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| One does not have time to pretty their feet up for the camera when there is swelling involved. |
Whoooaaaa, there, left foot. What are you doing, buddy?
Up until now, my feet/ankles/anything else hasn't shown any signs of swelling, and I was really digging that. When I saw my endocrinologist on Tuesday, she examined just my feet (well, actually, now that I think about it - she physically examined just my left foot) and had said, "Well, just a little bit puffy." I frowned, and when I came back home asked Aaron to assess my foot size. Second opinion!
We both agreed that my feet didn't really look that different than normal.
Fast forward to last night.
Because calling my doctor would make too much sense, I snapped a picture and sent it to a few friends. "Is this normal? It looks way puffier than the right foot, right? Not just me?" When responses came back in the vein of, "Um, you should probably call your doctor right now", I did. (And for what it's worth, that advice matches up with what the internet says, too.) Being after hours (and in the middle of some severe weather) I spoke to the doctor on call that night, describing my situation (28 weeks, type 1 diabetes, blood pressure has been fine) (except for the first time they checked it at my appointment on Tuesday when it read 154/82, but then they checked it again and it was 122/78) and telling her about this new symptom.
"Does it hurt at all? Does it hurt to walk on?" Nope, feels just like my other foot, except for the part where I can tell that it's puffy.
"If you press your thumb down, does it leave an indention?" Hmm, I hadn't tried that (nor was I completely confident that I could reach my foot). However, I was successful. Indention made, and it stayed put for a second or so.
She ran through a couple other questions, telling me that just one swollen foot or ankle can indicate a blood clot, but since I wasn't exhibiting any of the other symptoms, it perhaps wasn't that. She recommended I keep my feet elevated for the rest of the night, laying on my left side if I could (something about taking the pressure of the uterus off of some veins and stuff), so I happily handed the dinner-assembling reins to Aaron (who made killer sandwiches, btw) and planted myself in our recliner.
Sure enough, the elevation + increased water intake + necessary dog cuddling (severe weather = shaking, scared, cuddly dog) seemed to do the trick. And this morning? My foot looks totally normal to me.
I'll be following up with my doctor this morning by phone, and hoping this is some sort of fluke whereby my left foot is just being a jerk-and-a-half.
Pregnancy! Good times!
"Whoooaaaa, there, left foot. What are you doing, buddy?"...LOL'd. This is exactly how I talk to my body too. Hope the 'one foot swelling problem' goes away!
ReplyDeleteI hate reading that you are going through so much, yet at the same time glad to know I can go back and read through your blog when I'm pregnant and know I'm not the only one. Thanks for sharing! I hope everything is okay, no blood clots or anything. Keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteBOTH of mine would swell, but never just the one. My sis-in-law would have just the one and she would just do as you did and POOF, (well, not poof... but eventually) her foot would go back to normal. There's such a love/hate/worry relationship with pregnancy!
ReplyDeleteThough it may seem weird I would totally recommend "feet up the wall". We did it in my prenatal yoga class every session and I would do it every time my feet started to puff while pregnant. To be honest, it even feels good when not pregnant.
ReplyDeleteSimply, do your best to get your butt up as close to the wall as possible, feet outward to either direction (both feet together of course) and then turn legs upward to the sky allowing feet & legs to rest flush against the wall (as best as you can). I promise it'll help both the swelling, any anxiety and even back pain!
All the very best
You can send me pictures of your feet anytime!
ReplyDeleteDoes that sound creepy?
My left foot swelled way more than my wrote throughout my 2nd and 3rd trimester. I never had any pain though and the swelling would always go down at night when I had my feet up.
ReplyDeleteStill now though, 4 months after giving birth, my feet are about a size bigger than they used to be. Good excuse to buy all new shoes.
Glad that things are getting back to normal.
ReplyDelete