Swelling early in pregnancy hmmm

[nov_mum]

Hi there, I was wondering what your thoughts and experiences are on swelling early in pregnancy. This is my fourth with previous three pregnancies all being PE pregnancies. I am 13+3 today so very early days which is why I am posting really. I know PE tends to present after 18-22 weeks but this morning I woke with tight hands. I was baking yesterday and my rings slipped off with no problems. They fit slightly loosely. But this am, my hands felt tight and I had trouble getting my rings off. I have kept them off and put them away for now but two hours later the ring indents are still there but better than when I first took them off. My hands still feel tight but slightly better after moving around. Any thoughts?

[ellemoon]

Hi I'm fairly new here but I thought I would chime in...
I have chronic HTN and I take a medication to help with swelling on a daily basis. I also had severe pre-e at 29 weeks and swelling (pitting edema) started at 24 weeks. So, I'm pretty familiar with swelling, unfortunately.
Did you eat a lot of sodium the day before? What about water.. are you drinking enough? Those are the things I would definitely look into first. Also, check your BP. Be sure to drink a lot of water and limit sodium. If the swelling doesn't improve, I would call your doctor and definitely mention it to them at your next appt either way.

[blythe]

Good point ellemoon. Our docs have said that sodium intake doesn't seem to be correlated to preeclampsia, but I swear they've also noted that anyone with a history of preeclampsia should assume that they're salt sensitive unless proven otherwise. I can't find the link at the moment - let me know if you come across it!

I've also heard doctors just note that swelling can be normal in pregnancy, that's why they took it off the official diagnostic criteria. Not too helpful in fixing your discomfort, I know!

[nov_mum]

Thanks for our replies. I hadn't indulged in high sodium foods that I am aware of. It was a day at home spent baking and hanging out with the family so no junk food (my usual source of shocking levels of sodium haha). It's been off and on and I am just playing the waiting game. BP is up already. I'm sure next midwife appointment I will get referred to the OB clinic and then the torture of wait rooms, monitoring and the waiting games will progress from there. At least this time around I am under no delusion that I might escape it and have a normal birth like a normal person (if there is such a thing!). BP 146/92 today so I'm sure that the labetalol isn't far away from making it on my shelf at home