A quick crack of a foot to my shin woke me from my sleep at midnight last night. Not knowing what was going on, I quickly grappled my assailant and forced her to submit before I realized my wife was having an agonizing muscle cramp. I could tell this was an involuntary reaction as pregnant women prefer to punch and slap as opposed to kicking. Again, one of the things that expectant fathers should be aware of which I was not; pregnant women often have very painful leg cramps.

Doctors seem to attribute these little muscular fits to a variety of factors from extra weight to low magnesium.

Tips to help expectant fathers with a pregnant woman's leg cramps at night:
1. Wear shin pads
2. Wear ear plugs
3. Develop an intimate rapport with tae kwon do
4. Learn some basic stretching techniques like pointing and flexing her feet for her to help articulate those frozen, cramping muscles.

Tips for mothers dealing with pregnancy leg cramps:
1. Stretch your calves regularly. Try standing on your toes on the edge of a step and letting your body weight pull down to stretch the calf. Do this on a bottom step and make sure hold on to a railing, your balance and weight distribution are changing and it's important to make sure you don't fall.
2. Try a prenatal vitamin to make sure your mineral levels are in check. Check with a doc first.
3. Stay active and try to take walks frequently.

Hopefully this will help prevent another victim like me.