Run a marathon while pregnant?

25 weeks

They call it RLS for short. Its long form sums up the disorder nicely – Restless Leg Syndrome.

Curiously – and somewhat annoyingly – it only happens at night. Your legs take on a life of their own and insist on moving every few seconds. At best you become fidgety, at worst you have to get up, but get this – it is not generally helped by moving, stretching, or going for a walk. In other words, there's not much you can do about it. Sometimes you fall asleep with it, but then your bed partner suffers night-time spousal abuse by being continuously kicked and woken in the night.

There's talk of a link between it and your diet but who's got the time to do a laborious food and restless-leg-syndrome diary every day for three weeks to see if there is any truth in the matter? It's one of those we-know-it-happens-to-pregnant-women-but-we-haven't-a-clue-why type things. Still, it's not all bad. I must be using up loads of calories, right? I mean, when it gets really bad I practically run a marathon in my sleep.

This morning, I was fast asleep when RLS reared its ugly head – a violent kick of my left leg ensued which woke me. Alas, I wasn't the only victim. Oscar, the cat, had little inkling when he curled up on my leg to sleep that night that he was in grave mortal danger. All I heard was a "miiiaaaooow!" as the poor thing got propelled across the room... Oops.