Momsterrific Misadventures: On Having a Baby and a Furbaby

On Having a Baby and a Furbaby

Last year on my birthday I received an amazing gift: a puppy. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. We treated her like a daughter; bought her expensive clothes and toys, took her out to the mall or park on weekends, slept with her on our bed and basically made her our princess. We went through all the things parents do for their children: had her blessed, celebrated monthsaries, took her trick or treating, threw her a birthday party, went swimming with her, and babied her endlessly.

Family and friends knew that we treated Haley Valentyne like our own daughter. There was a running joke that we worked in order to provide for her and buy her treats. Our nieces and nephews talked about her like a cousin and everybody loved her. And then on her 10th month we found out I was pregnant. She was going to be an "Ate". And we did call her that from then on. Ate Tyne. And we tried our best to prepare her for her coming baby brother.

We talked to her a lot and showed her pictures and videos of babies. I would lie on the sofa and she would cuddle with me, her paws on my big belly. I read about how to introduce furkids to human kids. We had it all planned out and believed everything would be fine. And then we had our son.

Even when we were still in the hospital basking in the glow of being new parents, half my mind was on my other baby back home. We sent ahead used baby clothes to make sure our darling princess got used to the baby's smell. When we got home, we made sure to present him to her immediately. And to our delight, she just sniffed him and showered us with kisses.

That was the calm before the storm. As we got more absorbed in caring for our baby, Ate Tyne became more vested in making a scene so we would pay more attention to her. Our once house trained sweetheart now began tearing furniture apart again, peeing and pooing in weird places and barking at every movement we made. Our home was a warzone in the first few months.

As time went by, she realized that the baby was here to stay, that he was a part of our family and she became protective of him. She started barking when he was close to falling off the bed or bouncer, slept beside the crib to keep him company and started to lick his feet when we got home after pedia appointments.

Right now they are at a getting-to-know-you stage where she would come closer and closer and he would try and try to pet her fur. Our son shows increased interest in our daughter and I'm just so thankful that they show signs of co-existing peacefully. Some people might think we're crazy for loving Ate Tyne like we do, but those people are probably not pet parents or animal lovers. Only a pet parent would understand that once a dog (or any other pet) comes into your life, they never leave, they just stay in your heart forever.