Simon

It's a boy!  March 29th God blessed us with a healthy beautiful baby boy.  Predictions from my patients, friends and family were split 50/50.  Mark was sure we were getting another girl, and I didn't have strong feelings one way or another.  
As I had mentioned in an earlier post, Bethel is set up to function more like a birthing center in that women labor naturally; there is no option of an epidural.  
I must admit, I was a little nervous about having my baby in Bethel.  Even though I delivered my second baby naturally in a birthing center and had a great experience, my first delivery in a hospital was nothing I wanted to experience again.  I worried my delivery in Bethel would be more like the hospital, bound to a bed by a fetal monitor and blood pressure cuff, but without the option of an epidural.  I had nothing to fear.  My experience delivering Simon here was perfect; in many ways even better than the experience I had delivering at the birthing center.  

My labor took off quickly and progressed quickly.  Thankfully I was the only woman in labor at the time, so I was able to take advantage of the jacuzzi tub.  We couldn't have gotten a better, more attentive nurse.  She was with me the whole time, coaching me through every contraction.  My doctor was not only my boss, but also a friend, and it was such a comfort her being there.  After 4 hours of labor Simon was laid across my chest and allowed to remain there until he was finished nursing.  The whole experience was wonderful.  

Family Vacation

One of the really nice benefits of working at YK is the CME (continuing medical education) reimbursement.  As a PA I have to keep up with my CME earning so many hours every 2 years.  There are a lot of ways to earn CME: reading articles, gaining qualified certifications, attending approved lectures... But my favorite way to earn CME is at a conference.  Several months ago I found a great 3 day primary care conference at Walt Disney World.  Even though I was going to be 7 1/2 months pregnant at the time, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to take the kids on their first Disney trip.   
The last time we traveled to the East Coast from Bethel we only went for a week, and it was so exhausting we vowed never to go for such a short period of time again.  So our plans for this trip was a week in Disney followed by a week split between visiting Kentucky friends and family and visiting Georgia friends and family.  But you know what they say about the best laid plans...
About a week and a half before we were set to leave we ran into our first kink, a good kink, but a kink none the less.  

     Side note: For about a month I had been causally checking   out the job market back in the lower 48.  My 2 year contract with YK expires this June and Mark and I were curious to see how feasible it would be to move back this summer.  We knew that we had the advantage of being able to be really picky about if and where we moved.  We both have good jobs here, and even though life in Bethel has its challenges, we are doing well.   

A job had opened up in beautiful Sandpoint, Idaho and the clinic really wanted me to come in for interviews and a site visit.  There was no way we were going to be able to go before leaving for Disney, and to try and go after we got back was getting really close to my due date.  So suddenly that second week of vacation was going to be slammed with traveling!

Our adventure started on Valentine's Day with the night jet into Anchorage followed by a several hours lay over in the airport till our red eye left bound for the lower 48.  Change planes in Portland, deplane because no one would claim a lost computer battery and security had to re-sweep the plane, arrive in Atlanta in time for a late dinner.  I truly think one of the most exhausting things in life is to travel from Bethel, Alaska to the East Coast (and vice versa) with 2 toddlers.  Picture this: It's 3:00 am and everyone on the plane is trying to sleep (including you) and your two kids are screaming and crying from being over-exhausted themselves.  All they want is to curl up in your lap, get comfortable and fall asleep.  Only every time they get out of their seats the flight attendant flutters over and kindly reminds you that they have to stay seated with their seat belts fastened.  I would honestly rather wrestle an alligator than try to fasten the seat belt of a toddler who doesn't want to stay in their seat and knows how to undo their seat belt with the angry eyes of every other passenger in a 3 row radius staring at you!

Animal Kingdom

So, Day 1: Leave Bethel, Day 2: Arrive in Atlanta, Day 3: Wake up bright and early, load up the cars and hit the road to Orlando.

We spent a fabulous 6 days at Disney!  Nana and Papa and Auntie joined us, along with one of my best friends from Charleston and her daughter.  We had beautiful weather, the kids got to meet all their favorite characters and we ate so much amazing food I could write a whole blog post on the food alone!  

The conference was awesome!  I won't bore you with the details, but the presenters were knowledgeable and the information I learned had me excited to bring back into my practice.  The timing of the conference was perfect as well.  Three days and over by noon so I could join my family where ever they were.  

Day 8: We said good-bye to Disney, vowed to visit again soon and headed back to Atlanta.  

