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Day 201 of 280 · 28 weeks + 5 days

Feet up

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 9 sources · Plain-text version

Twenty-eight weeks and five days. Puffy ankles are common now, especially in the heat. Tonight you put your feet up for an hour, on purpose.

Size this week
about the size of an aubergine
Length this week
around 37.6 cm from head to heel
A woman with a full bump in a loose linen dress on a sofa, feet in socks raised on a stack of cushions, a glass of water on the side table, an older child reading beside her, evening light.

Twenty-eight weeks and five days. If your shoes feel tighter by evening, you're in good company. Today is about swelling: the ordinary kind, what helps, and the kind that needs a call.

Your baby

A single glossy aubergine on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around 37.6cm from head to heel, about the size of an aubergine (NHS). The growing from here is mostly filling out: by 32 weeks, the Office on Women's Health says, a baby is about 15 to 17 inches long and gaining roughly half a pound a week (OWH).

Your body

The NHS lists swelling in the ankles, feet, and face at this stage, especially in hot weather. It's probably water retention, but the NHS says it should be checked for pre-eclampsia (NHS). Your blood pressure is checked at every follow-up visit (OWH), and this is one of the reasons.

What helps, from the Office on Women's Health: drink eight to 10 glasses of fluids daily, cut back on caffeine and salty foods, rest with your feet raised, and ask your doctor about support hose (OWH). Heat makes it worse, and the CDC says pregnancy can make you more likely to get sick when it's very hot (CDC).

Try today

  1. The feet-up hour

    Time: 1 hour, in the evening

    1. Fill a large glass of water and put it within reach before you sit down.

    2. Lie back on the sofa or bed and raise your feet on a stack of cushions; resting with your feet raised is the Office on Women's Health's advice (OWH).

    3. Stay there for the hour. Read, call someone, watch something, doze.

    4. Notice how your ankles and feet look before and after, so you know what's normal for you.

    Make it work:

    If an hour is impossible, do two half-hours. If you work on your feet, MedlinePlus suggests asking for 15 minutes of sitting for every hour of standing (MedlinePlus).

Watch for

  • Normal

    ankles that swell by evening and go down overnight.

    Call your provider

    right away for extreme swelling of your hands or face (CDC).

  • Normal

    gradual puffiness.

    Call your provider

    for sudden swelling in the hands or feet, or rapid weight gain, which may signal preeclampsia (OWH), and for leg swelling that comes with headaches (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    both legs about the same.

    Call your provider

    right away for pain and swelling in one leg but not the other, which can be a sign of a blood clot (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    feeling the heat more than usual.

    Get medical care immediately

    for signs of heat-related illness (CDC).

For you

When you lie down, choose your side. MedlinePlus says lying on your left side improves circulation for the baby (MedlinePlus), and it's the same position your pillows are set up for at night.

An hour with your feet up can feel like an indulgence. It isn't. It's on the list of things that help (OWH), which makes it a task. If there are other children at home, they can join you with a book.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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