Water Weight My Foot.....

I was one of the "lucky" ones that got to experience swollen feet towards the end of my pregnancy. It started out gradual in about the 30th week but as time drew closer to delivery, I had 'moon boot feet' with a side of 'sausage toes.' It was not pleasant. I actually went to work in flip flops because it was the only thing my feet could fit into that wasn't constricting. I was so horrified and fascinated by the swelling that I actually took phone pictures and sent them to family and friends - hey, look at these babies!

But I kept telling myself - 'Things will go back to normal after delivery....things will go back to normal after delivery.' What I forgot to append to that saying was 'Thing will go back to normal after delivery...days to weeks after.' I didn't think it was possible but yes, after delivering my babies, my feet and legs swelled up to twice what they were prior to delivery. We were beyond moon boots and sausage analogies. I imagined I had the legs and feet of an obese person. It hurt to slide my feet into flip flops. It hurt to walk. Any time a nurse would come in to check on me, I would ask, 'Is this normal?' And the response would always be 'yes.'

My OB finally told me to keep drinking water to help the swelling go down. This did not make sense to me as I thought the cause of the swelling was water. If I drink more, won't that make it worse? But I did what they told me because let's face it, I've never been pregnant before. So when I got home, I kept drinking water, kept sighing at my feet, and then drank some more water and refused to leave the house unless absolutely necessary. Walking was such a trial as I felt like I had blisters on my feet with each step I took.

After about 1.5 weeks at home, the swelling finally did go down. It seemed instantaneous. One day they were beyond recognition, the next, they're back to normal. I was so excited by it that I went immediately to my shoe closet to throw on some heels, also hoping that the swelling didn't mess with the sizing of my foot (as I stayed the same shoe size throughout the pregnancy). My heels were a tad tight but I coughed that up to left-over swelling. We're going to try it again later this week in hopes that my heels will fit a-okay.

Another symptom that I had after I got home from the hospital, that lasted for about a week...the sweats. Night sweats. I didn't experience it at the hospital and when I got home, I was talking to my sister and she happened to mention how she had the night sweats for a couple of nights after her c-section. Again, I ask, where is this information when you need it? Sure enough, two days later, I get the night sweats - for about 1.5 weeks. The first night, the sweats were accompanied by chills - I'm talking teeth chattering chills. On the second night, my cornflower blue PJ top turned into a dark navy blue due to all the sweating I was doing. That was pretty gross. And so it continued to the point where I had two hand towels with me during the night - one for my pillow and one to wipe myself with during the night. I found that most of the sweat accumulated between my boobs.

I was able to read that the night sweats were just a way for your body to rid itself of excess toxins and water from the trials of pregnancy. I'm just sayin' - it would've been nice to know ahead of time.

I will recommend the following book for those of you that have just had babies - 'What to Expect When You're Expecting - the First Year.' That book has answers to ALL QUESTIONS you have rummaging through your brain. I will be the first to tell you that I do not recommend the 'What to Expect When You're Expecting' book for pregnancy cause that will scare the bejezus out of any pregnant woman. But the 'First Year' book is quite helpful and informative and I keep it handy, next to the glider in the nursery.