Conference moira::parenting_v3

    The leg cramps are not necessarily from lack of fluids - they can also
    be caused by the baby's position and pressure on nerves. My last month
    (I was 12 days overdue) I would get extreme leg aches in bed at night
    no matter the position - I would often stand up for awhile, dozing on
    my feet!
    

    According to the nurses who ran the birthing refresher class I took for
    my second child, second children, statistically, are faster births
    (i.e., shorter labor) than first.  In fact, they said that no matter 
    how many pregnancies you have, the second delivery is usually the
    fastest.  In my case this was very true.  Started labor at 4 am,
    and my son was delivered at 7 am.  While this may not be the case for
    you, be prepared.  A coworker of mine just had her second and when she
    started having contractions, just hung out for a while thinking that
    she had hours to go before delivery (comparing it to her first).  She
    ended up delivering her child in an ambulance in the parking lot of the
    hospital.
    
    I think leg cramps are pretty common in pregnancy.  I know I had them -
    not so much with the second as with the first.  I used to get them
    years ago when I used to smoke - I guess I attributed to whatever
    smoking does to your blood (low oxygen count or whatever), not getting
    enough of whatever was needed to the muscles.  I don't know if this
    same principle applies to pregnancy.
    
    Good luck with the birth!
    
    Valerie

    
    Could also be low potassium .. my husband has to take potassium
    supplement for leg cramps.
    
    Re:  Low calcium and athletes .. my daughter also gets severe leg 
    	 cramps when she swims (she's on a swim team), and her coach
    	 said it was a lactose problem .. she can't have any milk and
    	 very few milk products during swim season.  Her coach also
    	 mentioned potassium so she also has to eat a banana every day
    	 during swim season.
    
    Good luck ...
    Kathy  ;-)

I haven't had any BH contractions that I know of and am due in 5 weeks.
One other slightly odd thing (I think) is that I've had no dreams about
this baby.

Liz

    With 4 weeks to go (Christmas baby), I haven't had any BH contractions.
    Nor did I have any with my first.  The leg cramps are definitely worse
    this time.  I'm really feeling aches - more so than cramps - in the
    top of my legs/thigh area.  
    
    I've got a doctor's appointment this afternoon and am going to ask
    about this one.
    
    An earlier reply commented on the 'refresher' childbirth class.  I'm
    debating whether or not to sign up for this.  (My son is only 19 months
    old so I remember labor....)  Did you find it helpful?
    
    Carol-who-hopes-second-labors-are-quicker-than-the-first!

    I found that drinking citrus fruit juice, especially unsweetened
    grapefruit juice, helped the leg cramps a lot.  (The doctor said
    grapefruit juice is rich in trace minerals, and an imbalance of
    trace minerals can cause muscle cramps.) So did lying on my back
    on the floor with my feet propped up on the couch.  So did having
    hubby massage my calves.  
    
    My second labor was by far the shortest out of three:  36 hours, 6
    hours, 19 hours.  The second was also the only baby who came early
    (two weeks) and the only one for which I had no Braxton-Hicks
    pain.  But the BH contractions nearly killed me last time :)
    
    --bonnie

    I had the worst leg cramps in the last month of my pregnancy, but
    then again, I get leg cramps anyway.  As a matter of fact, I woke
    up with a leg cramp this morning.  I also don't drink milk, I hate
    it.  It was tough getting me to drink milk during my pregnancy.
    I did force down a glass a day though.
    
    Lori B.

    
    Another explanation for leg cramps is tight muscles.  My OB recommended
    stretching my calves before bed and elevating my legs with pillows.
    
    Maybe we could run a contest to see who slept with the most pillows
    while pregnant.  [My max was 4]
    
    Rochelle

Calcium!!!  

I would wake up in the middle of the night with major Charlie horses!!!!  
I could *not* get rid of them, until I asked my doctor and she said calcium.  
I took several horse tablets of regular old calcium (I think they are 625 mg
each) and by the second night of calcium they were gone.  Any time after that
when I felt leg problems I would take a little calcium and wouldn't get a
charlie horse. I ignored it one time and didn't take the calcium and woke up in
the middle of the night screaming with pain again. 

I learned my lesson.  :-}

        Carol

    I have only had leg cramps once and that was two-three weeks ago.  The
    pain was so severe that it woke me in the middle of the night and I was
    screaming and crying (my husband thought I had gone into labour),
    eventually after about 10 minutes of massaging the cramp went away,
    although my leg felt so tight that it would cease again any minute. 
    All the next day I had a limp and couldn't put any weight on it so I
    saw my doctor who sent me straight up to the hospital for a
    'thermogram' and X-ray that doesn't use harmful rays, it uses the heat
    in the body to get a picture, because they were worried about blod
    clots, but everything was OK and I havn't had another since.
    
