Today, my friend is saying goodbye to a much wanted pregnancy. They found out that the baby they had tried so hard to conceive is not expected to survive. At her early ultrasounds, she found she'd lost a twin. Then they learned that there were heart concerns and likely chromosomal abnormalities. At the last ultrasound, they saw not only major heart malformations, but insurmountable brain and limb issues as well. The prognosis was grim and they decided to terminate. She's about 20 weeks at this point.
We all know there is no way to wrap your head around such a thing. I can't imagine the pain they went through arriving at this decision. If you pray, please remember J, R, and their baby today. I know she'd appreciate it.
July 31, 2013
July 14, 2013
100 Days... A Post About The Dog
Today marks 100 days until my due date. We're starting to get things ready and that means... the dog.
When I adopted Scout over 6 years ago, she came with some serious luggage. With a lot of hard work, she's come from this sick little goober who would hide and refuse to come out...
to this super happy dog who still has some struggles...
I thought she was a Corgi mix. What I didn't know was that she might not even be a Corgi, but she is for sure Chow and who knows what else. She's just short... like me. Her herding instinct is huge as is the Chow protectiveness in her. She is still rather fearful and since I have become pregnant, she's gotten even more protective of me. On top of that, she's eight now. Her vision isn't what it used to be and she has a touch of arthritis.
Over the July 4th holiday, she snapped at my brother-in-law out of the blue and got him on the nose. Cue panic.
I take our adoption of Scout seriously. I made a commitment to take care of her for life. We thought that with the baby coming it might be time to find her a new home, but knowing my dog, that would be very traumatic for her. She's a smart dog and is good with her commands. She even has some rally and advanced obedience skills, but it doesn't matter how good she is at sit and stay when she gives no warning and nips someone in the face. Of course the Chipmunk's safety comes first. So we made an appointment with our vet to see what our options might be.
Our amazing vet spent about an hour and a half with us. She did a full workup on Scout and didn't find anything physically that could explain her recent uptick in aggression. She agreed that we had time to safely gauge the situation with the baby and work with a behaviorist to address her fears. I'd always known that Scout was tuned in to my pregnancy, but I just thought she knew something was different. Apparently, my vet says dogs really do know that you are pregnant and that there will be a new pack member. The problem is, that completely freaks my dog out.
The vet knows our girl well and she thinks that she will see Chipmunk as a member of our pack. We are going to work with a behaviorist one-on-one in our home to address some specific things she does (like going buck wild at the door when anyone walks by). We aren't stupid, though. Scout will be in her crate when the baby is awake. They will not hang out together... period. Since James works from home and Chipmunk will be at daycare during the week, this seems completely doable for us. Scout will still get people time outside her kennel for the vast majority of the day.
After she nipped my BIL, I was a mess until we met with the vet. I really didn't see much of an option aside from re-homing her. My mama bear instinct was in high gear and I forgot about the fact that she loves her crate and might even like being in there when the baby is around. When Chipmunk starts moving around and hits toddlerdom, we'll have to reassess the situation, but for now we're feeling pretty okay about Scout and the baby.
When I adopted Scout over 6 years ago, she came with some serious luggage. With a lot of hard work, she's come from this sick little goober who would hide and refuse to come out...
to this super happy dog who still has some struggles...
I thought she was a Corgi mix. What I didn't know was that she might not even be a Corgi, but she is for sure Chow and who knows what else. She's just short... like me. Her herding instinct is huge as is the Chow protectiveness in her. She is still rather fearful and since I have become pregnant, she's gotten even more protective of me. On top of that, she's eight now. Her vision isn't what it used to be and she has a touch of arthritis.
Over the July 4th holiday, she snapped at my brother-in-law out of the blue and got him on the nose. Cue panic.
I take our adoption of Scout seriously. I made a commitment to take care of her for life. We thought that with the baby coming it might be time to find her a new home, but knowing my dog, that would be very traumatic for her. She's a smart dog and is good with her commands. She even has some rally and advanced obedience skills, but it doesn't matter how good she is at sit and stay when she gives no warning and nips someone in the face. Of course the Chipmunk's safety comes first. So we made an appointment with our vet to see what our options might be.
Our amazing vet spent about an hour and a half with us. She did a full workup on Scout and didn't find anything physically that could explain her recent uptick in aggression. She agreed that we had time to safely gauge the situation with the baby and work with a behaviorist to address her fears. I'd always known that Scout was tuned in to my pregnancy, but I just thought she knew something was different. Apparently, my vet says dogs really do know that you are pregnant and that there will be a new pack member. The problem is, that completely freaks my dog out.
The vet knows our girl well and she thinks that she will see Chipmunk as a member of our pack. We are going to work with a behaviorist one-on-one in our home to address some specific things she does (like going buck wild at the door when anyone walks by). We aren't stupid, though. Scout will be in her crate when the baby is awake. They will not hang out together... period. Since James works from home and Chipmunk will be at daycare during the week, this seems completely doable for us. Scout will still get people time outside her kennel for the vast majority of the day.
After she nipped my BIL, I was a mess until we met with the vet. I really didn't see much of an option aside from re-homing her. My mama bear instinct was in high gear and I forgot about the fact that she loves her crate and might even like being in there when the baby is around. When Chipmunk starts moving around and hits toddlerdom, we'll have to reassess the situation, but for now we're feeling pretty okay about Scout and the baby.
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