October 30, 2012

On my best friend Kim's last day in town we went to the Cheesecake factory for lunch.  We had spent the weekend hanging out watching movies and talking, and I even ventured out of the house a few times.  I took her to my eye doctor's office and he and I helped her pick out some awesome new eyeglass frames, which she took back to Michigan to have filled with her prescription.

The distraction of her being her here was good, and I could almost forget about the Down syndrome diagnosis.  Almost.

As Russell, Kim and I walked into the Cheesecake Factory the Geneticist, Dr. B. called Russell's phone and told him that for sure...

We decided to turn the lunch into a celebration, complete with cheesecake (of course!) I ate my entire plate of Pasta Carbonara and half a piece of cheesecake, saving the other half for later (hey, don't judge - I'm pregnant and celebrating!) 

I worried about going to the doctor in the morning for my routine visit.  It was Halloween and Halloween is not exactly one of my favorite "holidays".  As a teenager my family had a very horrifying experience on Halloween night when 3 males broke into our house and very near killed my stepfather.  They came into my bedroom but were unable to find the light switch because it was behind a dresser.   It was a very traumatic experience that has left me with nothing but disdain for Halloween even all these years later.  Through the years I tried to put it behind me, taking my kids trick or treating (and even dressing up in costume with them), passing out candy some years (some years I was better able to put it behind better than others), and basically  move on.  But an experience like that is something you hold onto; it never truly goes away.  

I was also in pain, worse than before.  It felt like someone had kicked me in the crotch, and I had pain all the way around my abdomen. I worried that something was wrong with the baby.  

Red Velvet Cheesecake