poses, if any, in my classes, and I always teach my class directly to how the girls are feeling

with the sore feet...it may be as your inner arch (of your foot) may be collapsing slightly...putting additional weight on the sole of your foot...again all the ligaments of the body soften in pregnancy (due to relaxin) which further compounds the problem

you can still get lots of benefit from sitting poses to help soothe your little feet...if you click on my link you can check out my free for you to try pregnancy yoga pose (on the bottom of the pregnancy yoga page)...this pose will help promote circulation to your feet, and help improve the foots muscular and skeletal alignment as well

thank you for your kind words...I really love what I do...and its always really lovely to hear that I am making someone happy

please feel free to ask me any questions...and if you would really like I could email you some really simple yoga poses that you can do for comfort in the last few weeks

xx yogababy

[suse]

Natalie, you are a total legend!! (and I'm not surprised that you missed the question in amongst the rest of my waffle - like finding a needle in a haystack!)

I admit that I was a little surprised when my yoga instructor suggested not going at all rather than either sitting those sequences out or suggesting a substitute - especially as it was an antenatal class rather than just a normal yoga class. I was doing a bit of Iyengar yoga prior to and in the early stages of pregnancy which I like because it is so dynamic, and had a wonderful instructor who was very flexible. We've just recently moved interstate and there is only one studio where I live that offers pregnancy yoga, the other studios won't take me into their classes this late in the pregnancy (quite understandable really!). I'm really terrible with remembering the names of the sequences - but the hero pose that you have on your website is one of my favourites!

Thank you so much for your reply and for your offer to email some poses. That is incredibly kind of you! I'll send an email to your email address (as listed on your website), because I can't PM yet. Are you sure it is no problem - please don't go to any trouble!?

xx suse