    They recommended the following:
    
    Drink lots of milk or other drinks with calcium in.  Eat milky
    puddings, yoghurts and lots of dairy products.  If the cramp does come
    back again, then stretch your leg out flat and point your toes back
    towards you (really stretch calf muscle) this should help it to go
    away.
    
    Barbara
    

    Well, I thumbed through a pregnancy book last night and it did confirm
    the calcium. It also mentioned lack of salt. Since most people are
    trying to avoid salt these days and when you're pregnant, the last
    thing you want is fluid retention, salt is often very limited in the
    pregnant woman's diet. The salt helps keep enough fluids in your body
    (the exact reason athletes will cramp up after not replenishing what
    they just lost and end up cramped). 
    
    Is this an excuse to eat potatoe chips, or what??? ;>)
    
    Andrea

    .10> stretch your leg out flat and point your toes back
    .10> towards you (really stretch calf muscle) this should help it to go
    .10> away.
    
    I can think of few things, save labor, that would be more painful than
    stretching a muscle in mid-cramp!  I had heard this advice many times,
    but mid-cramp, (to me) that technique is laughable.  I can't move ANY
    part of my body during a charlie horse (eyeballs included).  What I
    *did* was to use the pain as mini labor-endurance tests ("if I can wait
    this out, I'll have contractions licked.")--Hah!.  More power to anyone
    who can follow the "stretch it" advice... but I classify it with
    "Headache? Apply hammer" and "Wound? Apply salt."
    
    I think calcium does the trick, or lessens the frequency of attacks,
    but it may be like the common cold (treat it, and it'll go away in ten
    days; otherwise, it'll be a week and a half).
    
    Leslie            

    I had leg cramps during all of my pregnancies.  They happened at night
    and I woke up several times a week with them.  I was told by my
    OB that it was possibly potassium related (as mentioned earlier) so
    I ate a banana every day.  Also, quinine water helps (I forget why
    exactly, but it is administered for cramps) and I would have a "tonic"
    with lime during the day.  The old "stretch the muscle mid-cramp" advice 
    didn't work for me either.  I'd stretch out the calf muscle and the muscle
    in the FRONT of my leg would cramp and my foot would become stuck in a
    flexed position!  It was awful!!
    
    Maybe it's nature's way of getting you ready for both the labor-pain
    AND the sleepless nights!
    
    Good luck.   
    
    
    Dorothy

    I'm another sympathizer, I too would wake up with cramps in my calves! 
    I'm sure I startled my husband more than once when I would leap out of
    bed because I found standing up made it go away faster.  I asked my
    doctor about it and he said that there was no real proof that calcium
    would help (some people it appears to help, others not).
    
    I read or heard something to the affect that soda (tonic) hinders the
    absorption of some minerals, maybe it was potassium.  Anyway, I cut
    out all sodas (my consumption was way down to begin with) and that
    seemed to help.
    
    I agree with .14, I think it's just nature's way of preparing you, I
    was fortunate that I wasn't running to the bathroom every hour so I
    guess this was my trade off.  I don't know if that means that those who
    have both should prepare for colic...
    
    Jane

    I checked with my wife on the BH's. She said she never felt them with
    pregnancy #1, felt them mildly at about 7 mos. on with #2, felt them
    mildly at about 5 mos., and *strongly* after 7 mos. with #3. and, at 12
    weeks with #4, can already detect what she describes as periodic
    "tightening". Totally painless (so far), but she is sure that it is the
    beginnings of BH's. They say the body does experience contractions from
    almost the beginning on, but you just don't notice. I guess by the time
    it's #4, you start to know *exactly* what you're feeling!
    
    --dave--

    re:  517.14  Quinine is very harmful to a fetus and pregnant women
    should stay away from tonic water made with quinine.  Not only did I
    read this in a book, but I confirmed it with the March of Dimes.
    
    Also, my book says that leg cramps can be caused by too much phosphorus
    and not enough calcium (there's phosphorus in milk).  Anyway, I'm 6
    months pregnant and have been getting them in the middle of the night
    for 3 weeks now.  They're awful.  A couple of times I took a TUMS
    before I went to bed (they're made of calcium carbonate and my doctor
    said they're fine).  ANyway, I didn't get the cramps on those nights. 
    I don't know if it's coincidence of what.  Also, I find that I have to
    walk around a bit and then it goes away.  If I stay in bed they just
    keep hurting.
    
    Nancy

    
    re .17: What does quinine cause?  My OB never mentioned that it
    was dangerous and my children seen to be fine...what did I risk?
    
