Cramping during early pragnancy at night

Hello ladies, Really curious what happened to those who posted over a year ago. Let me tell you my story. I'm 34 years old and have been pregnant three times (I'm actually 6-weeks pregnant now). I have had miscarriages for the first two and still have no idea what will happen with this one. My first pregnancy was two years ago and I cramped the entire time; mostly at night but also during the day. I had no bleeding and the doctor kept telling me all was normal. Suddenly at 6-weeks the cramping stopped and when I had the uiltrasound at 8-weeks it showed the fetus had stopped growing at 6-weeks. I waited an additional two weeks and my body did not expel it so I had to have a DNC. Second pregnancy was five months ago. The cramping was better, only mild cramping off and on during the day. Once again no bleeding whatsoever and I was told it was normal uterine stretching. Then at week six I woke up about 6am with the worst cramping ever. It was like contractions; they came every 30 mins, then 15, then 10, then five minutes for about six hours that day. At about noon I had the worst cramping of them all and thought I would pass out. Had the cold sweats, the shakes, the nausea and lightheadedness for about 20 minutes. Then suddenly the pain stopped. Within 30 minutes out came two little masses, definitely tissue. I had no bleeding up to this point and even when it all came out there was little bleeding. I bled lightly for about five days afterwards. Now I am 6-weeks pregnant and experiencing the cramping again, but only at night. I haven't been to the doctor with this one yet because I know the usual procedure: vaginal ultrasound, all looks fine, still too early, normal cramping, bla bla bla. I don't think doctors can honestly know at this point, no one can it's too soon! All one can do is relax and wait. I don't mean to damper your hopes but I don't believe severe cramping is normal. Sure pregnancy causes cramping and women with normal pregnancies say they cramp but not like this. Not the severe, I'm doubled over, sweating, hurts so bad I might pass out kind of cramps, and not for 4 weeks straight, every night or even for a full-day. Doctor said if this third is also a miscarriage I would need to do the dye test to take a look at my entire reproductive system. We'll see. . . As a side note, I have had mild to non-existing symptoms with all three. Some nausea but nothing unbearable, some mild lower back pain, slight dizziness, and the occasional headache but nothing horrible. I'm being cautiously optimistic with this one.

I hate that you have been through all of that but remain cautiously optimistic! I am looking down at my one month old baby boy right now after going through the same night cramps :-) It doesn't necessarily mean you're on your way to a miscarriage though it definitely feels like it. Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Thank you for responding and your well wishes! I'm very happy for your happy ending. I have an ultrasound tomorrow, we will see!

The cramps are normal. During the first trimester the body reacts as though the fetus is a parasite and is trying to reject it, sounds scary but the body protects it naturally. This causes cramping, many doctors don't say this because it sounds bad but the body adjusts by the second trimester and the cramping should stop.

How long does it usually last??

The ultrasound results (at beginning of 7th wk) came back positive. Nice round sack, size was normal, and saw a heartbeat (127bpm). The severity and frequency of cramping has decreased in the last few days. I'll be 8 wks in two days. With this 3rd pregnancy I did notice that although the pain felt similar to previous times, it was more sporadic and the actual cramp did not last as long.

If you are pregnant, doctors recommend not taking a warm baths or using heating pads as the extra heat may cause harm to your baby. I've had similar cramps to yours and my doctor told me acetaminophen is ok for the pain.

I have been having cramps since I was 3.5 weeks pregnant. I am now 5 weeks pregnant and wake up during the night (around 1:30) with painful cramps that feel like menstrual cramps. It usually happens when my bladder is full. I empty my bladder, and go back to bed. The cramps last about 20 mins and then I feel awful for the rest of the night. Has anyone else experienced this? I told my regular doctor about this (not my OBGYN) and he said it was 'not normal' and that you should feel 'nothing' in early pregnancy. If it wasn't for this blog, I would have really worried about his comment. 

If anyone that has previously posted on here happens to read this and could post an update I (and I think lots of other women) would be extremely greatful.

I am 6 weeks tomorrow, and have been having mild cramps at night since week 4. It's pretty much only at night, and I will wake up, get up and go sit in a chair for 5 minutes and they are gone. I told my doctor when I went to tell them I was pregnant and she said this was quite normal because of stretching etc. Then just over a week ago I woke up as normal in the night, but the cramping was very bad, the worst cramp I have had. Again I don't think it lasted more than 10 minutes, but I was sat on the bathroom floor in pain and sweating etc, after what can only be a few minutes it passed and I went back to bed. No bleeding or anything.