Our Tour Guide

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair

 

The remainder of the trip was sheer craziness!  Day 9: Mark and I flew bright and early from Atlanta to Spokane, Washington, rented a car and drove to Sandpoint, Idaho.  Day 10: We spent interviewing, meeting everyone at the clinic and checking out the area.  Day 11: While I shadowed the doctor I would be working with, Mark called on a few job opportunities, followed by lunch with the CEO and a job offer - yeah!  From here, the plan was (there are those pesky plans again) to drive back to Spokane, take a night flight to Vegas, a red eye to Atlanta, arrive in Atlanta at 7:00 am, drive from the airport to Kentucky and spend a couple days with Mark's family.  All went accordingly till Vegas (I doubt I'm the first to say that) when our flight was canceled and we couldn't get another one till the next day.  To sweeten the situation, the airline refused to put up the stranded passengers in a hotel for the night.  So there I was nearly 8 months pregnant trying to sleep on the floor of the Vegas airport (because of course there were more slot machines than chairs, and all the benches were divided by arm rests so you couldn't stretch out on them).  Day 12: Finally arrived in Atlanta at 3:30, borrowed the car from my parents with the kids already loaded and drove to Kentucky.  We spent the night and most of Day 13 in Kentucky before driving back to Atlanta, spending the night in Atlanta and then on Day 14 flew back to Alaska.  

It was a whirlwind of a trip, but worth every minute.  Now we just wait for a baby to be born and start preparing for our big move this June!

Musk Ox

One of my biggest disappointments with Bethel has been the lack of wildlife.  I came out here fully expecting to see moose, bears, eagles...  This is Alaska after all!  We read up on what to do if a moose is blocking your driveway and how to avoid getting eaten by a bear; neither animals of which have I even seen since moving to Alaska.  Don't get me wrong, Bethel is in the middle of a wildlife refuge, the wildlife is out there, it just avoids Bethel.  Even our trash dumpsters lack animal deterrents.  On the exceptionally rare occasion that something more than a fox or a raven is spotted, the news travels like wildfire!  In the year and a half we have been here I have only heard of 2 such occasions.  Once was a cow moose, once a bull musk ox.  Both sightings were fleeting, for as soon as the animals realized they had ventured so close to civilization they turned back to the refuge of the tundra, seen only by a few. 

But I wouldn't be writing about this today if something hadn't changed.  About a week after Thanksgiving, a small group of about 11 musk ox took up residence across the river and grazed there for nearly 2 weeks.  It was all people were talking about.  No one could remember such animals ever coming so close to Bethel, not to mention sticking around for awhile.  The primary musk ox heard resides just outside of Toksook Bay, along the Bering Coast, 115 miles West of Bethel.

Musk ox are native to the Alaskan tundra, however, the herds were hunted to depletion in the 19th century.  As a means to help maintain the native culture, a herd was reintroduced to the tundra in 1935.  Additional herds have been introduced to other parts of Alaska, but no documented herds have ever come this far east.  After the herd was reintroduced to Alaska in 1935 it grew rapidly enough that hunting was allowed by 1975.  True to the native culture, every part of the hunted animal is used for something.  The meat of course for food, the horns I have seen made into beautiful jewelry, and the underwool woven into truly amazing articles of clothing and accessories.  

The musk ox meat I have tasted is delicious, tender yet lean.  My favorite pair of earrings are a combination of musk ox horn and ivory.  But my absolute favorite part of the musk ox is the underwool, or qiviut.  Softer than cashmere and 80% warmer than wool, yet light and will not shrink in any temperature of water.  I only own 2 small pieces.  A beret and a smoke ring (small infinity scarf).  Together the two pieces cost just under $500!  Musk ox yarn is unbelievably expensive, but worth every penny. 

I don't know where the Bethel musk ox moved onto; if they rejoined the Toksook herd or if they will grow in number and form their own herd.  I hope we get to see them again, maybe they will return in the spring with a few little calves added to their number.      

Fairbanks

There is always something new to explore in Alaska.  This year for Thanksgiving we decided to explore a little bit of interior Alaska and spend the holiday in Fairbanks.  We found a great little suite hotel with a full kitchen so we could home cook all our favorite Thanksgiving fixings.  And don't think for a second that just because we were tucked in the middle of frozen Alaska that we weren't surrounded by family and friends.  Both my parents joined us, one of my best friends from Charleston and her little girl joined us and Mark's mom and brother also made the long trip out!  
Thanksgiving day of course was all about the food.  We stayed snuggled in the hotel utilizing every oven we had access to in order to bring together a little piece of Thanksgiving goodness from everyone's traditions.  Fat and happy we called it an early night as the next day we planned to make the icy drive to Chena Hot Springs.  

