GRANDMA of two Nickie O’Hara isn’t your average nana - for a start she’s only 38.

The Blackburn office worker’s life was changed forever when she fell pregnant aged 18. Then just 17 years later history repeated itself when her daughter told her she too was going to be a teenage mum.

Now Nickie is on a mission to put an end to the stigma attached to ‘unconventional’ families by writing a daily blog about her experiences.

Nickie’s website iamtypecast.com, which receives more than 4,000 visitors each month, has become a popular platform for the young grandma to tell her story and offer support to other young families.

“I went from a young mum to a young grandparent in 17 years,” said Nickie, who has been named the 10th most influential parent blogger by online directory Tots100.

“I had my daughter Rachel when I was 18, and at 17 she had her first daughter Amie-Leigh. I always knew that I was destined to be a young grandparent but I never expected the announcement to come quite so soon.

“The relationship between my daughter and I has always been emotionally volatile. She reminds me so much of me and I wanted her to have all the opportunities in life.

"She moved out at the age of 16; an angry teenager who knew what was best for her, she put her keys through the letter box and never came back. I was devastated. I felt as though I had failed as a parent.

“A year later she returned with the news she was having a baby. My parents had been quite disappointed in me when I had Rachel and ruined my chances of a much-desired RAF career,“ said Nickie, who works at Preston-based educational charity Partnership Team, while studying for a Open University Degree in Social Science.

“They’d wanted much more for me at the time. But I didn’t show any emotion other than support when Rachel told me she was pregnant. I didn’t want that part of history to repeat itself. I wanted to repair our relationship and be there for her.

“The day Amie-Leigh was born I was 36 and she was 17. It’s hardly conventional, but I believe that there is no right and wrong way of being a parent, and although we might have done things differently in hindsight, we’re very happy and wouldn’t change a thing.”

Nickie lives in Exeter Street, Blackburn, with her husband of 20 years Kevin and their two younger children Michael, 17, and Jake, 11.

And Rachel, now 19, lives just around the corner in Lower Hollin Bank Street with Amie-Lee, two and 11-month-old Megan, who often form the subject of Nickie’s blogs.

“Rachel is the most natural young parent I have ever seen,” Nickie added. “She is never angry or upset with the children and she is muddling along nicely.

"I am so proud of her. Yes, people tell me the support network she has makes her strong but I’m inclined to disagree. She is a headstrong teenager who is out to prove to the world that she can do this. Just like her mother did.”

Nickie updates her blog every day with personal experiences from her everyday life, including her husband’s mental health issues, the early death of her 55-year-old mother, having a hysterectomy at 31, Rachel’s battle with a rare form of cancer when she was a child and living in a homeless hostel in Blackpool at 19.

She also talks about issues including the credit crunch, politics and current affairs.

Nickie has been asked to attend a national parent blogging conference in London where she will sit on a panel of judges with special guest Sarah Brown to find the best new blogger in the UK.

Nickie added: “We’ve experienced so much as a family and I believe that gives me a unique outlook on life. If me telling my story helps someone else then I‘ll have achieved something.

“I just want to get out there that there are no conventional families and there is no conventional way of being a parent. I hope my blog can help other families to be happy with their lives, because we are.

"We’re the happiest we’ve ever been.”