It’s just under a month now til my 2nd baby is due. Am I relaxed? Yes. And no.
I’m certainly more prepared than the first time. A bit of experience always does wonders for your self confidence. And this time round I know what to ask for and what to put up with. For example, I know to insist on skin to skin contact the moment the baby is born. No washing or wrapping. Just me and the bubba with Daddy really close. But that's all to come...
One thing’s for sure, Mother Nature has started playing tricks on me. This morning, my feet and ankles had swollen to the width of my knees.
Now it is generally accepted that an hourglass figure is an attractive shape for a woman. But I don’t think they mean on the lower limbs. I look like a relative of the elephant man.
The ‘medicals’ in your life will call this oedema - an accumulation of excess fluid under the skin. And it is very common in pregnancy. But it can indicate the serious condition pre-eclampsia. So if you experience it, call your doctor or midwife for further tests.
I had the swelling last time too. And it got pretty bad. None of my shoes fitted in the three months before the birth and I actually had to go and buy special shoes that were 100% Velcro fastening – even over the toes. Every week I’d have to let them out a bit more. (Rrrrrripppp). The shame.
By the way, type ‘velcro shoes into Google and you get 695,000 results. Who knew?
Ironically your best defence against saggy ankles during pregnancy is to drink lots of water to flush the excess fluid out, and keep your feet elevated higher than your heart.
Not easy to do this if you are typing, (I am trying as I write, honest, but it requires the abs of an Olympic gymnast and the absence of a bump).
But my stress-free tip is to put a couple of pillows under the foot of your mattress so that you are lying at a ‘drain my ankles’ angle all night. By the morning, things can be better (although you perhaps risk having developed a huge face!).
Good news. When Daisy was born, my feet de-swelled. It was the equivalent of feeling you’d lost about 10 stone in a week. Although (bad news) my feet ended up a size bigger than they were before. Which (good news) meant I had to buy a whole new wardrobe of shoes.
I’m looking at Daisy while I type this. She hasn’t got a clue about how her life is going to change in a few weeks. Forget stressed mums. It’s going to be a massive change for her too. And she hasn’t had the benefit of going through it all before...
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