swelling at 33 weeks

[sbear22]

hi all

i'm 33 weeks pregnant and my feet and hands are really rather swollen. i also have aching hands and they keep going dead/getting pins and needles.

i've done my own BP at home with a home monitor and got 124/83 (high for me but not high generally i know)

first pregnancy so im worried? anyone know if im okay or not?!

thanks!

I am 32 weeks and am exactly the same. My blood pressure tends to be on the high side so I am being monitored carefully. I have literally only just started swelling up in the last week, had a take rings off and must elevate my feet in the evenings to try and get rid of cankles. Am also getting pins and needles in hands and legs. I think that it is fairly normal at this stage in pregnancy but I have a midwife appointment on Thursday and am going to mention it yo her then....

ah ok so we should be ok then? will you let me know what she says to you regarding this? thanks :)

I will let you know yes. I am lead to believe that swelling within reason is largely normal :)

Make sure you are drinking plenty of water, it helps prevent your body from retaining it and causing swelling. If you are worried though contact the out of hours midwives

You should ring your midwife with your symptoms. They may want to check for protein in your urine, something you can't check on your own.

Also do some simple exercises.

Rotate your hands and feet several times throughout the day. I do them at least 10-20 rotations (both ways).

And feet up when you can

But phone your midwife as well.

No harm in calling triage, better to get checked out and ensure everything is ok x

Honestly, I've been where you are and phoned the hospital for advice who took me in for monitoring for a few hours. I really would ring them. Chances are good it's all fine but trust me, pre-eclampsia is not fun and the earlier it's caught, the better.

Please don't think I'm trying to scare you, because I'm really not, but I wouldn't leave it. Phone the maternity assessment unit and see what they say because with the best will in the world, Mumsnet isn't a substitute for medical advice.

Thank you everyone. I used my brothers ketone sticks (he's diabetic) to check my urine and then realised that'll be ketones not protein (baby brain!?) so that was a poor start. I will be keeping an eye and if it carries on or gets worse I will phone my midwife :)

Worth calling your local anti-natal. How did u take BP? Did u use electric or manula BP machine?

Has the swelling just come on today? I would phone to check, may be early warning of pre-eclamspia.

I'm 34 weeks and have had exactly this. My BP was fine and when I spoke to triage they said the swelling was likely due to the recent heatwave and the tingling in my hands was because of the weight of my babies pressing on one of my main arteries. They advised feet up whenever possible, drink plenty (I'm on about 3 litres of water now) and to call them if I got any other symptoms of pre-eclampsia like disturbed vision, headaches, pain in stomach, reduced movement. I also do the feet movement exercises described by a pp and on nhs website. Feet and ankles noticeably smaller after a day of doing all of that.
Hope it is equally inoccuous for you

Fab, I will up my water intake definitely. It's an electric meter of my mothers. I'll try and do the exercises too :)

Your hand symptoms may be carpal tunnel syndrome - very common in pregnancy when we have a lot more fluid in our circulation. Obviously pre-eclampsia needs ruling out. If it is carpal tunnel it tends to be worse at night. It does go after having your baby.

Swelling in pregnancy is very common but as this is your first experience of it I would get in touch with your midwife to get checked over. It's probably 'just' the pregnancy but sometimes can be an indication of something more serious so worth getting a professional opinion.
I swelled badly with both of mine. I was fine, just uncomfortable.

carpal tunnel sounds right, I have pins and needles a lot in my hands lately. The swelling all over seems to have dramatically gone down thankfully. Probably the heat!