5am wake up....leg cramps!! ugh

Hello again all!! Well, I have a question that has to do with something I know a lot of people experience in pregnancy- leg cramps!! UGH! The last 3 nights like clockwork I have gotten a horrific cramp in my right leg at 5am!! I immediately flex andextend my foot to release the muscle and the cramp lets up, but the achy feeling that it's still there doesn't go away for awhile- not to mention I'm wide awake with NO chance of going back to sleep then! I was curious what some cures are for getting rid of the cramps altogether?? I'm drinking plenty of fluids and have been munching on a banana a day. My bloodwork all came back great the last time and I'm going to ask for a re-evaluation of my vitamins at my appointment next week with my second A1C work up, but every morning is getting a little ridiculous. Any tips would be wonderful!! Thanks ladies!! :)

PS... ONLY 15 days til Christmas!!! YAY! I'm such a big kid myself and I can't wait to travel home for my family to see me for the first time pregnant- especially my mom- the tears are already starting lol!! It's so exciting...sorry I'm a little overzealous this morning, but I'm definitely counting down the days LOL (not to mention only 11 til we hit the road for PA YAY!!!)

I get them a lot during pregnancy too. Not too much I do stops them all together but I keep stuff at my bed drink a bottled water during the night and eat my banana before I go to sleep. I usually eat one in the late morning and one before bed too hope it gets better for you!

Do you get them randomly? I only get them when I stretch. It's like, I'll be laying in bed thinking "Ahhh, this feels so good!" and I'll stretch my legs out, and BAM!!! The only thing that makes them go away is hopping out of bed and standing on it.

I drink a lot of fluids, eat a lot of bananas and sweet potatoes, and I still get them. I wish I had a miracle cure, but I think giving birth is the only way to make them go away!

Yeah I've been getting them too. But not the charlie horse ones in the calf like I have in the past. now I get ones that seem to start in my foot or ankle and extends to the shin. However, in either case, I can never flex and extend my foot- it's frozen solid. So I sit in bed, trying to massage it all, and praying relief comes soon... I've done lots of reading, and there's no definitely "reason" for them, only a couple of possibilities such as the ones you named... dehydration, low calcium, low potassium, low magnesium, high phosphorous... I've read that stretching can sometimes help as well as elevating the legs. I've started putting a big pillow at the end of my bed and that seems to have helped the last couple of days...   Good luck, those things can be awful!

Lisa