Well, you hear people say that you must try to experience everything in life, even it is only one time. I hope my experience will be my first and last. Yesterday morning, I woke up with a sudden pain in my right calf muscle that lasted for a few minutes. My leg seem to be stuck in place and my first reaction was to move my foot to stretch my calf, but I couldn't even do that. It's like I had rigomortis in just my right leg. All I could do was whimper and hoped that Steve would wake up and breathe life back into my frozen limb. He didn't and when I told him about my brush with death, he commented that he didn't even hear me move or make a sound. Eventually, the pain subsided and I spent some time the next day googling what in the world had happened. Well folks, I had my very first charley horse. Charley horse is a popular North American term for a painful leg or foot cramp. These cramps have many possible causes, one being a common side effect to being pregnant. Thanks baby Fowler! It's not enough that I'm vomiting, constipated, tired, bloated, and that you insist on kicking me causing internal tummy tickles that make me crack up laughing in the middle of conversations. No, you had to unleash the beast and cause me to think I was having a heart attack, just in the wrong spot. Was I unkind to you that day? Did I not feed you enough? Do you already think I'm a bad Mother? Tell me!
On another note, the term "charley horse" may date back to the late 1800's from American baseball. A pitcher named Charlie "Old Hoss" Radbourn suffered from painful cramps. Others speculate the term was inspired by a horse named Charley who was used at the Chicago White Sox's ballpark.
Other countries have their own terms. The UK refers to it as a dead leg. In Norway, it's called a thigh hen. Wooden thigh is a term used by Denmark and in Sweden, it's called a thigh cake. Australians refer to it as a corked thigh or corkie.
It's been over 24 hours since Baby Fowler attempted to end my life with a charley horse and I have to say, my calf is still so sore that I can hardly put pressure on it. What's even more surprising is who would have actually thought I had a calf muscle that could even cramp!?
Are you still vomiting?
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