The trip and the return...

I've never been very good at flying. Number one, I get motion sick, and number two, I have airplane anxiety. I figured I was going to be sick on the flight North anyway, so I was extremely surprised when I actually felt almost normal - it's as if the two sicknesses counteracted each other. Sweet! I love flying with Arty, because he makes me less anxious, and I have someone to hold my hand and am able to rest my head on his shoulder, which makes it easier to sleep, which makes the flight seem faster.

When we landed and rented a car, it was raining. Arty was, by now, too used to driving on the flat surfaces of Florida, so I managed to drive in the North, which made both of us feel better. There's just something freeing about driving 60 mph up and down and around the curves of the mountains. We arrived at my Dad and Step-Mom's house very late. Everyone else was in bed, so we went to sleep in my childhood bedroom and had a pleasant reunion the next morning. I kept getting compliments on how good I looked, as if losing weight during pregnancy was a normal, good thing. My youngest step-sister had a friend come over and I noticed her whisper something. My step-sister said, "yeah, she is". I asked what they were talking about and she said "She doesn't believe me that you're pregnant." So I lifted my shirt and showed my belly - the first time I've EVER done that to anyone other than medical professionals and Arty.

I think the sickness and the diagnosis of Down Syndrome really frightened my family. They learned to keep the closest bathroom available, and heard them discussing their worry with Arty on more than one occasion. Every time I would come back into the room, they would pretend as though everything was normal. I know they didn't know what to say to me, and really, what could they say? I was tired of receiving the same cliches and platitudes, and silence was better than that any day. If I heard "God only gives 'those' babies to the parents He feels can handle 'them'..." I was going to scream.

All in all, I had a really nice time. I visited with Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and friends, in addition to Dad and the Steps. The Saturday before we were to head home, I woke up feeling worse than usual. We had plans to go to my other step-sister's house so that we could see her new house, and Arty could help her decide on a new laptop (as he works with computers and has an opinion about all of them.) After being sick several times, I told Arty I didn't think I was able to go. He was very sweet, but firmly told me we only had today left, and that we would go get my favorite breakfast (only available in the North) and that I would feel better afterward. So we went, and after I ate, I did feel better. We drove to my step-sister's house, and she started giving us the tour of her house. We walked through the kitchen, where my attention was caught by the fact that she had a basement (how I wish I could have one in FL...) and the next thing I know, we're walking into the dining room/family room and 15 people are yelling "surprise!"

I could not believe they were throwing me a surprise baby shower, nor could I believe that Arty had kept this secret from me!! After the initial shock, I thoroughly enjoyed the shower. We ate, played games and opened lots of presents. We had so many baby gifts that Arty and I had to buy boxes and ship them home, as we had no room left in our suitcases.

It was difficult to leave the North, as it always is for me, but even worse this time, because I knew I needed the support of these family member and friends. Upon my return home, I went back to work but was unable to stay a full 8 hours either day. The day finally arrived to meet with the general surgeon, and he was very nice. Unfortunately, the surgery was too risky at 28 weeks along that he recommended I just wait it out, then have my gall bladder out after the birth. I was disappointed, but I wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize my baby's life. Later that day I had another appointment with Dr. J. He decided I should be put on medical leave from work and be on bed rest for the duration of the pregnancy. I also needed another ultrasound to be done in 2 weeks to check on her growth, and to make sure that my losing weight wasn't affecting her negatively. At the end of the first week of December, I had now almost lost 40 lbs. I still didn't even look pregnant.