Pregnancy and leg cramps

[Jeana Jones]

I got leg cramps when I was pregnant with my daughter, and my midwife recommended a calcium magnesium supplement.  In addition to my prenatal vitamins (that were pretty heavy in both calcium and magnesium already), I added a calcium magnesium citrate supplement that supposedly would give me the best absorption.  The leg cramps didn't go away, and my daughter has 3 teeth that began to decay, each within a few weeks of erupting, the first at 7 months old while exclusively breastfed.  That is what got us into Traditional Foods.  Her tooth decay has been pretty well controlled with diet so that at 2.5 years old, she has still not needed intervention (other than diet).

 

Now, I am pregnant again.  This was a planned pregnancy preceded by a 9 month preconception diet high in nutrient-rich foods and not supplements.  I am 10 weeks pregnant.  I have eaten well, and morning sickness has been manageable.  I have had aversions to some foods that I ate previously (seaweed - but I had a huge seaweed binge in early pregnancy before the aversion started, raw fish, fish eggs, oysters, liver, etc), but overall, I'm not doing badly.  (As I'm typing this, I'm wondering if I'm low on zinc since I'm not eating my oysters or liver, but I have been eating a lot of pumpkin seeds...)

 

I have been having daily leg cramps for almost a week.  I eat bone broth and milk kefir daily, usually having some yogurt as well as cheese in my morning omlette, and I have added daily epsom salt foot baths, and after a 45 minute foot soak, my leg cramps tend to mostly disappear.... and come back the next day, always in my right calf.  I'm frustrated with this continuing to happen, and after my experience with my daughter, I'm scared for this new little one.

 

Any advice is appreciated.