Camping and Pregnancy: seemed like a good idea at first

I'd been back to work just about a month, but it was time for a break. My sister and her friends were going camping for the 4th of July and I thought that'd be a good break from the real world.

On the 3rd, I'd scheduled a non-stress test and an office visit with my OB. Up until this point, I had only gained 20 pounds in the pregnancy. Awesome, right? Until I stepped on the scale that day. I was up 6 pounds just from my last visit not much more than a week ago. Yikes!

They did an ultrasound and non-stress test and the babies looked fantastic. Aside from the fact that between the two of them they already weighed a little bit over 9 pounds! WHOA! That's a LOT of baby. More than I'd carried my whole pregnancy with Peyton, since he was only 7 lb 14 oz when he was born at 41 weeks. That might explain all that weight gain.

I was cleared to go camping, although my OB said I was crazy! I'd done it while I was pregnant with Peyton, it wouldn't be too hard! (I hoped.)

First day of camping, and boy was it nice to be away from the "real world." No cell phone service meant no Facebook notifications, no emails, and nothing to worry about. Or so I thought.

After just one day of being there (and I'm positive it was not the cause) I started to swell up a LOT in my feet and ankles. And let me assure you, I was by no means out hiking a mountain or running around. I was CAMPING for goodness sake. For pregnant me, that meant watching the kids run around and sitting by the campfire all day hoping I'd get the sympathy I needed from my sister to not have to do much. It worked, thankfully. But, even the slightest amount of time standing, including walking a little bit to the bathroom, my feet got even worse. I had to prop my feet as often as I could, but this was getting absolutely uncomfortable. I had had swelling with Peyton, but only a few days before I had delivered.

By the time I returned home from camping, I was even more miserable. My toes were so chubby I could barely move them. Thankfully I had another scheduled appointment with the OB to check on things, because I was convinced as "normal" as swelling was, this was not.