Michelle Tant

My 4 year old son starts school in September and of course in any family this is big news. My baby boy is growing up, leaving nursery and joining big school with his big brother and his baby sister is taking his place at nursery. Part of the normal cycle of family life. For us though, this has been anything but normal. When I think back to when number one son started school, my feelings couldn't have been more different. I was confident about his ability to fit in, to progress, to get the most out of school. I took it absolutely for granted that this next step in his life would go smoothly, that after a couple of (expected) tears at the classroom door, that he would be flying. And he has... he is happy, popular, well behaved, progressing academically and apparently a pleasure to have in the class. My second son is a sociable, beautiful character with a delightful sense of humour. He has brilliant rythym and loves music. He is a speed demon on his scooter and he will bounce happ...

The other day I noticed a pregnant woman on crutches, desperately struggling to climb a single stair without moving above her knees whilst simultaneously not twisting her hips and upper body. As I rushed to her aid, in my own mind I was catapulted back to my own pregnancies and I felt her agony.   While you are pregnant, for some reason the expectation from non-pregnant people is that you should be a picture of blooming health, sailing around with that lovely pregnancy glow once the morning sickness has eased off. In fact even some pregnancy books say that once the first few months are passed that you will feel healthier and that you should take advantage of this time before the heaviness of the 3rd trimester kicks in.   So what if pregnancy, morning sickness aside, leaves you unable to walk, unable to move in bed, climb stairs, get in and out of the car, sit up for any length of time, sit down for any length of time… what then? Welcome to the excruciating world of Symphysis Pubi...

As you know, I am pregnant. 27 weeks pregnant tomorrow to be exact and I am thrilled, over the moon in fact to be pregnant but healthy, I am not. And the problem with this is that people don't like unhealthy pregnant women. It doesn't fit into the nice 'blooming healthy' version of pregnant that in actual fact we've fought for. We've fought for pregnancy to be recognised again, as it was 'way back when' as a normal, healthy part of life and that is brilliant. But in my position right now, it seems to have come at the cost of not allowing pregnant women who are in fact having a pretty naff time of it to not be healthy. Does that make sense yet? I suffer with this marvellous thing called PGP (Pelvic Girdle Pain) but what it means in lay-person terms is that I feel like I've been kicked in the 'bits', then while I was on the floor writhing in agony, someone thoughtfully stamped all over my hips and lower back. In more medicalised terms, it means...