This pregnancy

is definitely harder on my body than Ivan's was. And it's so true that all the aches, pains, ailments and a multitude of previously not experienced issues is hitting me sooner.

First, the entire sneeze/pee combo, otherwise known as stress incontinence, is really getting old. It hit me much sooner than last time. Hopefully, it will go away after birth.

Then, two Fridays ago, I failed the 1-hour glucose test, which meant I then had to take the 3-hour test. This included fasting the night before, and getting poked with a needle four times in three hours. For the last week, I've looked like a beaten up junkie with black and blue bruises up and down my arms. However, no one has called me to tell me I failed that test, so I assume that my sugar levels are OK.

Then, for the last month or so, I've been experiencing this increasingly painful pelvic pain. I first heard it mentioned by a yoga teacher. Then I mentioned it to the obgyn. They both dismissed it with a wave of their hand. Oh, it must be pubic synthesis, or the stretching of the pubic bones....or something similar. Wikipedia had a nice long medical entry on it. Well, this pubic synthesis is slowly but progressively getting unbearably painful, especially after I sit for long periods of time or get up in the morning.

And according to wikipedia and babycenter.com there doesn't really seem to be much I can do about it, but just weight it out. It may get worse before it gets better. And it may takes months after delivery for the pain to go away. Basically, I need to try to move my legs together as one unit. And apparently, yoga or swimming may help, which I don't understand how because most yoga poses and swimming are all about spreading legs apart to create space for the baby.

I hope it stabilizes because this evening, I can barely walk.

Who knows maybe all this pain and stretching now will make the actual birth easier, which, after 56 1/2 hours of labor, definitely wasn't the scenario with Ivan.