Soccer

While Josh and I were living in Spokane we made friends and joined up with an indoor soccer team. Josh had never really played so it was all new for him. He was a quick learner though and fell in love just like me! So when we moved to Seattle we wanted to keep playing. We both played outdoor for a co-ed team, which was a whole new learning experience for Josh. He also started his own indoor team composed of fellow anesthesiologists...and some others. (It was a bad experience. Apparently teams made up of doctors means no one shows up for games.) Two games into the season Josh turned into one of those no-show people, but for good reason. Game two he broke his leg.

He hobbled around on it at work for a day or two before getting one of the ortho docs to take a closer look. Josh thought it might be broken, and the ortho guy agreed, so Josh got an x-ray and a brace. I think the brace lasted just a few days though. I guess it hurt more than going without. At least his first broken bone didn't ruin his love for the game!

Surprises

Warning: Talk of cycles and pee. Read at your own discretion.

It was the beginning of the new year and I had mentioned to Josh that I was late starting my cycle. At the same time I also told him I was pretty much refusing to take a pregnancy test. In the past four years I had been late many times and had taken several pregnancy tests, all of them coming out negative, and then almost always I would start my cycle the very next day. It was super frustrating, and though pregnancy tests are cheap I was always bitter about the wasted money.

A few days later I finally gave in. I bought the cheapest tests I could find and peed on a stick while I was home for lunch in between dog walks. The test came out inconclusive. It was the first time I had received anything other than a negative. Annoyed, I chalked it up to the cheap test. There was another stick in the box, but I was out of pee and had to get back to my walks.

The rest of the day was busy, and as a new years resolution I had set the goal to attend the temple with Josh monthly. That Wednesday (Jan 7th) happened to be the first night we were going with friends from the ward, and we didn't get home until late. While getting ready for bed I remembered the other stick and took the second pregnancy test. Positive. I remember just walking out of the bathroom and holding the stick out to Josh. He looked with confusion and asked me what it meant. "It came out positive." We both just stared at each other. I told him I didn't believe it. He said he didn't either, and suggested I take the second test from the kit. I then mentioned I had already taken the first one earlier that day, repeating my mistrust of the cheap tests. First inconclusive and then positive?! They had to be faulty.

We couldn't wait until morning to try again. Hurrying out in our pajamas we drove to Kroger to get a new kit. They were locked up and the pharmacist, who had gone home for the night, had the only key. On to Rite Aid. The lady was literally locking their doors as we got to them. Finally, after what seemed like we had gone a million different places (which we clearly had not) we picked up another (not cheap this time) pregnancy test. I still remember at check out the lady looked at us and asked, "Should I wish you good luck?" which Josh and I both laughed at. YES lady. Definitely yes.

Now, close to 11pm (that's super late for us oldies okay?) I peed on my third stick with the little pee that I had built back up during our hunt for tests.

You guessed it. Second positive. I don't know how either of us ever got to sleep that night.

We were still hesitant to believe it, not wanting to get our hopes up, but I remember sending a text to Josh at work the next morning with this picture and the caption, "I think I'm starting to believe."

Zero Babies

Lets talk about fertility shall we?! Or rather infertility I should say. Sorry, it's a lot of words and little pictures. I'm writing it more for me than for anyone else though, so read if you want and don't if you don't. :)  The beginning of our adventure began about 2 and 1/2 years after Josh and I got married. We decided it was time we let nature take its course and I went off birth control. Unfortunately nature isn't always predictable and after several months of no change we realized getting pregnant might not be as easy as we had originally thought. Josh kind of knew the steps that a doctor would take in our situation so we tried for a year before I went to see a doctor, hoping that we could then get a dose of Clomid and it would be an easy fix. After taking a few tests she suggested we try a while longer and didn't think Clomid would do anything.

Fast forwarding a few months. Josh and I decided that I would move to Utah early and look for a job, while he finished up a few rotations before joining me. We knew that we would likely be in Utah for less than a year so I held off on seeing more doctors, knowing that any further steps we would take with our infertility would take longer and cost lots.

More fast forwarding. About 9 months later we found ourselves in Spokane. Since it had been over two years of trying with zero results we decided it was past time I saw a specialist. I began seeing Dr. Robins at the Center for Reproductive Health, and it was lame. (Not my favorite office. It left me feeling like I was just one in a herd of cattle.) After running tests he concluded that we should start with 3 rounds using an ovulation induction drug called FSH. After going through one round Josh and I talked and decided to skip the next two. We had already spent a fair amount of money running tests and rerunning tests. Our insurance offered zero coverage for infertility, making each round cost just under $1,000. Based on the tests we had run there was no reason to believe that ovulation induction was going to be anymore successful than the last two years had been. We opted instead to start saving our fannies off, anticipating spending the big bucks on IVF. (It's really difficult to build up any sort of savings while going through medical school.)

