28 Weeks: Pregnancy Calf Cramps to Wake the DEAD
If you are or have been pregnant, odds are you know what I’m talking about. Over 50% of pregnant women suffer (and I mean suffer!!!) from these horrible, jaw clenching seizures in the muscles of the legs, usually in the calves, and (for me anyway) the sneaky little devils like to strike in the middle of the night.
I started getting them every other night around 2a.m. about two weeks ago. One was so bad it lasted into the next day and had me limping… considering a cane or a crutch as I was going to a convention downtown and needed to walk a ton. Ego prevented me from going to that extreme so I just limped along for the day and sat as much as possible.
I’ve figured out a few things that work to help my cramps and hope they help if you are suffering from them too!
- Sometimes if I freeze (much like a deer in the headlights) those nasty leg cramps will pass me right on by. I love when this happens but have to say, it’s the exception… not the rule.
- When they do strike, I get right out of bed and put some weight through the leg. this not only flexes the foot putting the spasm-ed calf muscles on stretch, but weight bearing is supposed to have a mellowing effect on spastic muscles… a trick I learned as a physical therapist.
- Massage the muscles. I use the same massage oil I use for belly massage and to prevent stretch marks. If I’m lucky, I wake my husband with all my moving around (not to mention the sounds of pain that come from me, enough to have anyone in earshot swearing I was in labor) and he works my calves with the oil. One of only two perks I can think of from the whole calf pain thing.
- The other thing I do, and the second “perk” (if you can call it that) of having calf cramps to wake the dead in pregnancy… is that it gives me a chance to pretend I’m in labor. Yup. I actually have decided with each spasm to pretend I am indeed in labor… to soften my other muscles even as the one in questions locks into a spasm. This is exactly what occurs in labor, except that it’s my uterus doing the seizing not my leg muscles. I breathe in the mantra “I am love” and breathe out with “I am enough”. This really does help. Mind over matter? I think so.
- Following nights where the cramps were super bad, I wake up and soak my legs in as hot of water as I can stand. This REALLY sets me up to win… taking me from limping in pain to limp free in 20 minutes.
- And finally, I have started eating a banana, handful of almonds and glass of o.j. a day as I’ve read all of these can help. I think they do. That and being sure I remain hydrated through the day, but I tell ‘ya, if I drink any more water than I already am, I’m bound to float away.
I know I’m not the only one out there so I’d love to hear from you, misery loves company… do you get calf or leg cramps? when did they start? and what do you do about them that seems to work?
This Zen Mommy Minute is published in partnership with Due Maternity, a great place for maternity clothes. xoxo
Suzanne Tucker, aka Zen Mommy
In addition to mommying to two magical girls born in 2000 and 2003 and expecting twins in Jan of 2010, Suzanne co-owns a holistic health center with her husband Shawn in St. Louis, Missouri where she practices as a physical therapist, Certified Educator of Infant Massage and health education teacher. Certified in a number of healing and life education approaches, Suzanne offers ongoing tips on parenting and is the co-creator of the Yogi Parenting approach to positive parenting.
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I love to write, learn, and share what I know - all while taking lots of pictures. I live in Los Angeles and am married to a very handsome man named Stan. We have a 5 year old Vizsla, a 3 year old daughter, and one on the way (due Aug, 2011). Thanks for stopping by!
28 Weeks: Pregnancy Calf Cramps to Wake the DEAD http://bit.ly/8euRcS
28 Weeks: Pregnancy Calf Cramps to Wake the DEAD http://bit.ly/86kdUR
#pregnancy 28 Weeks: Pregnancy Calf Cramps to Wake the DEAD: If you are or have been pregnant, odds are you know wh… http://bit.ly/86kdUR
28 Weeks: Pregnancy Calf Cramps to Wake the DEAD http://bit.ly/8euRcS
Pregnancy >> 28 Weeks: Pregnancy Calf Cramps to Wake the DEAD: If you are or have been pregnant, odds are you k… http://bit.ly/86kdUR #fb
OMG I remember those. it felt like someone is slicing your muscle open. ouch!
BTW: I have a weekly featured supermom spot on my blog. see you interested in guest blogging. lets talk more.
Is this all it is? I have been waking up, stretching without thinking it, which includes flexing my calves. Then my calf won’t unflex and just gets tighter and tighter until I manually flex my foot to untighten my calf muscle. It’s getting so regular that I decided to surf the net this morning to figure it out. I do hope it’s just a pregnancy thing. I have a minor neurological issue and wanted to make sure it’s not related or that I’m not deficient in some mineral. I do know I should be drinking more water.
well written blog. Im glad that I could find more info on this. thanks
Right at 28 weeks, I started experiencing these horrible calf cramps, and you are right, they could wake the dead. I had a doctor’s appointment hours after my first one, first thing the next morning, and they said to take 2 calcium supplements before bed to help this, but BabyCenter.com said that is no longer the thinking on this. What I’ve done that has really helped is do some stretches before I get out of bed in the morning and when I go to bed at night. I just flex my feet and do ankle rolls for a minute or two. It seems to be preventing the cramps and make my tired, sore legs feel better in general. And when the cramps do strike, I agree with your second tip — as hard as it is to make yourself do it, put weight on them and stretch through it. It makes them go away pretty quickly, but obviously nothing could make them go away fast enough!!! They’re awful!
Yes, in my early pregnancy I couldn’t sleep for the spasms in my legs, but for the past few weeks I’ve been eating 2-3 bananas every day and my legs aren’t been waking me up any more! Now I don’t know what I’d do without my bananas and banana smoothies!
Misery does love company. I guess nobody is doing research on this stuff because there doesn’t seem to be a clear cut cure. Mine are so bad I swear the muscles are going to completely detach from the bone or rip in two. Sometimes the soreness lasts me several days afterward. I will try the hot water bottle and maybe some Icy Hot since this phenomenon mostly compares to a sports injury. I am at 20 weeks and I suppose by the time I reach 9 months – I’ll likely be in a wheelchair. These leg cramps make contractions feel like a walk in the park. In fact, I may go natural this time…
Lord knows I love being but legs cramps suck. I am 25 weeks pg and last nite i almost gave my husband a heart attack with my blood curdling scream. He must have thought an intruder was choking me.I had almost simultaneous legs cramps in both of my calves. Plus I could barely walk much less walk to off. Thanks for the dietary tips, I will try all of them.
I’m on baby number 2, and just shy of 27 weeks. I woke up 4 days ago with the first nasty round of leg crampage this pregnancy has decided to gift me with. Let me say, I did NOT miss that part of the experience. It feels like all the muscle tisssue in my leg are flash-frozen and then someone starts shattering them with one great squeeze! Had the second one occurin the opposite leg this morning but it wasn’t nearly as bad (I’m still sore and tender from the first one 4 days ago).
I’ve found that taking one of my vitimins before I go to bed tends to help, and massaging the muscles is usually the only way to alleviate the horrid spasming. Let me just say, had I known what my poor mother went through to bring me into this world while I was growing up, I would have re-thought the whole adolescent angst phase!