Does the National Enquirer even know what they have with the Shailey Tripp story? Updated!

Just in case some of you missed a certain passage in the last NE article concerning this scandal, let me bring you up to speed.

From the Enquirer:

In the latest twist, the source close to Shailey reveals the massage therapist claimed to have had a bizarre encounter with Sarah at the All About You Spa in Anchorage in late 2007 early 2008.  At the time Sarah was the Governor of Alaska and pregnant with her fifth child, Trig, who was born in April 2008.

"One day Shailey dropped by to pick up her paycheck, and the receptionist asked if she could give a client a massage because the original therapist assigned could not make it that day" said the source.

When Shailey walked into the massage room and realized the client was Sarah Palin "She almost fainted!" the source said.

At first Shailey was terrified that Sarah would confront her about sleeping with Todd, said the source.
"But Sarah never even brought up his name. After Sarah left, Shailey said she never told Todd about it."

Now after I read that I contacted my sources, who have some knowledge about this story, and asked them if they had any clearer idea as to exactly when this massage supposedly took place. "Was it 2007, or was it 2008?  This is VERY important!"  I said.

The reply was that it was early 2008, BEFORE Palin revealed to the world that she was "pregnant," probably around January.  I asked if Shailey had ever mentioned anything about whether Sarah was noticeably pregnant during that massage. My sources said that not only did Shailey not notice she was pregnant, but that NOBODY in that office knew that Palin was pregnant before she told the world on March 5th. In fact, THEY were just as shocked as everybody else.

Okay now roll that around in your head just a little.

From what I have learned Sarah Palin came into All About You Spa more than a few times, and for procedures other than just a simple massage as well. (All About You offers a number of services, such as Botox injections, Sclerotherapy for varicose veins, Pulsed Light Therapy for acne and spider veins, Skin Regeneration, and Anti-Cellulite Treatment, to name but a few.) And yet NOBODY in the office had ever noticed she was pregnant. How is that possible?

Remember she would have been about four or five months pregnant at this time, and she was being seen by other woman, some of them parents, and yet not ONE of of them was able to detect that she was pregnant?

Palin's explanation for how it was possible that nobody in her office noticed she was pregnant before she told them was: "I hadn't put on a lot of weight and with winter clothes and a few cleverly draped scarves, nobody saw my girth or suspected I was pregnant." (Going Rogue Chapter 8, pg 191.)

However there were no "winter  clothes" or "cleverly draped scarves" to hide her "pregnancy" from these women.  After all nobody receives a massage through a down jacket.

So how could THEY have been surprised?

As I was pondering this it occurred to me that the All About You Medical Spa was right down the road from me.  You know what that means. Road trip!

Minutes later I walked into the tranquil setting of the spa and politley started to ask about their services.

I suggested that I was interested in purchasing some massages and asked if there were any concerns if the person who I gave them to was pregnant.  At that I was handed some health forms and told that ALL potential clients were required to fill them out before receiving any of their services.

Here are the forms.

As you can see on this form they ask a number of very probing questions about the woman's medical history, including if she is seeing a doctor, when her last period was, and even goes onto ask her about the number of pregnancies, miscarriages, and abortions she has had.

So if NONE of the women in the office knew Sarah Palin was pregnant that meant that she either lied on this form, or told them the absolute truth, which was that she was NOT pregnant.

Now it dawned on me to ask the nice lady at the desk whether or not I could speak with the owner of the business, a woman whose title states that she is an Advanced Women's Health Nurse Practitioner, and perhaps get a quote about what their opinon was on Palin's "pregnancy" at that time. But then I noticed this next form.

Yep, the dreaded HIPPA form.  The bane of all bloggers attempting to learn the truth about Sarah Palin's "pregnancy."  I had run into this damn thing before and I knew that it meant I was not going to get any information about Sarah Palin from anybody who was legally bound by that agreement. 

However I did have the presence of mind to ask one more question. "Since the massage therapist may not have taken the time to read this health form before giving a massage are there any questions they are supposed to ask before starting a message?

"Well before the therapist sees the patient they hand them this form to fill out (as seen below) and ask them if they are pregnant or if they are currently menstruating."

"Oh, really!" I said.

With that I smiled politely, purchased a few gift certificates, and left the lobby of the spa.

So once again the only way that the people of All About You Spa would NOT know Sarah was pregnant, if in fact she was, is if she lied on the medical form as well as directly to her masseuse, AND  if this group of women were unable to detect a pregnancy of four or five months after seeing Sarah partially, or even completely, disrobed.  What do YOU think the chances are they would not have noticed a swollen belly on a 44 year old woman, four to five months pregnant with her FIFTH child?

At this point I am unable to talk directly to Shailey Tripp because of her confidentiality deal with the Enquirer, but I did contact them and give them the heads up so that they could pursue this line of questioning. Apparently they had not caught the significance.

And by the way, for those who still don't think this story has legs, believe me this is still NOT the most explosive part of this amazing story.  I just hope the Enquirer is doing the kind of thorough job that they did on the John Edwards story.

For this week at least it looks like the Enquirer is taking some time off from the story. I hope that does not mean they are caving into pressure from the Palin's attorney (Still Thomas Van Flein by the way), or have messed up their deal with Ms. Tripp.

Of course if the did that would mean that other media outlets, or even bloggers, might get a shot at this story.  No matter WHO gets the story it promises to be a real page turner.

Update: I just received this e-mail from one of my doctor friends:

In a normal pregnancy the fundus of the uterus rises above the pubic bone around fourteen weeks. At that point it's palpable right at the public bone and feels like a hard little orange almost. It's not as hard as a rock or a brick (lol) but it's not soft and "squishy" either. It's very distinct.

At twenty weeks it should be right about at the navel. Read that again. At the naval.

In fact the old trick that doctors used to date gestational point (from before ultrasound made dating pregnancies just about to the minute possible) is that between approx 15 and 25 weeks, the fundus rises one finger width per week. It should be below the naval until the 20th week, and then between 20-25 weeks rises about one finger width per week. This was (and is) "quick and dirty" but, if a practitioner got someone in who said she was - say 16 weeks - and that fundus was already above the naval, the doctor or midwife knows without any tests, in an instant, that either the woman is wrong about her dates OR she has more than one baby in there.

This is extremely important regarding Palin. This fundal height measurment is unvariable. There is nothing related to a mother's weight or the tightness of the abs that changes this (except of course in very HEAVY women with tons of fat you might not be able to find the fundus, but this does not apply to Palin.) If Palin's real due date was, as she claimed, mid May, by January 1, 2008 she would have been right at 20 weeks. That fundus would have been unmistakably palpable to any one who was giving her a massage.

I REALLY need to talk to Shailey. Or anybody else who might have given the Grizzled Mama a massage or other spa treatment around this time.