URGENT! Swelling??

[BTS1022]

So I know that swelling is apart of pregnancy, and that some swelling is a danger sign in pregnancy. This is why im worried, im 26 weeks pregnant with my 4th child and I have NEVER and I mean NEVER had swelling with my other pregnancies.

Tonight after visiting my neighbor for about an hour, I stood up and it felt as if my skin was going to rip right in half. Now the swelling is only in my left calf, and it is so severe it is pulling where my shin is.

My other calf isnt swollen as bad, atleast not visibly bad, but it feels a tad tight. My ankles, feet, hands and face are not swollen. It only appears to be my left calf.

Should I go to the ER or wait to call my doc tomorrow? Is there a way to check my BP at home, I dont have a BP cuff or machine. Im really worried, I do have cats and have changed the litter box once(i know its bad). Im just freaked out because I have never swelled up before.

[martikadragoon]

BTS1022~ The reason he'll want you to go to the ER is for a Doppler of your leg to make sure you don't have a Deep Vein Thrombosis (My mom had one years ago and I was worried due to pain in my calf and went in. The tech confirmed that pregnant women are at exceptionally high risk of them)

It is important that if your leg is "heated" feeling (warmer than the other one noticeably) and swollen and painful that you go in and get it checked out. It's better to be safe than sorry. :)
And I know how it is for the hubby... mine has been making sure I drink a bunch of water since my hospital visit last week due to dehydration. not fun.

[BTS1022]

Well I called my OB and he said to keep my leg elevated, do stretching and drink plenty of fluids. He told me if the pain and swelling is still there by tomorrow then to make my way to the ER or to cal and make an office appointment.

So the swelling went down today, but my leg feels like it got run over by a tractor trailer lol. So here I am on the couch with some lunch, elevating my legs and hubby making me drink a TON of water lol.

[spade22]

This is probably too late to reply but I agree with the other posters and wanted to add to more things:

1) Changing cat litter will not cause your swelling.  The reason not to change litter while pregnant is because of the risk of toxoplasmosis which is a protozoa.  If you become infected w/ this you will likely not have any noticeable symptoms (certainly not swelling).

2) Any time you want to check your BP you can pop down to the supermarket or local pharmacy - they usually have a free machine you can use.  You can also buy your own BP kit for about $50 at these places but these are notorious for giving false readings so if you ever did decide to go that route, it would be wise to calibrate the instrument at your doctors office.

[Leanna26]

LOL if you check out my pics you can see how bad my ankles were just a few weeks ago. I had servere swelling in both my legs and ankles, even my hands which caused carpel tunnel.

Drink TONS of fluids... mostly water. Keep your feet elevated, if needed use ice while elevating to bring down swelling.
Also avoid salt, and sleep on your left side. Make sure you always tell your doc every visit about your swelling. They will check your blood pressure and maybe even send you for blood work. I had pretty bad edema with an elevated blood pressure.

Try to stay off your feet, and relax. Thankfully almost 2 weeks after my little girl is born now and the swelling is finally starting to go away. I had gained about 18 pounds in just water weight. 8lbs of which was in one week. Just let them know and they will take care of it from there.

[lazenza]

Hi, I would definately call your GP, I had swelling in later pregnancy and they kept an eye on me as it's one of the signs to pre-eclampsia, im sure you will be fine but get checked out!!

Let us know how you get on!!

[drguruncs]

I agree with calling your doc. Meantime elevate your feet and even use the arm of your couch and start making circles with your feet and pointing them forward and up, etc. to get a good bloodflow going and drink a TON of water. Because of my edema, I had to cut back on salts BIG TIME and drink more than a gallon of water a day.... my daily weight fluctuates, no lie, 4-8 lbs a day, but it helps flush your system and the feet exercise while propped up should help too.

[Michele, Katy, TX]

I would def call the on call doctor.  It's always so hard to tell one way or the other.  There are so many things in pregnancy that can be normal but can also be a red flag that something could be wrong.  I'd call and keep us posted!!