The doctor's appointment went pretty smoothly. The glucose test soda didn't taste as bad as I was braced for - really, it wasn't that different from a normal orange soda. The worst part was having to drink it so fast. Though I did get that tight-throat feeling that says I've had too much sugar at one go.

The nurse had trouble finding a vein to take blood from, but at least she only tried twice before going to get the nurse who does nothing but take blood. She got it first try, as she always does, and took four vials. Four! For two tests! I swear, the medical community is just a front for a bunch of vampires...

The nurse-practitioner who did my exam was kind of obsessed with weight and fat. She never actually said I was fat (which we all know I am), but about every other thing she said alluded to it.

"Hey, only four pounds net gain [since the beginning of the pregnancy]! That's great!"

"This is the really exciting part of the pregnancy, to me. The first part, you're miserable, and the middle part, you're so obsessed with getting bigger and gaining weight..."

"Okay, let's talk about birth control options for after the birth... Depo-Provera is really good, but it almost always causes weight gain, and as a new mom, trying to shed those extra pregnancy pounds anyway..."

Particle, it seems does not like going to the doctor. She squirmed right on down and cozied up to my spine and caused the nurse-practitioner all sorts of trouble. Personally, I found it funny. After all, if I'd had an option, I wouldn't have been there!

I try to keep most of my pregnancy complaints mostly to myself. Well, myself and Matt, anyway. I recognize that really, I've had a pretty easy pregnancy so far compared to lots of other women, and I wouldn't want to tempt the fates.

But yesterday my back hurt so bad I considered just going to bed as soon as I got home from work and not getting up. I've had a little back pain since very early - some to do with chest expansion, and a strange shooting pain in my hip that I think has to do with only sleeping on my side. But this...

I've only gained four pounds since I got pregnant, but I'm pretty sure my belly weighs more than that. I'm losing weight elsewhere in order to fund the belly expansion. And carrying extra weight in a low lump like that does put a strain on the back. But yesterday was miserable. Maybe I'd slept wrong the night before. Maybe spending forty-five minutes laid back on the exam table at the doctor's was bad for me. Maybe all the squirming the Particle had done the day before had something to do with it. Maybe (as Matt suggested) it's just that my dress offers less support for my back and stomach than pants do.

But from 11 in the morning on, my whole lower back felt like one huge bruise. Every movement - sitting, standing, turning, walking - had to be careful and deliberate. I was nearly in tears half a dozen times. Walking around the bookstore with everyone after dinner got pretty intensely uncomfortable after about fifteen minutes Matt was wonderful and sweet and massaged my back practically every time I stopped moving, but it only helped for a short while..

I hope to gods it won't be like that for the whole next three months. Occasional bad days, yeah, I understand that. I even understand as we get close to the end that they'll come more and more often. The belly gets pretty darned big. But I can't imagine having no days of relief...

I think when 9 rolls around, I'll call the doctor's office and see what they can suggest for back pain. And although I'd dismissed various support garments as being too expensive to bother with for such a short time, I think I may need to reconsider that judgment...

Okay, enough whining.

A couple of months ago, when I was first starting to really "show," I suggest to Matt that we take pictures to record the growth. Since I always wear the same dress to the doctor's (it's comfortable and easy to get in and out of) and the doctor's appointments are evenly spaced, we've been taking the pictures the evening of each appointment.

A cropped version of the pictures has been decorating my blog, but I thought yesterday, with the first three pictures taken, that I'd put them together to actually look at the change. So...

Yup. Gettin' pretty big...

--Liz