Meet Remy!

Hello everyone---we'd like you to meet Remy, the newest addition to our family!

We've wanted a dachshund for quite a while, and everything was just working out for us to have her, so on Saturday night we drove to Woodruff to pick her up! She's a miniature longhair red dachshund---exactly what we've wanted. Now, we did want to adopt a dog rather than buy a puppy, but after going to the shelter, it looked like that wasn't going to be the best option for us. Our apartment has breed limits and I'm really not comfortable with big dogs, which unfortunately is what you usually find in shelters. We did however skip the pet store and find a nice breeder who had this little darling.

Remy has been a lot of work so far, but she is really a sweetheart, and we're excited for her to take more to her training---and then I can get some sleep! Marley has been adjusting well to the new puppy, but you can tell she's still trying to figure out just what this oversized chew toy is doing on her turf.

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Even though puppies aren't a walk in the park and there's a lot of frustration and work that goes into them, we're hoping that having Remy will help me deal with some of the stress I'm going through right now. I've debated saying anything about it (and won't say much as to not make anyone feel uncomfortable), but I've decided it might be good to talk about it a little and find others who have experienced or are experiencing the same thing in hopes of finding more support through this trial. Joey and I have been trying to start a family (sorry to all those who told us to wait; we just didn't feel that was the right decision for us), but unfortunately have run into some difficulty. I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome when I was 15, so I always knew that could be a problem, but last month I was also diagnosed with a Bicornuate Uterus, a defect I've had since I was born that apparently less than .5% of women have (lucky me!), and makes carrying healthy babies to term very difficult, with a high rate of miscarriage, premature birth, and 4x the chance of a handful of birth defects. So basically, its hard for me to get pregnant, and even if it did happen, its not guaranteed that I could actually have a healthy baby. Needless to say, this has been heartbreaking for us, and I've been having a lot of trouble coping with this reality. We've begun the infertility process, and its scary and confusing and stressful (and will quickly become expensive), which only adds to the fear and frustration I feel most days. You never think that anything could stand in the way of having a family, especially when its all you've ever wanted. Joey has been so supportive, loving, and tender with all of this, but with him being gone for so long each day, I get too much time alone to sit and think about everything, which is no good for me. 

So we decided a puppy would be good for me to not only give me something to nurture and take care of, but to also help get my mind off of the trial we are facing---and for the most part, it has. Though my heart still hurts and sometimes its hard to watch so many of my friends experience something I want more than anything, Remy is helping me feel like I have a bit more purpose while we wait for our turn to have a family.

So there it is. I don't plan on talking about it often, but I think it was good for me to say it. I've felt like I can't talk about it sometimes because I feel embarrassed, like there's something wrong with me that prevents me from doing the one thing I should be able to do as a woman (which I guess you could say is true). But like I said, if mentioning it helps me to find more support, then I think its good for me to do so. 

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But anyways, we hope everyone has a fun, happy weekend---friends in Virginia, enjoy the snow for us! We will be having a low key weekend with a date night in and training Remy more!