*Rumors and Speculation* Did Sarah Palin fake her last pregnancy?

[frecklered]

Daily Kos is on it: Daily Kos: State of the Nation

[Mariesoleil]

So I checked on AA's site and a flight from say Dallas to Anchorage is 6 hours and 40 minutes.

[HWBL]

Originally Posted by Mariesoleil

So I checked on AA's site and a flight from say Dallas to Anchorage is 6 hours and 40 minutes.

And that's just the flight. That's not counting from the moment
her "water broke", the speech, the drive to the hotel to pick up
her stuff, the drive to the airport, the boarding, the drive to the
hospital........

[Mariesoleil]

^^ and it being her 3rd baby. They usually come quicker.

[Sasha]

Originally Posted by Mariesoleil

So I checked on AA's site and a flight from say Dallas to Anchorage is 6 hours and 40 minutes.

I'm sorry, either she covered up her daughters pregnancy to save her political ass or she is completely insane to have boarded that long of a flight after her water broke.

[Incognito]

If this were true, do you realize all the hoops this woman would have to jump through to cover this up? It just doesn't seem possible she could get away with something like this.

[Grimmlok]

This woman is the harriet myers of vice presidents, and the hillary clinton bosnia snipers of liars.

[ana-mish-ana]

This is her 5th child - and the baby was diagnosed apparently during her 4th month with Down's Syndrome, so add the factor that shes in her mid 40's and with a high risk pregnancy this is totally insane to do what she did. Something is really funny about the whole situation.

[McJag]

Originally Posted by DeadDwarf

I think it's her daughter's child, not hers. That teen in the picture looks 5-6 months pregnant to me, she has the rounded stomach and the full breasts.

I see why people want to gossip about it, but I don't think it's a big deal. A lot of grandparents raise their grandchildren as their children.

I am not going to support this ticket, but let's say you were the Governor and a family picture was taken. Would you let her wear a clingy top? Would you put her right out there,or make sure she was more hidden-say where Dad is? Notice the Gov, has a vesty thing,covering HER up.

Originally Posted by A*O

And no airline would allow her to fly (unless she has an Alaska One 737 at her disposal?). It does sound a bit fishy.

Alaska (where I lived two wonderful years) has more private planes than any place I have ever seen. Lots of people have a plane instead of a car. Private jets are easy to come by. The State is so vast,the State is bound to have several. It is humongous-so she must have been in a private jet.

[laynes]

Originally Posted by greysfang

It is my position that outing a teenage girl's pregnancy, who never asked to be in the spotlight BTW, is wrong, for both the child and grandchild. Period. Don't try to put words in my mouth.

I totally agree. This only hurts them.

Besides...

Who cares.. what impact does this really have? (IF it's even true)
In the scheme of things, this is nothing.. at least IMO.

ALL politicians lie.. I expect them to.
Big whoop!

[HWBL]

Okay, now I found this article that was from right after the birth of
"her" child. She went back to work THREE DAYS AFTER GIVING BIRTH (!),
and they were already denying the "breaking water" story, but another
obstetrician said what I said earlier: irresponsible and high infection risk.
Her own obstetrician sounds as loony as Palin herself.


Source: Palins' child diagnosed with Down syndrome: Top Stories | adn.com

Palins' child diagnosed with Down syndrome
FAMILY FEELS BLESSED: Back at work already, governor says she wasn't in labor in Texas.

By LISA DEMER
ldemer@adn.com

Published: April 22nd, 2008 12:04 AM
Last Modified: April 22nd, 2008 12:05 PM

Gov. Sarah Palin was back at work Monday in Anchorage, holding a
meeting on the proposed natural gas pipeline three days after giving
birth to her fifth child.

She and her husband, Todd, showed their new baby, Trig Paxson Van Palin,
to a few reporters and photographers and answered questions about his
condition and the sooner-than-expected delivery.

Trig has Down syndrome, a genetic abnormality that affects a child's
intellectual and physical development, the governor confirmed.

"When we first heard, it was kind of confusing," Palin, 44, said. She called
the revelation "very, very challenging" and said she initially felt sad.

But the family has worked through that. Palin said she and Todd feel
blessed and chosen by God. With a big family including four older kids,
grandparents, aunts and uncles, Palin said, they will have lots of
support for what's ahead. In their eyes, she said, "he's absolutely
perfect."

The oldest Palin kid, Track, is in the Army and texted his mother after
learning the news with something to the effect of "This is just so cool
-- I finally got my brother."

In a letter she e-mailed to relatives and close friends Friday after
giving birth, Palin wrote, "Many people will express sympathy, but
you don't want or need that, because Trig will be a joy. You will have to
trust me on this." She wrote it in the voice of and signed it as "Trig's
Creator, Your Heavenly Father."

"Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed-up
world you live in down there on Earth. Trig is no different, except he has
one extra chromosome," Palin wrote.

As for people who think a baby like Trig shouldn't even be born, look around,
the governor wrote. Who is perfect or even normal?

