How can you avoid water retention and swelling?

[KamKol]

I think I'm starting to swell up. I'm only 21 weeks, is it normal at this stage??

My feet are looking quite "full" - my feet are normally quite slim (hard to explain) and boney but they look slightly fat - my sis just spotted them after I took my slippers off, and she said they are looking quite different...

I don't even remember how my feet looked pre pregnancy!

I don't get to walk or be active that often, maybe a couple of times a week I manage to get out the house to really have a good walk around.

If I AM swelling up, what can I do to avoid it?

 

[Akira]

Hey hun I have been getting this too, I got told to elevate my feet and wrap them in a cold towel, and cut down on my salt intake. The one I found random was I was also told to increse my water intake, apparantly the more you drink, the less your feet swell, not quite sure how that works though

 

[Sam9kids]

Elevate!

 

[deobi]

I started swelling around the same time as you and it hasn't really gotten worse but my joints are sometime sore becasue of it. I have found drinking tons of water helps. The first few days I felt too full by my body got used of it and it really works. I try to have a glass of water before meals, snacks before starting something at work - basically as often as I can.

I also sleep with my feet on a couple pillows to elevate them. Took a couple days to get used of but this is also helping. I also don't stand/sit in one place for too long. Oh and I read bananas or potatoes are good to eat regularly as they have potassium - this might help too.

 

[Windmills]

Things I can think of that cause water retention.. salt, dehydration (even very slight), too much caffeine. It may well just be hormones though! xx