The Saga of the Leg Cramps

Whew - I guess time has flown by lately! It hasn't seemed that there was much interesting news to talk about after the ultrasound. Things just keep growing...And the baby keeps moving! That's a weird sensation, by the way. Sometimes it feels like rapid-fire shooting in my stomach; other times I feel this steady pressure in one area and if I touch it I feel a hard bulge - booty? head? Don't know...Sometimes I want to talk to the baby, but I don't know what to say and then feel silly when I try! Did anyone out there regularly talk to their baby in-utero? Brad likes to give an occasional geography lesson or history lesson. I find it quite entertaining and educational myself. It really surprises me sometimes how much knowledge he has stored in his head about certain things!

Anyway, the saga of the leg cramps: Of course they started out mild and unobtrusive to my sleep (yes, they have only afflicted me during sleepy time). So of course, when people ask how I was doing I got tired of saying the usual "great, thanks" and avoiding the mental and emotional gymnastics I sometimes wear myself out with... So I started mentioning to a few people that I had leg cramps at night once in a while, but that they were really mild and not a big deal. Well, after "gloating" about my good fortune and lack of physical ailments during pregnancy the cramps turned severe.

One night it all came crashing down. I woke up at about 3 a.m.: my left toes were pointed straight down, my calf muscle was completely spasmed. I tried and tried to flex my foot in order to stretch my calf out but it was like it was paralyzed. I tried deep breathing and mental relaxation, but that didn't last long. I think my deep breathing sounded more like "lamaze" breathing because Brad woke up. So he helped me get it worked out and promplty fell back asleep. In my relief I stretched out my legs, moved my feet around in circles and intended to roll onto my side again...but that muscle cramped right back up and even tighter than before. So the cycle continued and eventually moved to the other calf and even to the muscle on the outside of the leg - don't know what that's called, anyone want to help me out? Poor Brad - it must be just as annoying to be woken up by someone else's leg cramps as if they was your own...OK well, maybe as annoying, but definitely not as painful.

A similar event happened the next night. I knew it was important to be stretching my calves because I knew this often happened to pregnant women...But just stretching wasn't enough. So at my doctor appointment last week she said get more calcium and potassium. Also, dehydration and exhaustion can make it worse. So I've started making it a habit to eat half a banana, drink lots of water and occasionally have Brad massage my calves before going to sleep. I still need to go get some tums to supplement the calcium, but so far the banana and water seems to be working. I've had almost a week of peaceful sleeps since the last cramping craze. Oh - that Dr. appointment was on the same day that I had my small group pray for relief from the cramps, so I credit that as part of the remedy also! Praise the Lord!