Little E is hitting the age where she is starting to look a little squished in her group 2 car seats. She is exceptionally tall for her age and her head is starting to creep towards the top of the seat which is an indicator she is ready to move up to a bigger seat.

Many mums write about the joys of the hormone relaxin during pregnancy. All their previous aches and pain magically vanish as their muscles and ligaments loosen. Not me. I am one of the unlucky 45% of women who have to live with the devil during the second half of pregnancy – pelvic girdle pain.

Relaxin’s job (among other things) is to loosen the pelvic joints and ligaments to accommodate the baby and prepare for the inevitable birth. If you already have naturally loose joints and ligaments like me (hyper-mobility I believe is the technical name) then this added flexibility results in a floating pelvis which provides no support and leaves you hobbling round like a cripple watching CSI Miami repeats at 2am because you are in too much pain to sleep. I wish I was being dramatic, some people even end up on crutches or wheel chair bound from the condition.

Today's moan is possibly the most annoying thing about the second half of any pregnancy coinciding with the Winter months - Maternity tights.

Baby bump is due two days before Little E's third birthday so I am repeating my pregnancy experience in the exact same months. It is quite freaky how similar it all feels and today the bitter cold and growing bump has forced to me abandon the so comfortable leggings and ballet pumps and wear the dreaded maternity tights to work. I was hoping it wouldn't be as bad as i feared because surely in the begging stages of bump formation they fit ok? Wrong...

I've just hit 20 weeks pregnant with my second baby (bump as she/he is unimaginatively yet affectionately referred to) and it has occured to me that  I will not have my best friend and gaggle of NCT buddies on maternity leave in the same sleep deprived boat this time around. So I need somewhere to vent about life with a two, going on 22, year old and an ever expanding waistline which will soon result in another little bundle of personality.

I have also learnt a lot raising my little girl, who i shall refer to as Little E for purposes of this blog, to toddlerhood. So it is nice to imagine I can pass a little of that on to other mum's of somewhat hyperactive, clever, exasperating and extrordinary children.

I hope you enjoy reading, laughing and probably crying a little along with me.