Chena Hot Springs is a natural thermal hot spring located a bit over 55 miles northeast of Fairbanks.  Dad white knuckled most of the 1.5 hour drive, but it was well worth it.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed the naturally heated indoor pool and hot tubs, while the adults took kid watching shifts to enjoy the outdoor natural rock pool.  I don't know how hot the outdoor pool gets, but I can tell you there were areas of the pool that were too hot for me.  With outside temperatures that day around -25 degrees, it didn't take long for our wet hair to freeze above water while our bodies stayed nice and toasty in the pool.  Once everyone was hungry and pruned to the max we said goodbye to the pools and made our way next to the Ice Museum and Hotel.  Although smaller than I was expecting, the highlight was definitely the appletinis poured and served in a glass made entirely out of ice at the ice bar.  Don't worry, I didn't drink mine, but I couldn't pass up the photo opportunity!  

The next day, refusing to let the frigid -24 degrees keep us tucked inside, we ventured to a well known sledding hill on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.  Again the kids had a blast (the adults did too).  I think Luke would have stayed until his face mask froze to his face if we let him.  

Later that day we walked with the reindeer at the Running Reindeer Ranch.  Amazing how the animals just fell into line with our group as if we were each a reindeer in their herd, even nudging those who were moving too slow to either speed it up or move aside.  

That night, for me anyway, was the highlight of the trip!  The clouds cleared away late in the day and even though the Aurora Borealis forecast was low, we decided to take our chances and drive out to Cleary Summit.  A worthwhile decision for sure!  We were not disappointed!  I had rented a special camera lens (one I couldn't dream of affording right now) specifically for capturing the Northern Lights should we get the opportunity to see them.  We didn't get back to the hotel till after 2:00 am, but the pictures speak for themselves as to how worth the loss of sleep was!

Day 4 was the highlight of the trip for the kids... the North Pole to see Santa.  Only about 15 minutes outside of Fairbanks, Luke could hardly contain himself with excitement to be able to see Santa at Santa's home!  Next to Santa's home was a small park with numerous slides all made out of ice.  The two younger kids and a couple of the colder adults sat this venture out and stayed nestled in the toasty car.  The rest of us however grabbed a sled and hit the ice.  We played till our eyelashes became icicles and we couldn't feel our fingers.  

















On our last day, we wrapped up our trip with a visit to the Museum of the North at UAF.  The museum had such a great kid play area that they all cried when it was time to go.  I cried when I saw my grand total come up on the gift shop cash register; but mostly everyone just enjoyed the museum's exhibits, giving us all a little closer look at the culture and history of native Alaska.

The whole trip was such a wonderful way to spend Thanksgiving.  I don't think any of us will ever forget the unique experiences we shared.  As for me, I would return in a heartbeat.  With any luck, we'll get a chance to experience Fairbanks in the summer as well.  

Sundogs

I know people probably think I'm crazy to love winter here so much, but I really do.  I will never fall out of love with the sound fresh fallen snow makes when you walk on it.  Winter in Alaska is the time of year that I always seem to experience the most firsts.  Last year was the first time I had experienced extreme cold, frozen eye lashes and that feeling where you know the inside of your nose is freezing.  Winter is just beginning here this year.  The snow seems to have finally arrived to stay and temperatures have dropped to single and negative digits.  I've officially pulled my heavy Canada Goose winter coat out of hibernation - although, I don't know how long I will be able to wear it for.  Already it's getting difficult to zip around my quickly expanding belly.  I had forgotten how difficult it is to drive wearing my bulky snow boots.  
One of the things that I love about winter here is the diamond dust.  When temperatures drop low enough and the sky is clear enough the moisture in the air freezes; the ice crystals reflect the sun and create a shimmering effect.  At first you think it is snowing, but then you realize that there are no clouds and what you think is snow is too fine and never actually falls to the ground.
A few nights ago I experienced a couple of new firsts. Working in fast track I get off much later than I used to with outpatient clinic.  This one particular night I unplugged the car and fought and fought with the completely frozen 25 foot extension cord.  I gave up trying to unplug the end attached to my car, it wasn't budging.  I spent close to 15 minutes forcing the frozen cord to wrap around my side mirror.  Not an easy task I assure you when your hands are as frozen as the cord is!  Once the cord was finally secure I next set about scraping my windows.  I scraped until my arms were sore but the windows weren't clearing up.  After a few choice words not appropriate for this blog, I realized the reason was because the frost was on the inside of the windows!!
My most recent first new experience was an atmospheric phenomenon called a parhelion or sundog.  There have been many occasions living in Bethel where I have wondered if I was still in the United States, but this experience left me wondering if I was still on planet earth!  Sundogs occur when the temperatures are cold enough that the light reflects off ice crystals in the air (diamond dust).  It gives the illusion of more than 1 sun.  On this particular day the diamond dust was everywhere giving everything a sparkly, shimmery look, and the sundogs gave the appearance of there being not 1, but 3 suns.  I was half expecting a dragon or pegasus to fly over me because surely I was either dreaming or had somehow walked into another world.
The pictures below are exactly how the sun appeared.  They are not Photoshopped,and it is not a trick of a special lens or filter.  The only thing the camera didn't pick up was the shimmering of the diamond dust.        

