Yup, I was told it was normal too. I had bad swelling before and even worse after :-\ It was so bad that my thighs ran right into my feet (Thankles if you will!) It was pretty painful, as in if my skin were to stretch anymore I thought it was going to rip!! I couldn't bed down either to get the lotion on so my mom or DH had to do that for me :( I was so unbelievably embarrassed by it. My DH kept asking the nurses to make sure it was normal, because they were all shocked with how swollen I was. He finally said to them "Just tell me you have seen worse!" And thankfully they said yes, but I can't imagine it being much worse than mine!!
I just remembered that when they took the pressure booties off my legs, I had indents from where the booties hugged my shins/calves, that's how swollen!!