Early Pregnancy and Water Retention

[bunnywabbit]

I'm only 6+2 and have been putting on weight in areas since coming off the LE diet. To begin with I thought it was the celebratory "off the diet, yay!" thing, but that was short lived. I eat fairly small to regular sized portions and have started to go off sugar which was my one major like - don't want chocolate, don't feel for cake, don't even TALK to me about chocolate cake. At a stretch I can have fruit as long as it isn't too sweet (no grapes, rarely banana). We've been out to eat out a few times since my BFP which can become a bit of a chore as the meal goes on - can manage a starter and part of a main. No real interest in dessert whatsoever. Can't eat heavily salted or fried/oily stuff. I might have a small handful of cashew nuts (6-8 nuts) every other day to help with mild nausea.

Got home after an evening out last night and felt really quite big all over. Though it may have been bloating from the meal until I took my socks off - my ankles where my socks were resting left a fairly noticeable depression. My upper stomach feels prematurely swollen apart from when I wake up, as well as the tops of my thighs and arms. I can't really bring myself to weigh how much I've put on. Even DH who isn't the most observant at times has picked up on it. If I'm not eating too badly, I'm putting it down to water retention.

Is water retention a 6+2 normal? Does it ease up on it's own or will it be a constant throughout the pregnancy? Are there any tips to what to do, take or eat to stop this? I'm drinking as much water as I can (6-8 cups) and have started munching celery today. Really starting to feel like I should be wearing maternity wear already...