A MOTHER'S AGE

The risk of Down syndrome increases with the mother's age. For mothers
under 30, it happens in fewer than one in 1,000 births. For mothers Palin's
age, it's one in 35, according to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Most children with Down syndrome are considered mildly or moderately
disabled; there's a big range. A toddler may not walk until age 2; an adult
may never live on his own. But support groups stress that those with
Down syndrome are more like other people than not and can live rich and
rewarding lives.

Because of prenatal testing, most families now know beforehand, said Judy
Waldron, president of the Alaska chapter of the National Down Syndrome
Congress, a support and education group that delivered a parent packet to
the Palins in the hospital.

"They anticipate it and they kind of relish the challenge of having a child
with special needs," said Waldron, an Anchorage teacher whose 19-year-
old daughter, Lyn, has Down syndrome.

While it's "no walk in the park," the joys are great, she said. "Just the fact
that they require such great effort to complete some simple tasks and that's
real rewarding."

Todd Palin said the family has gotten a flood of supportive e-mail from
families around the country with special-needs children. He said he's playing
it by ear as far as his North Slope job.

Some people call them "angel children," straight from God, Waldron said.
They are usually sweet-natured but can be ornery, like anyone.

EARLY ARRIVAL

Palin was in Texas last week for an energy conference of the National
Governors Association when she experienced signs of early labor. She
wasn't due for another month.

Early Thursday -- she thinks it was around 4 a.m. Texas time -- she
consulted with her doctor, family physician Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, who is
based in the Valley and has delivered lots of babies, including Piper, Palin's 7-
year-old.

Palin said she felt fine but had leaked amniotic fluid and also felt some
contractions that seemed different from the false labor she had been
having for months.

"I said I am going to stay for the day. I have a speech I was determined
to give," Palin said. She gave the luncheon keynote address for the energy
conference.

Palin kept in close contact with Baldwin-Johnson. The contractions slowed
to one or two an hour, "which is not active labor," the doctor said.

"Things were already settling down when she talked to me," Baldwin-Johnson
said. Palin did not ask for a medical OK to fly, the doctor said.

"I don't think it was unreasonable for her to continue to travel back,"
Baldwin-Johnson said.

So the Palins flew on Alaska Airlines from Dallas to Anchorage, stopping in
Seattle and checking with the doctor along the way.

"I am not a glutton for pain and punishment. I would have never wanted to
travel had I been fully engaged in labor," Palin said. After four kids, the
governor said, she knew what labor felt like, and she wasn't in labor.

Still, a Sacramento, Calif., obstetrician who is active in the American College
of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said when a pregnant
woman's water breaks, she should go right to the hospital because of the
risk of infection. That's true even if the amniotic fluid simply leaks out,
said Dr. Laurie Gregg.

"To us, leaking and broken, we are talking the same thing. We are talking
doctor-speak," Gregg said.

Some airlines have policies against pregnant women onboard during the
last four weeks of pregnancy, and the American College of Obstetricians
and Gynecologists advises against flying after 36 weeks.

This was going to be Palin's last flight anyway, her doctor said.

Alaska Airlines has no such rule and leaves the decision to the woman and
her doctor, said spokeswoman Caroline Boren. Palin was very pleasant to
the gate agents and flight attendants, as always, Boren said.

"The stage of her pregnancy was not apparent by observation. She did
not show any signs of distress," Boren said.

Palin never got big with this pregnancy. She said she didn't try to hide it
but didn't feel a need to alert the airline, either.

They landed in Anchorage around 10:30 p.m. Thursday and an hour later
were at the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Wasilla.

Baldwin-Johnson said she had to induce labor, and the baby didn't come
until 6:30 a.m. Friday.

"It was smooth. It was relatively easy," Palin said. "In fact it was the easiest
of all," probably because Trig was small, at 6 pounds, 2 ounces.

Palin said she wanted him born in Alaska but wouldn't have
risked anyone's health to make that happen.

"You can't have a fish picker from Texas," said Todd.

Palin said she won't take maternity leave but will go with Trig to
doctor's visits, physical therapy, whatever he needs. She's breast
feeding and plans to bring Trig to work with her, just as she did
with Piper.

"It just feels like he fits perfectly," Palin said. "He is supposed to be here with us."

[ManxMouse]

oh yeah, this smells to high heaven.

wonder if there's a way to prove it.

[Folieadeux]

Make sense. She is against abortion so that would be out of the question for her daughter. I don't think that she would be comfortable with adoption - particularly given her political status.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but fetus abnormalities can be picked up after 20 weeks - why would a woman who obviously knew her child had Down Syndrome risk complicating the pregnancy further by continuing with a speech and boarding a flight?

I smell bullshit.

[ManxMouse]

and I thought you weren't supposed to fly in your third trimester anyway, she was only one month before her supposed due date.

[McJag]

Originally Posted by ManxMouse

and I thought you weren't supposed to fly in your third trimester anyway, she was only one month before her supposed due date.

She was also the Governor. That's worse than a 300 pound canary.