I’m 22 weeks pregnant and since about 8 weeks into my pregnancy I noticed the veins on my right calf have become more pronounced! In my first pregnancy I had a varicose vein sprout on my right calf and this pregnancy it really expanded and now most of my right calf is super veiny and gross looking.  I bought a compression sleeve off Amazon, naturally and showed my midwife my varicose veins. She said I could go to a vein specialist to get checked out, the first one I called wouldn’t even see me because I’m pregnant and they can’t treat me. I went back and asked for another specialist. I just want to get it checked out to make sure it’s not a danger to me or this little baby in my belly.

Today I went to Kimmel Institute in Boca. The nurse checked me out and took an ultrasound of my leg, she confirmed the diagnosis with Dr. Kimmel who came in shortly after and he explained to me what exactly is Vein Disease. Basically the veins in my leg aren’t correctly pulling the blood up and down my leg so little veins are sprouting around that area. The pressure on my uterus from this pregnancy are creating the environment for the veins to look worse. Fortunately, this is not harmful to the baby or me. The thing to do right now is to wear a full leg compression sleeve (sigh). After I have the baby and finish breastfeeding I can go back to get treated with the procedure called, Endovenous Laser Ablation (EVLA).

I’m thankful this is something that can be treated later and relieved the baby is not affected. It was interesting to learn how the vein system works. Dr. Kimmel explained it really well, I’m not doing a good job explaining it like he did. He did say to make sure I’m well hydrated and also to avoid high intensity activities such as running, jogging or hiit workouts which I have stopped all those activities early on this pregnancy. He said regular exercise is ok like walking, light weights and yoga so I’m going to continue doing that.

That’s all for today!