    Or don't I want to know?!  :-O
    
    -dorothy

    
    re.0
    
    I was told that increasing intake of potassium helps with the
    leg cramps (eat more bananas or oranges). I think it helps sometimes!
    
    BH contractions were a lot stronger and more frequent for me
    the second time around.
    
    re.17
    
    I am interested to find out about quinine. Isn't this the same
    drug used to cure malaria?
    
    
    Eva.

    Yes, quinine is what they use for malaria.  It is also or was an
    ingredient in tonic water.
    
    I'm not sure what birth defects quinine causes.  All I know is that
    it's on the March of Dimes hit list and I also read it in a book that
    just said to avoid quinine.  I'll try to find out more about it.
    
    I'm sure there are a lot of substances that can be toxic to a fetus
    when taken in large amounts, but when used judiciously probably
    wouldn't cause any problems.
    
    By the way, some of the other no no's according to the March of Dimes
    are Sassafrass tea, chamomile tea, some other herbal teas that I've
    never heard of (I think they are things that you might find in a health
    food store, like devill's root, not the Celestial Seasonings type
    stuff), and nutmeg.
    
    Nancy

    
    Chamomile Tea?????  Can you find out about this ASAP?  I drink
    Chamomile and Peppermint teas by the tank (literally)--I had no idea
    there was any danger to the fetus with Chamomile.  I drank Chamomile
    like crazy when I was pregno with Hannah--and she's fine.  But anyway,
    do let us know what the story is.  
    
    I drink Celestial Seasonings Chamomile.  
    
    Bonnie
    
    

    I believe part of the problem with quinine is the toxicity to "you".
    Apparently (info provided by my sister, an RN) people can drink it
    every day, for a long time, and suddenly develop a severe reaction.
    The reaction takes the form of large, distended, hemmorhoid-like
    lesions around the anal area (excuse the graphic description if you are
    eating lunch : ), bleeding, and difficulty swallowing.  Other than
    those symptoms, my sister couldn't think of any other reason to avoid
    it.  Sounds like a good enough reason to me!
    

    I know that not all herbal teas are safe.   Some herbs, like
    pennyroyal, contain chemicals that increase the likelihood of
    miscarriage.  But I never heard of chamomile having any dangerous
    properties at all.  It does tend to upset the stomach, however, so
    I didn't drink it while I was pregnant.  
    
    Two good, soothing, mild mannered herbal teas that aren't too dull
    are blackberry and cranberry (both by Celestial Seasonings).  I've
    never heard anybody say to avoid blackberries and cranberries!
    
    --bonnie

    Regarding chamomile:
    
    	Chamomile was used at one time as an emmenogogue, to get
    menstration started if there was a hormone imbalance.  You would have
    to drink a toxic amount to do serious damage to a healthy fetus,
    though.  FWIW I drank it all the way through with both girls, and never
    had a problem.  
    
    	My midwife, however, recommends hops, with peppermint for morning
    sickness.  she prefers to err on the safe side.
    
    Meg

    I'm not sure about the effects of chamomile also.  I do think that the
    nutritionist at Winchester Hospital said that the Celestial Seasonings
    teas were okay.
    
    Call the March of Dimes in your area.  They will send you a list of the
    foods/teas/etc. that they feel are potentially or definitely harmful to
    a fetus.  There is an 800 number in Massachusetts.  
    Like I mentioned before, most of the stuff on the list is stuff that I
    never heard of.
    
    And I really wouldn't worry too much about the chamomile tea.  Our
    mothers were probably drinking tons of it before anybody came up with
    this list.  
    
    I didn't mean to upset anyone about the tea and quinine.  I just felt
    that I should mention what the March of Dimes told me.  They make being
    pregnant these days so nerve wracking.  My doctor told me last week
    that I should relax and enjoy my pregnancy and I'm going to take his
    advice.  And I hope you all enjoy your pregnancies also.
    
    Nancy
    
    
      

Chamomile is often used to soothe colicky babies.  It's sold in Italian
pharmacies for this purpose.

If you're worried about the effects of herbal teas, I recommend you take
a look at Rodale's Encyclopedia of Herbs.  It's got lots of information
on dozens of herbs.

    Strangely enough, I didn't have leg cramps during the pregnancy, but I
    certainly got them during delivery!!! There were times that I was
    complaining about the cramps in my right leg more than the I was about
    the contractions!!

    Can't help you on the stronger BH the second time around. This was my
    first baby.
    
