Pregnancy Secrets- part 3

Pregnancy secrets should be shared to help woman expecting a baby to deal better with their state. Too often, pregnancy is shown as a wonderful and perfect time in a woman’s life where she is said to be “glowing”. This myth of the perfect pregnancy should be knocked down and pregnancy secrets should be shared with women all over the world suffering in silence.

Third pregnancy secret: swelling can be impressive!

If you are unfortunate to be pregnant during a heatwave, you can experience some severe swelling to a point where your feet can get painful. This is a pregnancy secret that is hidden sometimes even by the pregnant women themselves.

The first thing you should do is lower your salt consumption. Many pregnant women experience cravings for very salty snacks like chips and others and that can add up to taking a lot of sodium. Eating more fruits and produce (without salting them) will help reduce your swelling. Keeping your feet up (ideally above the heart level (but then you might experience reflux…) will help lower your swelling. To that extend too, soaking your feet in cold water can help bring relief to this inconvenient pregnancy secret.

Pregnancy secret- swelling is a common problem

This pregnancy secret’s solution may seem contradictory but it is true: DRINK more water. Most pregnant women do not drink enough water fo their needs. One they suffer from the pregnancy secret of having their feet swollen, some women will consider restraining their water intake thinking that welling is water therefore they should limit water. These are actually two different compartments and the more water you drink and the more your fluid will circulate and resorb your swelling.

To prove this, a woman can be dehydrated and have swelling.

Another part of the pregnancy secret of swelling is that you can understand it better by imagining a glass of water with a lid on it. The swelling starts by the bottom, i.e. the feet and the more swelling you have, the higher it goes, like to the hands. Many pregnant women in their third trimester might feel the need to remove their rings as they are too tight for their fingers.

pregnancy secrets: swelling is a BIG secret

Some of my patients complained that their fingers were so swollen that they looked like little cocktail sausages. To top it all, the swelling in the hands can result in tingling of even carpal tunnel.

If you think of our drinking glass with water in it with a lid, then you will understand that lying down for a good night of sleep will help with the feet swelling…but since we have not removed the lid, the water has not escaped. This explains the reason why pregnant women who suffer from swelling wake up with a puffy face!

Natheli Fiset, M.D. , C.H.

P.s. So how do you get rid of the pregnancy swelling for good? How do you remove the lid from my glass with water in it?You give birth of course. That is the take-home pregnancy secret!