The last three weeks

Feb 9-17 vacation in Cabo San Lucas
Feb 18 photoshoot with friend Patrick
Feb 19 midwife appointment, photoshoot with friend Kevin
Feb 20 photoshoot with new friend Keith
Feb 21 find out baby might have Down Syndrome, spent time with family
Feb 25 start work at theater
Feb 26 ultrasound
Feb 27 year and a half anniversary
Feb 28 genetic counseling
Feb 29 work on maternity catsuit
Mar 1 work on maternity catsuit, Seattle Erotic Art Festival Gala

We spent a week in Cabo San Lucas a few weeks ago...I guess the proper term for this kind of trip is "Babymoon!" It was fabulous! I was horizontal pretty much the whole time, either lounging by the pool, laying in bed watching teevee, or sleeping (n stuff)! It was fantastic. We hardly even left the hotel, except to try to find some good tequila and mezcal to bring home for after the baby arrives.

Our hotel was the epitome of luxury, a spa/hotel, and from our deck we could see gray whales breeching in the ocean. We saw a little hummingbird that even let us peer closely at it while it sat calmly on a branch, and of course I took a bunch of self portraits. We made use of the spa facilities and had a couples massage, and I believe it was the most relaxing massage I've ever had in my life. They had a pad for the table so my belly could poke through! Genius, I tell ya!

When we got back I had a midwife appointment, which went smoothly until two days later when they called to tell me that my blood test came back at a high risk for Down Syndrome. That was a super busy day for me but I managed to do some heavy retail therapy regardless. We spent the weekend on the verge of tears, especially when my family seemed to think I should terminate the pregnancy if it indeed had Down Syndrome.

There's something a mother should never have to think about. I have been wanting a child my whole life. I've been actively pursuing baby making for eight years. Now that I'm finally pregnant, I feel great and my husband couldn't possibly be more perfect, the last thing I want to do is terminate. Just a few months after I give birth to this child I'll be turning 35, thereby flipping the switch into "HIGH RISK PREGNANCY" territory (don't even get me started on that 35=high risk pregnancy shit, it seems to only mean a higher chance that the mom will "need" amniocentesis according to doctors).

So anyway. I thought about all those issues far too much in the last week, which is why I haven't made a post. I didn't want to worry the folks I care about if they happened to come upon a post where I was tearfully laying my soul on the line.

On top of all that, I had three photoshoots that week! One Monday, one Tuesday, and one Wednesday. Not bad considering we just got back from Mexico Sunday night!

Then I started a full time temporary job at one of the theaters I often work at, and had to tell my boss I had a thousand doctor appointments. I wasn't sure how I'd manage a forty hour work week after sitting on my tuckus for months, pregnant, but it's been fun and they gave me the comfiest chair in the joint, which makes a huge difference.

By the time we finally had our ultrasound I was so nervous I hardly got excited when we found out it was a boy. Our technician had the best poker face I've ever seen so I couldn't tell if everything looked normal or not, and at the end she had another technician come in and make sure she didn't miss any shots for the Down Syndrome screening. He was much more readable, particularly when he said everything looked normal!

That night was still difficult, but by the next morning I was sure everything was fine. Thursday we had our genetic counseling appointment and the counselor told us that the midwife office had misspelled my name on the first round of blood tests so when the second round came back they weren't linked together. My hormone levels were higher at the second test, which is normal according to the first results, but without those it looked like I had a 1 in 65 chance of Down Syndrome, instead of the actual 1 in 2500 chance that both tests combined showed.

My indignant support group were all up in arms at first at the news, but despite this major fuckup on the part of my midwife office, I'm confident that they will deliver us a healthy baby boy with the least amount of physical trauma to myself, which is not a feeling I got from my previous doctor. So no, I will not be switching midwives.

So thank god that's all past us, we're back to staring lustily into each other's eyes and rubbing my tummy! We're even referring to the baby by the name we picked out for him. Who knows if it will end up on his birth certificate because when we see him it will determine his name for sure!

In the meantime, life marches forward, and I managed to whip myself up a maternity catsuit between the time I got off work on Friday and eight pm on Saturday when the SEAF gala started, but just barely! I looked and felt awesome, and I'll post some pictures as soon as I get them!

Shit, I need a nap after this hellish three weeks!