New state, new car.

Since before Olivia was born we have been looking for a new car, one that would do well in the snow because driving in the snow scares John and I to death!

Specifically, John REALLY wanted a Subaru Forester, AWD is standard and they are just fun to drive. So, we looked and looked (hours and hours, days and days, weeks and weeks) but never really found one we liked. 

Fast forward to Tuesday. John had a flight out of SLC to go to his parents for a week. We decided we would leave early and look at a few Subaru Foresters in Murray before dropping him off. We went and John test drove one. It was a 2004, it was a silverish green, it drove ok, and smelt like rotten eggs when the air was blowing. 

A quick side note, John has this thing about things inspiring him. If something doesn't "inspire" him he won't buy it. 

Well this car was very uninspiring. So we went to check out a 2009. We got to the dealership and the salesman was out on a test drive with someone else. So, while we waited John looked up reviews on the place. They were awful! And John said the office was really grungy, so we left. We didn't want to end up making a deal with a greasy car salesman and that's what the reviews led us to believe would happen. 

So we drove down the street to see another one. It was a 2008, it was black, and it had literally just been put up for sale. We looked at it and loved it. John drove it and he liked it, then I drove it. It was nice. So we talked to the guy to see how low he would go. We then looked at the time. John had to be at the airport in 20 minutes! (Luckily we were just about 20 minutes away). We debated waiting until he got back, but we just felt good about it. All the many cars we have test driven over the past 6 months we have never felt good about, none of them inspired us. This one did. So we told the guy we wanted it. We signed a paper and gave a deposit so he would hold the car till I could come back the next day with a check and pick it up and we left. I dropped John off at the airport and drove home. 

We bought a car? Yes we bought a car. 

So Wednesday Brianna, John's oldest sister, came and picked me and Olivia up, and we went and picked up the car. It ended up being a really good thing we decided not to wait, They told me that 3 people called about it and someone came as they were giving me the keys to see it. 

Here it  is! I love it. It is fun to drive (actually it is really easy to speed in so I have to watch myself because the motorcycle cops are EVERYWHERE right now, I guess because of the good weather?). Now we just have to figure out what to name it and retire my first car, Indie. 

P.S. I had to choose a license plate. Which I thought was so weird. My old car just came with the standard California one, so when they asked me which one I wanted I was like what? It was either the skiing one or Moab. I chose Moab because John and I don't ski but we like hiking. It just made sense in my head at the time. But honestly I think they are both ugly. 

 

New Adventures

So we are in Utah!
Olivia and I flew in last Tuesday, July 8th. I was really nervous about flying with her, I just kept imagining her screaming the whole time. But she did amazing! I fed her when we first got boarded which put her to sleep and she slept the whole time! Yay baby!

We've spent the last week getting settled, getting random things we need, and just spending time as a family which I love.

We had to take Olivia to a doctor because we thought she had another infection. Which means they had to cath her again. I hate it. When the doctor heard how severe her VUR was he was surprised her pediatrician didn't put her straight on prophylaxis (a low dose of antibiotics to prevent infections). The urine test came back negative but he gave us a prescription for antibiotics to hold her over till we can see a urologist.

Even though seeing the urologist means we know what our next steps are, I'm dreading it. Mostly because it kinda makes it more real. The reality is every time she pees she could possibly get another infection which could potentially damage her kidneys. It's comforting to know she has the antibiotics that will hopefully prevent that but it still scares me. Also I don't want to hear that she will eventually need surgery.

But despite all that Olivia is generally a happy baby. She is such a little goober. And we are slowly getting used to the fact that we now live in Utah.

People keep asking me how I like Utah and I never really know what to say. I've been here a little over a week. I love the mountains and I hate the elevation (not fun for running).  I've never lived anywhere but southern California so it's weird. Weird that this is my home, weird that I'm so far from my family and friends. It's kind of lonely when I think about that, but part of that may be because John is at his parents in California right now.

I'm excited to be here and excited for all the changes this move brings.

VCUG Test and Results

Today Olivia had her VCUG to check if she has reflux causing her urine to back up into her kidneys. The test itself went ok. They put in a catheter (which they had to do twice because she pushed the first one out) and filled her bladder with a dye and used an x-ray to watch and see if the fluid moved back up into her kidneys.

Her Pediatrician just called with the results. They rate the severity of VUR from 0 to 5, 0 meaning there is no reflux and 5 meaning it goes all the way up into her kidneys. On the left side Olivia is a 5 and on the right she's a 4.

Even though I knew the possibilities I was shocked.

Our next step is to see a Urologist to figure out a course of action. Her pediatrician said most likely she'll be put on a low dose of antibiotics to take everyday. Hopefully she will grow out of it, but it is less likely with how severe it is. If she's not growing out of it or she's still getting infections despite the antibiotics she will need corrective surgery. But all of that will be decided by a Urologist.

Tuesday her and I fly to Utah and from there we will find a Pediatrician and get to a Urologist as soon as we can, and then we will know more if what all this means for Olivia.

For now we just need to watch her and make sure she's not getting another infection.