I rang the doctor the following morning to tell them what had happened, and he said that it was a good sign that there was no bleeding, and hopefully things would settle down, but that he would get my original doctor to call me in a weeks time to see how I was. Since that night I have only had the mild cramps again, and for the past 3 nights have not had any cramping at night, just waking up to go for a wee! The doctor rang me as promised today and I explained to her again what had happened with the painful cramps, and the fact that things seem to have since settled down, and still no bleeding etc.

She said it is reassuring that there has been no bleeding, and also that things seem to have settled down, but she said that "normal" pregnancy cramps should not really be severe, she said no one can be sure unless they have a look to check everything is ok. So she will be referring me to the early pregnancy clinic to have an early scan. She said they won't scan before 6 weeks because they wouldn't be able to see anything, but as I am 6 weeks tomorrow, I am hoping it won't be too long before they will see me. She said that someone should contact me within the next few days to arrange an appointment, so I will come back to update!

This thread has been very reassuring to know that many other woman have been through exactly the same thing, and I assume have gone on to have healthy pregnancies and babies! Another positive sign for me is that the first test I took was a clearblue digital, which said at the time I was 1-2 weeks (thats conception, so means 3-4 weeks of pregnancy), I took another one last week, which said 2-3 weeks (4-5 weeks pregnancy), both of which match up exactly with my ovulation dates, so I am assuming this means my HCG levels have been rising as they should do so far, which is a great sign. I am waiting for another pack of the digital tests which I have ordered online (as they are so expensive!), and as soon as they arrive I will do another which I hope will show 3+ weeks, meaning my levels have continued to rise. That and the early scan will hopefully mean I will progress as normal through the rest of my pregnancy and in May 2013 have a gorgeous little baby arrive!

This is an update from Liz 1 about my cramping. I ended up getting things checked out with an early scan and everyone looks normal. This would make the small amount of cramping at night normal. It's good to hear from everyone else too. I wish there was a good pregnancy book or professional site that described this stuff. The only people that describe it well are my peers.

Hi everyone,

I found this forum the other night when I was up with excruciating cramps. I had chills & hot flashes and deep cramping like a lot of women have described here. So painful!

I took some advice I read that being dehydrated makes normal cramping far worse. It's true. For the past three days I've been carefully monitoring my water intake - at least 8 glasses of water - plus any other drinks. It's made a HUGE difference. My cramps still arrive but they are normal and easy to handle. 

So drink up girls - I hope that held someone else :)

I just thought I would post an update for anyone that is reading this! This is Penny, I posted a week or so ago after having severe cramps and my doctor referring me to the early pregnancy clinic for an early scan.

I had my scan last Wednesday, which according to my dates was exactly 7 weeks. The baby is obviously still very small at this point, but everything was completely normal, and I saw the little heartbeat, which was amazing! They won't officially date the pregnancy until the 12 week scan, but according to them I was showing at 7 weeks and 2 days.

I spoke to the nurse there and asked about the pain, I know that mild cramping is normal, but this severe pain is the worst I have ever had. She said it was probably wind. I did say how is that possible?! I have never suffered before, and I found it difficult to believe that wind could cause such severe pain, but she said pregnancy can do some weird stuff to you, and it can be very painful indeed.

I sort of wish that I had been able to speak to the clinic rather than the doctor, as they have obviously had much more experience in early pregnancy stuff before, and she was not at all concerned, but said they would scan me anyway to make sure. Saying that I am glad that I got to have a bonus scan, and see my baby was safe and snug in there!

I now cannot wait until my 12 scan to see how much it has grown! I will be 8 weeks tomorrow, so not too long now!

About month and a half ago i miscarriage at 4 weeks. First night after I found out that I was pregnant, I wake up around 1 30 am with bad cramping. After hour or so i start feeling very dizzy just laying in bed. . I went to the bethroom to see if I'm bleeding and I was not. Around 7 am i wake up to get ready for work ( never really fall a sleep because cramping never stoped). Went to the bethroom again and i saw blood on my underwear and blood with blood clot in the toalet. I was so devastated! I cried and screamed over my lost baby( it would be our first and we wanted this baby verry much). I new right away that I miscarried. That morning my Dr comfirm that i had an early miscarriage. Just so you know cramping doesn't mean that you are going to miscarry! If you feel cramping for a lobg time and feel dizzy or see blood contact your Dr immediately! Good luck to all of you!

i have been having the worst cramps and a year ago exprerienced an ectopic pregnancy so i am freaking out it is this again but they cannot see where the pregnancy is via internal ultrasound :( i would only be 3-4 weeks pregnant at the moment. i hope it is normal pains and not another ectopic

I'm 4 weeks pregnant and feeling exactly the same! Feel sick during evening and stomach cramp on one side. My midwife said it was normal but still scary!