sunshine G, i read in baby center, that its because of water retention in the hands, it compresses the nerves in ur wrist, leading to pain/ numbness/ achy sensations..
sorta like carpal tunnel. to relieve the pain/ swelling, can do simple massage, like rubbing gently, to ease the retention, dont sleep with ur hands flexed.. For me, i now avoiding wringing towels dry.. cos the twisting effect hurts my hands. I am avoiding lifting things with it too.
the dominant hand will be more affected..
info from the net also says, it should ease off when baby is born, cos the retention will be gone and the hormones will be back to normal. It also says pple who are more prone to rentention, might get the hand pains more.. (me got retention in the legs..)