"Leslie" wrote in message
...
Em said:

Is there anything I can do
about it,

Keeping your feet up, taking regular naps, drinking more fluids,
increasing
protein intake, taking baths . . . these are all things I have read, and
some
of them hae helped me.

Also, elevating the parts that are swelling. I have a lot of swelling in my
fingers (I think because since I'm on bedrest often my hands are lower than
most of the rest of me), and elevating them really does help. Oh, and
according to my specialist, you should NOT reduce your salt intake-if you
crave or want salt, your body probably needs it, and too little sodium is a
much bigger problem than a little fluid retention (or in my case, a LOT of
fluid retention!)

and is it bad?

It CAN be an indicator of pre-eclampsia, but it is also a regular and
normal
part of most pregnancies. With my first pregnancy I began to swell at
four or
five months and remained ridiculously swollen throughout the pregnancy,
with
BPs around 100/60 the whole time. There's just no telling.

If you have swelling in your face and hands, that's supposed to be more
likely to indicate PE than swelling in the legs, and if you have "pitting
edema"-where if you press down over your shin bone you get a dent which
lasts a little while, that can also be a sign, but in absense of other
signs, it's probably nothing.

Other signs to watch for:
BP over 140/90, or at least a 15 point rise in diastolic over what is normal
for you. According to my peri, most of the time the machines in pharmacies
are pretty well calibrated, so if you're concerned, you can check it there
if you don't have a home meter-even then, BP can change quickly, so if it's
high, usually waiting even 15 minutes will show a change. My peri doesn't
see a need for me to call unless it stays high for at least 4-6 hours at a
time.

Unexplained migraine-type headaches, especially if you're seeing spots,
lights, or having visual distortions.

Upper abdominal pain which doesn't go away when you change positions or
move.

Urine which is brownish or reddish (really gross, I know)-dark yellow is
usually a result of not enough fluids, and just means drink more water.

producing almost NO urine, even though you're drinking a lot of water.

Any of these are worth a call to the OB or midwife, even if it's after
hours-and if you're not seeing one or more of them, it's probably not PE.