Fast forward, fast forward, fast forward...We spent the rest of our time in Spokane saving as much money as we could, and then after moving to Seattle I met with a doctor from Pacific Northwest Fertility to see if they agreed that IVF should be the next step. They did, and after getting the cost info we realized we would still need more money and continued trying to work and save. The first round of IVF would cost about $15,000. Then we would have to pay several thousand a year to freeze any eggs we wanted to keep for future rounds.

Months later after working, saving, working, saving, working, saving, and working and saving, we were close to having enough money for our first round of IVF. And then we got a surprise.

And since I have no pictures of ...infertility... (I don't even know what that would be.) Here is a picture of our fur child. We love his weirdness.

Chrithmuth!

Josh and I had a Christmas full to the gills with dogs. (I forgot to mention that I went back to my dog walking roots and started my own business again around October. See below for full story.) We stuck around Seattle since Josh only got Christmas Eve and Day off...or maybe just day... I can't remember. Too long ago. Since we were hanging around I tried to rake in a little extra money with the pups and spent my nights away sitting at a client's house while Josh stayed at home with the others. To be honest it was slightly boring Christmas since it was just us and the mutts, but we were headed to Utah in January and knew we'd have a lot of fun with family then.



It had taken me several months in Spokane before I found a job, so I was really nervous about not being able to find a job quickly here in Seattle. With Seattle being far more expensive and needing to save more for infertility stuff (Oh yes, I haven't talked about that either.... Later.) I had started my hunt early and I was super excited when I got an interview at a women's health clinic just a week after we moved. The same day of the interview I got an offer. I felt a little off for some reason about accepting the offer so quickly, but it was exactly what I was looking for and I couldn't think of a reason to say no. Unfortunately the first week of training I continued to feel off. I couldn't figure out what was making me so hesitant, but after praying and praying about it and talking with Josh I finally realized I had to quit. It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. (I'm sure that sounds silly to some. But it was okay?!) Josh and I really needed the money and I couldn't imagine telling them I would have to quit after just one week of work. The worst part was that I had no idea why I felt the need to quit; And the second worst part was I had no idea what I was supposed to do instead. So I did it. I quit. And then I thought and thought and thought and thought. Which direction was I supposed to go in now? Well, you guessed it. Dog walking...and sitting. It took a while, but I managed to start my own business and slowly build my clients. At the time I had no idea why it was the path for me, but it became clear a few months later.

Maughan Visit

Alright. This is happening! It's only been a year and a half since our last blog post. Oops. Hopefully I can remember all the fun, crazy, exciting, boring, and whatever else things that have happened since then.

Since Josh had to work around Thanksgiving Rachel and the kids decided to grace us with a visit and we celebrated early Thanksgiving a little Swedish style. Josh and I made them the traditional meal of meatballs, mashed potatoes, gravy, and lingon sylt (which is jam). Nothing too crazy, but the dessert was interesting. We tried our first chocolate noodles. Not the most delicious dessert I'd ever had, but fun to try.

We spent time showing off Pike Place Market and the many wonders it holds.

And also some time exploring the local parks. The parks here are great and have some interesting toys. Some not meant to fit adults.

It was a lot of fun and so great to have some visitors, even if we had to squeeze them into our little two bedroom apartment.

The Hamilton's Come to Seattle!

So, while we were down in Utah, Sydney stayed a few extra weeks to go to the Shakespeare festival with the girls of my family and then convinced her parents to drive her and Fiz back up to Seattle and visit for a week.  It was a lot of fun, and the weather was beautiful.  A member of our ward's bishopric (who has lived in Seattle for 20 years) says it's the nicest summer he's ever seen.

 We took the ferry out from Anacortes to Friday Harbor and went on a whale watching adventure!  It was so much fun.  We rode up in front of the boat pretty much the whole trip.  The captain (who totally looked like an old sea captain, beard and everything) told us he was glad to have some people aboard who enjoyed the ocean wind in their face as much as he does.  

 Whale!

 They actually got really close, which was awesome.  

 Went walking with the Fiz down at Discovery Park.

 I like random pictures like this.  

It was a lot of fun to have the Hamilton's come visit us.  

 We went to the Salmon Ladder and the Locks.

 Saw awesome sailboats.

 Ate good food. 

 We went hiking too, that was after they left though.  

We're pretty happy to be close enough to family that they actually come visit.  It's really been awesome.  We like where we live...but that's because it's beautiful and summer.  But Fall is coming.