Pregnancy and Leg Cramps
Around half way through of both of my pregnancies I started to experiencing leg cramps in the middle of the night.
What happens is that sleep goes normally until I get the urge to stretch. If I stretch a certain way, the muscles in my calves tense up and I get what feels like a charlie horse.
While trying to figure out how I can stop this, I found this information at the March of Dimes. Hopefully it can be helpful to other pregnant moms out there.
The reasons for increased leg cramps during pregnancy aren't clear. They may be caused by: Leg Cramps: What You Can Do
Here are some tips to prevent or relieve leg cramps:
Leg cramps are a sudden tightening of muscles, which can cause intense pain. The muscles may tighten for a variety of reasons, such as lack of fluids, injury, muscle strain, or staying in the same position for a long period of time. Blood circulation problems or pressure on the nerves in the spine can also cause cramp-like pains in your legs.
Experts once thought that leg cramps were caused by too little calcium in the diet. They no longer believe that this is true. (But be sure you are eating enough dairy products and other foods that contain calcium during pregnancy. This nutrient is important to your baby's development and helps keep your own bones strong and healthy.)
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