    Norma

    Quick but VITAL warning!!  I've seen several replies mention "rubbing"
    the calves.....DON'T!!  If there IS a clot in you leg you may dislodge
    it, and Heaven only knows where it mayland (brain, heart lung).  The
    best remedy for leg cramps is cold, ice packs included.  I was
    fortunate, that my side of the bed was close enough to the plaster wall
    that all I had to do was stick my foot on the cold wall for relief.
    
    The rubbing warning and the ice packs are good for the Non-pregnant
    stages too!
    
    This too shall pass!
    Lyn
    

    Talk about timely!
    I've just started to get cramps in my calves now at 4.5 months.
    I don't know if I can stand taking in more calcium rich foods -- maybe
    I will try eating more banana's for the potassium.
    
    Well the idea (surprisingly) of tilting the foot up actually works. 
    My instant thought though, was that I couldn't move the leg or the 
    foot if it would save my life. The solution was to take the OTHER foot
    and push on the bottom of the foot of the affected leg and tilt it up.
    That stopped the pain INSTANTLY. I was delighted.
    
    Thanks for the hints!
    
    Monica (more milk?!?!)
    

<    I don't know if I can stand taking in more calcium rich foods -- maybe
<    I will try eating more banana's for the potassium.
<    
<    Monica (more milk?!?!)
    
If the bananas don't do it and you don't want more milk/cheese/yogurt/ice_cream,
etc, then try calcium tablets.  Worked for me (I'm allergic to milk products).

      Carol

    .28> If there IS a clot in you leg you may dislodge
    it, and Heaven only knows where it mayland (brain, heart lung).
    
    Has it been established that there's a direct correlation between leg
    cramps and blood clots??????  Where do calcium and potassium fit into
    that scenario?  The magazines aimed at prospective and current parents
    occasionally tackle the question, but I don't think I've heard that
    link proposed before.  Thanks in advance for any clarification,
    
    Leslie

    The book "What To Expect When You're Expecting" said that leg cramps
    are linked to too much phosphorus and not enough calcium.  Since milk
    contains the phosphorus, then increasing the milk intake may  not help. 
    I've never read anything about the potassium link.
    
    The book also says that there is a very small chance the cramps are
    caused by a blood clot, but I think it's pretty uncommon.
    
    By the way, do all of you have the cramps in your calves?  Mine seem to
    originate higher up in the leg (i.e., hip area) and go all the way
    down.  I don't think it's sciatic nerve pain because I've had that
    before and this is different.  It mostly comes on in the middle of the
    night, and seems like it might be related to me lying on one side for
    too long.  Except, I'm sitting here at work right now and having them.
    Ugh.
    
    Re: taking the extra calcium tablets -- check with the Dr. first.  You
    shouldn't take any extra vitamins or medications without his/her
    approval.  My doctor suggested I take a TUMS before I go to bed, since
    it contains 200 mg extra calcium and also helps the heartburn.  
    
    Nancy

    Has anyone been bothered by SEVERE calf cramps during their pregnancy?
    I'm 4 1/2 months pregnant, and am often awakened in the middle of the
    night with a calf cramp. I have to get out of bed and walk it off. I
    especially notice it whenever I stretch...like in the morning when you
    stretch before rising.
    
    Just wondering....I had a disk problem a year ago and can't figure out
    if this is just one of those pregnancy symptons or if it's a
    reoccurance of my disk problem.
    
    Thanx,
    Claire

    Calf cramps are extremely common in pregnancy, potentially related to
    insufficient calcium.
    
    One trick to prevent or get rid of the cramp is to point your toes
    towards your head.  In other words, avoid the temptation to stretch
    while pointing your toes.  I've only had very minor problems with
    cramps, and this did the trick for me.  
    
    Leslie

    
    Ditto .34  Always stretch with your toes straight up! I suffered
    terrible cramps in the middle of the night with my son. Still don't
    point my toes when I stretch and its been almost 18 years!!
    
    Trudy
    

Ditto;Ditto on .34.  I had terrible, "wake my husband up 'cuz I'm yelling", 
cramps in my calves.  I can't tell you how many times he thought "It's time."

I always stretched them out by pointing my feet towards my head.  I tried 
walking them off once, but it was soooo.. tight I almost did a header into the
dresser!

More calcium may help.  Although I thought the only thing that might work was to
strap a rubber band around my toes to my ankle to keep my foot flexed!

W-

    I had terrible leg cramps the few times I really got the urge to
    stretch!  Ouch.  Now that my son is 2 months old I really enjoy a good
    stretch in the morning...not to mention sleeping on my stomach :-)
    

    I had real bad leg cramps to the point where you could see "knots" in
    my legs and bruises when they were gone.  My ob suggested that I drink
    a large glass of milk before going to bed and make sure I ate at least
    one bananna a day.  I guess the bananna and milk worked, no more leg
    cramps.