Pregnant Sex

Personally, I came over all pure and wafty during my first pregnancy. We had fragile little twins growing in there and I didn't fancy a six-foot male heaving about and rucking up the bedclothes. Besides, it was becoming harder to synchronise our bedtimes. He'd be eager to stay up chatting until midnight, while I'd be creeping into bed at 9 pm.

Neither of us seemed to mind terribly. My partner was enjoying lots of uninterrupted telly-watching time while I could lie diagonally across the bed, sweating and drooling. When we did indulge it was, 'Oh, go on then'.

As Amanda puts it, 'You still want to cuddle and kiss and be reassured that you're not some gigantic old heifer. When we did have sex - maybe once a fortnight or so - I'd be really glad we'd made the effort.'

Is it meant to be funny?

How you feel about your body is, perhaps, the key factor in whether you feel sexy, or otherwise. During my second pregnancy - semi-used to huge bosoms and less freaked out about the whole baby-making experience - it was pretty much business as usual. However there does come a point when you're so big that you cannot help picturing the two of you, struggling to accommodate your belly.

You don't even need a mirror to do this. It's there in your brain: the terrifying image of you and your partner, complaining of twanging muscles and continuing until the bitter end. When it's tricky to indulge without the aid of a hoist, you are tempted to put sex on hold for a while. That in itself is scary: after all, a baby is coming. Will you ever do it again?