Day 97: West Nile

We made it through the party no problem. Our impending baby wasn't the topic of conversation I thought it might be. Shockingly, people don't seem to care that much when confronted with the amazing news that a married couple are having a baby. I seem to have forgotten that this is the most basic event in the big picture of human biology, and that most people get around to it much earlier in life than we have.

We spent Sunday through Wednesday on a camping trip. The first night we "car camped" with Mary's cousin Travis, his wife Ali, and their two kids (3 & 7). What seems to be happening is that every time I get to witness the ugly realities of the day-to-day of raising children, I think "that looks like a pain in the ass, but I won't mind doing it for MY child". Here's hoping that continues. I do like them better when they're out of "toad phase", though.

Monday and Tuesday night were spent five miles into the Sawtooth Wilderness, at a place called "Hell Roaring Lake". Beautiful, but thick with mosquitoes. According to Mary's research we've engaged in a number of forbidden fetus-endangering activities:

• Sickness from mosquito-borne West Nile virus is very dangerous.
• Drinking water that's found on-site but pumped through a purifier is a no-no—if the filter is broken and bacteria get through, mom could get sick and baby could be lost.
• Climbing up and down steep, rocky inclines carries a chance of falling.

The last two bullets have proven no problem, however symptoms of West Nile can take up to three days to surface (if they do).

I don't really think we've endangered the pregnancy at all, but with all the hype and extra precautions people take, you really get paranoid.