Your uterus extends well above your navel now. You may actually be seeing fetal movement across your abdomen as baby gets comfortable in his shrinking living space. As baby seems to get more nimble, you feel exceedingly klutzy — breaking everything that isn't nailed down, tripping over your own swollen feet, and upsetting low-lying knickknacks with your burgeoning belly. Blame it on your shifting center of gravity, and be careful if you're walking in slippery or icy conditions.

Your Body Changes

If the shoe fits…consider yourself lucky. Few women are able to fit into all their prepregnancy shoes for nine whole months. What's behind all the swelling? The dramatic increase in blood volume you've experienced in order to nurture your child is feeding excess fluids to surrounding tissues, resulting in edema (or water retention). To make matters worse, the weight of your uterus is requiring the veins in your legs to work double time to pump all that extra blood back to the heart. And, of course, another culprit is (say it together, everyone) pregnancy hormones, as estrogen increases the amount of fluid your tissues absorb.

The result of all this is puffy and sometimes aching feet. Putting your feet up when you can, wearing comfortable low-heeled shoes, and soaking your feet in cool water are all good ways to ease the discomfort. Special compression stockings, available at medical supply stores, can also be helpful.

Don't restrict fluids or sodium. Although avoiding excess sodium intake is fine, you actually need slightly more sodium in your diet in pregnancy to maintain your electrolyte balance. Fluids are crucial as well to prevent dehydration and keep you and baby well.

What You Feel Like

You might have added leg cramps to your laundry list of pregnancy complaints. Stretching out your calf muscles can often quash a cramp, so the next time one hits extend your legs and point your toes toward your head. Some providers suggest calcium supplements to ease cramping, but clinical studies are inconclusive as to whether this treatment is effective (although it can't hurt, given your increased calcium needs right now). A number of studies have found, however, that oral magnesium supplementation can be useful in alleviating cramps in some women. Check with your health care provider to see what she suggests.

Leg cramps can also be triggered by compression of your sciatic nerve — a condition commonly known as sciatica. Sciatica can also cause numbness and burning pain down the length of your leg and in your lower back and buttocks. Try stretching, a warm compress, or a tub soak for relief. (And if you haven't already, review the tips for dealing with lower back pain in Chapter 10.) If sciatica becomes more than a minor annoyance, talk to your health care provider. A date with a physical therapist may be in order.

If your leg pain is accompanied by swelling, redness, and skin that is warm to the touch, call your health care provider to report your symptoms. You could be experiencing deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a blood clot in your leg that impedes circulation and has the potential to embolize (or break off and block a major blood vessel). Pregnant women are five times more likely to develop DVT than their nonpregnant peers due to a slowdown of blood flow and an increase in clotting factors. However, DVT itself is relatively rare, occurring in less than one of every 1,000 pregnancies. If DVT is diagnosed, intravenous anticoagulant drugs are typically prescribed to treat the clot, and bed rest is advised.

Other symptoms on the menu yet again this month include:

Nausea

Fatigue

Frequent urination

Tender and/or swollen breasts

Bleeding gums

Excess mucus and saliva

Increase in normal vaginal discharge

Mild shortness of breath

Lightheadedness or dizziness

Headaches

Forgetfulness

Gas, heartburn, and/or constipation

Skin and hair changes

Round ligament pain or soreness

Lower back aches

Mild swelling of legs, feet, and hands.