Our Disastrous Date

The opportunities for a date night are few and far between here in Bethel.  We have no movie theater, no bars, no clubs, no mini golf courses.  The few restaurants we have all pretty much serve the same expensive food.  
Every few months the Cultural Center hosts a "community" event.  Tickets to these events aren't the cheapest, but usually a nice dinner is served (something you won't find in the local restaurants) and various items, depending on the theme of the event, are auctioned and raffled off.  
This year we decided to attend one of the events we did not get a chance to go to last year, the NRA dinner.  (Yes, NRA, as in National Rifle Association)  Mark laughed at me saying only in Bethel would I ever consider an NRA event to be a date night!  So true!  But I was really looking forward to this night.  Mark and I hadn't been out without the kids since our Hawaii trip in April and we were due some adult time.  Plus, I had heard really good things about the prime rib dinner.  
As our date night approached I got more and more excited.  The doors to the Cultural Center opened at 5:00 but dinner wasn't served till 6:30.  We knew we wanted to get there at a decent time so we could get good seats.  Don't get me wrong, this isn't a restaurant style dinner with quaint little private tables reserved for ticket holders.  It's long tables in rows so you can sit next to your loved one and all your closest Bethel friends.  
The babysitter arrived a little before 5:30 and just as we were getting ready to walk out the door Luke throws up!  In desperate hopes that it was too much Halloween candy and running around we did a quick clean up and left.  The babysitter promised to call if he got sick again.  
So we got to the Cultural Center later than hoped and we paid the price for it.  There wasn't a single seat!  We lapped the room twice without any luck finding 2 seats together.  The event coordinators advised us to get in line for dinner and assured us they would get 2 seats together for us once we got our food.  No sooner did we get in line and my phone rang... Yep, it was the babysitter, Luke had gotten sick again!  I promised to eat quick and then hurry home.  
We got our food and again tried to find seats.  No coordinators could be found to help us (they were probably all enjoying their food together at seats reserved just for them).  I found a single seat between two groups of people I didn't know who didn't say a single word to me the entire time I ate.  Mark ended up on the other end of the room sitting on a piano bench.  I tried not to worry too much about the fact that our date night was being cut short and we weren't even able to eat a quick dinner together.  At least I would get a nice prime rib dinner before I left...  So much for wishful thinking.  The meat was dry, the baked potato was burnt beyond edibleness, and the salad consisted of just lettuce.  I ate what I could and left Mark with some friends (at least one of us should be able to enjoy a night without kids) and went home to a sick child.  
When all was said and done, between dinner and raffle tickets and the babysitter we spent about $200 for barely edible food, no raffle wins and not even being able to eat next to each other for the short time I was there.  The joys of being a parent, and the limitations of living in Bethel.  Lesson learned: wait to have date night till we are back in the lower 48 and $200 will pay for good food and a private table!  Can't wait till our visit home in February!  

Winter is almost here

All the signs are there.  The wind is picking up and coming more out of the north, we regularly have to scrap our car windows in the morning before work, thin sheets of ice are forming on the tundra ponds, ravens are quickly becoming the only birds left, and the sun is finally setting at a reasonable time.  

I often wonder how this winter will be for us.  Not only have I heard murmurs of a longer colder winter than last year, but last year everyday was a novelty.  Our first ALASKAN winter!  It was easy to laugh at -55 degrees when you had never before experienced anything that cold.  This year however... it's old news.  (Not to mention, this year I may not be able to zip my coat over my belly.)  

Regardless of all the things there are to dread about winter here (and their are many) I'm still excited.  How in the world could I possibly be excited about only 4 hours of sun light, temperatures so cold your eyelashes freeze and snow drifts that can swallow a car whole?  Easy.  Winter is the only time of year that I get the chance to view the most amazing light show on earth!  There is just something about the Aurora Borealis that fascinates me.  I don't know if it's my desire to get that perfect Northern Lights picture, or if it's just the simple fact that rainbows can streak across the night sky, but I can't get enough of them.  

Last night my longing for the darkness of winter was renewed.  Completely unexpected, as I drove home from work a little after 11:00pm I noticed a strange grey to part of the sky.  Once I parked my car and my eyes adjusted to the dark it hit me that I was looking at the Northern Lights.  At the time they weren't doing much and didn't have much color to them.  But as I walked out into the dark tundra, away from the house lights and street lights the colors became more visible.  The longer I waited the more active they became.  It was totally worth it to stand out in the cold wind with nothing but a pair of scrubs on and a thin jacket.  Last year we only saw the lights in Bethel once, and only green.  Last night however, the show included not just the typical greens, but reds as well!  It was beautiful!  Time again to freshen up my review of how to photograph the Northern Lights and work on getting that perfect picture!