QuestionHi im samantha, im 19 and i am 37 weeks pregnant. i had a question about a few things. I went to the hospital saturday due to lots of major cramping and tightning of the stomach, but it wasnt labor, i was dehydrated, and the last few days my cramps have been getting worse and on my weekly email i get it says ill be experiencing a lot more cramps and discharge. how do i know whats normal and what i need to watch out?!? Also my ankles are starting to swell really bad. i stopped wearing socks and tennis shoes ive been wearing slippers,flip flops or slip on shoes, and they stay swollen allday. For example im in driving school, i have to walk up stairs to get to the class and my ankles swell really bad and get very sore and hurts to walk on them. I can walk in short distance anywhere and they swell and hurt real bad and tender to walk. I keep my feet propped and ive tried cold washcloths,ice, and warmth on them also, is it normal to get that bad? im sorry if these questions are kinda weird, but this is my first and i freak out about everything! thank you for your time
AnswerCongratulatons on your pregnancy- It wont be long now! Your questions are not weird at all.
The swollen ankles are very common the same thing happened to me the first time I was pregnant. I would say (especially since you say you were dehydrated) keep drinking the water and avoid salt. What does your doctor say? The general rule about dehydration even when not pregnant, is if you pee and it is yellow, you are somewhat dehydrated. Drink constantly.
Nothing may help the swollen feet it is just part of pregnancy...sorry! You only have a short while to go. hang in there. (again check with your dr.)
As far as the cramps and discharge- all normal- of course any woman (including myself and this is my 3rd pregnancy) wonders how they will KNOW they are in labor. First off the emergency room staff and labor and delivery are extremely used to women showing up who are NOT in labor but who are having cramps etc... very common. They would rather you come in and get checked and make sure all is OK than to ignore something and potentially have a problem, so do not worry about that. I went in once thinking my water had broken and it turned out I had just peed. You can laugh. We laugh about it now.
Anyway, as far as water breaking, yours may not break on its own. Mine never did; they always had to break it at the hospital. It only breaks in about 10% of labors on its own. If you feel a gush of water-like liquid that is probably your water breaking...or if you find you are continually leaking water-like fluid, monitor it and see, that could also be your water breaking. It may or may not gush out; it could be a slow trickle (because the baby's head is plugging it, so to speak) but it is NOT like discharge. If you are not sure, head on to the hospital and let them check or let your Dr check but if you think your water broke you really should not wait.
As far as labor pains go, usually they start out feeling like menstrual cramps that come and go in waves. They do NOT have to be regularly timed, such as every 20 minutes or every 5 minutes. of course if they are regular cramps, start timing them. If you start feeling crampy, start writing the duration of the cramps and how far apart they are. Another thing to try is changing your position- if you are sitting or laying down, try moving around or laying on another side. If the cramps go away, it is not labor. Labor pains do NOT go away. You also probably do not have to worry about hurrying to the hospital- it is very rare that first babies come so fast you cant get to the hospital on time- once your contractions are every few minutes apart, (say, 4 minutes or so) you might think about heading to wherever you are to deliver. Of course at this point you should have already called your dr to see what they say. But if you have crampy feelings every 10-15 minutes or so, you probably aren't more than a centimeter or two dilated, and there is truly no reason to rush.
you are not freaking out; you are just concerned, and curious, and anxious for it to be over already. I totally understand. every woman who has ever had a baby could relate to how you feel. As wonderful as being pregnant is, it can be scary, all these things happening to the body that we have never felt and cannot explain.
You will do just fine; hang in there; you are almost done! keep checking with your doctor; probably he/she is seeing you weekly now?
Good luck! :-) get some rest- because soon... the baby will be here... andi
