Rylee

For the last few months, Rylee hasn't been acting like herself. She's been restless at night, has been eating and drinking less (if at all), and she has lost most of her energy and oomph. After lots of tests and many worries, we finally found an answer. Rylee has a tumor on her pituitary gland. It's making her do funny things like pace around in circles, and pant for hours. We can tell that she is so uncomfortable and confused, and as scary as it is to watch her that way, we are also grateful to finally have an answer.

So tomorrow Sean will start 20 days of driving her to the brilliant minds at the UC Davis Vet Hospital, so that they can give her special puppy radiation. We can't wait to watch her get better, slowly but surely, day by day. We have dreams of taking her to the beach with Max and watching her run to the water's edge and back. We want her to join us in the shade of a cafe table while we have breakfast downtown. We can't wait for her to sniff Max, and lick his little feet, and embark on the next stage of this journey with us.

Rylee and Max have already started to bond, in their own special way. Since my first few weeks of pregnancy, Rylee has known that something was different. We've always been friends, but for the past six months she has been my protector. She comes to my side of the bed at night. She sits patiently in front of me when I'm sitting on the couch. She waits for me at the top of the stairs when I come home. Rylee knows that something is changing, and she has been right there with me as each change comes. Sean has been taking amazing care of her. Patiently feeding her by hand, waking up with her at night to calm her down, taking her for a second and third opinion when we weren't getting answers from her regular vet. Ever since I first met him, I knew that he would be a fantastic father, because he was such a great "Doggie Dad".

We will be right there with Rylee on her path to recovery. We will be cheering her on, and nursing her back to health, and watching day by day as she returns to her old self. Each day that brings us closer to meeting Max, also brings us closer to healing Rylee. We can't wait for the two of them to meet each other, and for hundreds more sunny days with Rylee walking next to Max's stroller as we all embark on another adventure together.