I better start off by explaining that I'm a British expat living in France. Things are a wee bit different here concerning medical advice sometimes and I'm a bit confused as to what my doc was trying to advise me to do because a) I've never heard of this before and b) he spoke really fast in French and I've got a bit of a short attention span and kind of tuned him out when I realised I didn't have a clue what he was on about!!

So today he weighed me and said I need to be careful about water retention. I haven't noticed any swelling really, I just thought I was getting really fat!! He told me to avoid salt, which I have been doing from the beginning and he also said whenever possible to lie down on my left side because it will take the weight off the ventricles (?) to the kidneys so it'll help with water that I drink But i always lie on my left side so that's not a problem.

Anyway the doc tried to explain to me that I wasn't to drink a lot of water at once and said something about taking very small drinks and swirling it about my mouth first or something...

Does anyone know anything about this because he's expecting me to have lost a kilo next time I see him (in 4 weeks) in water weight if I follow his advice!! I'd LOVE to lose a kilo in water weight...this'll teach me to pay more attention I suppose! He also said that the water retention can turn into cellulite and is hard to shift afterwards and to be fair I think I've already got enough of my fair share of cellulite!!

Please help if you've heard of this or know of any other way to avoid water retention!

Not sure about the swirling around in the mouth bit, but if you take in too much water at once you can retain that water and it will show in swelling etc. Kinda weird advice of u ask me!

I drink a lot of water and I don't have much swelling so you would have to drink a high amount in a day to have alot of retention. I just end up peeing more lol

Seemed strange advice to me too! And because he told me not to drink big amounts at once I've been MEGA thirsty all day long, desperate to gulp down a big bottle of water!!

I have been too. Just try and take a big gulp here and there. But remember some women just retain more water than others

Thanks hon I was expecting swollen ankles but I feel like the water retention is in my face and giving me a horrible double chin! Still, it'll all be worth it in the end

You wont retain water from drinking too much water.
Your body will retain it if it gets dehydrated/thinks it wont get anymore - and usually from too much salt.

To get rid of it, you have to drink MORE water.

The laying on the left side bit relieves pressure on the vena cava. From reading between the lines . The dr is trying to "off load " you like a heart patient. Was this an OB or a GP? Do you have a heart condition??
Very odd, ive never heard of restricticting fluids to reduce oedema in pregnancy before. Next thing will be having ketones in your urine cos your dehydrated lol
Id go back or get a second opinion its a bit odd.

Thanks! That's exactly what I had read, not to cut back on water but to keep well hydrated. I never add table salt to meals but maybe I should start looking at the food I've been eating and checking the salt content...

He's an ob/gyn in the private clinic that I'll be giving birth in. I don't have a heart condition whatsoever - touch wood! I did think it was the weirdest thing to tell me not to take big drinks but then I doubt myself and I wonder if I've picked it up all wrong because French isn't my native language...

Hello again! Long time no see

Are you sure he could've meant not to take huge drinks at once but to space it well throughout the day? If you drink too much at once it'll just flush through your body and doesn't really do much about anything. If you drink a lot, but regularly, say a big gulp every 10 mins throughout the day, it'll help your body to hydrate much better.

If he really did mean "don't drink too much" I think he's rather stupid.