hi,
sorry to hear about the water retention! During my pregnancy, I was very fortunate not to have any water retention (wore my jewellry right up to delivery), here's some tips :
1. drink alot of fluid, esp water, during the day (not in the evening as you dont' want to be making trips to the bathroom through the night) - body retains water when you are dehydrated so the more you drink the less you retain
2. esp towards the last trimester, put your feet up as much as possible when sitting down (I'd have my lunch/reading time etc on the sofa with my legs up)
3. exercise - moving the body helps, walking is really the best
4. hand and feet exercise - do lots of hand and feet rotations (clockwise and then anti-clockwise) and stretches - ie stretch your feet and hands out as widely as possible then contract them (all taught in prenatal yoga classes which I did up to the day I delivered)
5. I was told watercress soup (Chinese style) also helps as watercress helps fluid retention (although I drank heaps of it cos I loved the taste!)
Good luck!
Rgds
Sumei