Baby vs Puppy vs Mommy

My husband and I had the bright idea of getting a puppy while we were trying to get pregnant.  Both of our families have dogs, and we both wanted a dog.  We thought, why put it off?  It could take us month, or maybe years, to fall pregnant.

We traveled 4 and half hours one way to pick up our new fur-baby.  She was so little, fury, and cuddly – what’s not to love??  This dog and the future baby will be best friends!!

 This is the puppy just two weeks after coming to live with us!

We were pregnant within 2 months of bringing home our furball!  Our puppy was just a year old when we brought the baby home.  She barks nonstop at anything.  The fan, vacuum, shadows, the noise my breast pump makes, and the list goes on.  I read that the baby would not be startled by her bark because he will be used to hearing it.  That turned out to be true! Whew!

Her still being a puppy brings on challenges.  If I drop something, I have exactly .02 seconds to pick it up or she will have it.  This includes the baby’s pacifiers or burp clothes.  She has destroyed both.  And I do not get any sympathy from the husband on this matter.  His advice?  Be more careful and don’t leave things where the dog can get them.  OH!  Is that how it works?  I wasn’t aware that I wasn’t allowed to drop something.  Sometimes juggling a baby, a bottle, the burp cloth, and not trying to trip over the dog is just too much!  If I have to choose any of those to drop, the burp cloth would be the one I would choose!  Doesn’t mean that I want it to get destroyed before I get the chance to bend down and pick it up.  And I have to do this fast, while holding the baby and bottle in his mouth!

I don’t know what we’re going to do when the baby is able to actually play with toys and starts moving around.  It’s not fair to keep her locked up all of the time, but it’s not fair that he would only be able to play with toys in his room.  My husband and I battle about this all of the time.  But that is a whole different issue.  I will leave that issue for Future Me to deal with!

My baby has been fussy recently.  He wants to be held ALL of the time.  Which don’t get me wrong, I love cuddle time with him.  It does make it really hard to get anything accomplished.  Also, he hasn’t really been taking naps the last couple of days.  I’m lucky to get 45 minutes before he wakes up.

So today, I changed him and fed him – and by some miracle he fell asleep!  I am finally going to be able to accomplish something with out him strapped to me in his carrier!  First, I decide to pump.  It is so much easier to pump while I can sit back and watch TV.  Just as I am finishing up, I hear the UPS truck outside of my window.  Great, I pray they don’t ring the doorbell.  I can’t answer the door while still hooked up to my pump, AND the dog will go crazy.  I peek out the window and see the driver running back to the truck without my package in handle.  Whew!  Crisis averted there!

WRONG!  My dog heard the sound of the brake being released and decided to go crazy!  She starts barking.  I’m optimistic that the baby will be able to tune her out.  I lure her into the kitchen and close the baby gate.  She continues to bark for what seems like FOREVER!  It wasn’t forever, but it was for a solid 5 minutes!  She finally starts to calm down, and the soft cry of my baby can now be heard.

She woke the baby!  I’m furious with the dog.  The baby is inconsolable.  Today will not be the day for me to accomplish anything.  Maybe tomorrow?

Having a puppy and a newborn have been a huge challenge.  I feel like every day is a new battle with the puppy.  I’m not heartless, I promise, but there have been times where I wish we could give the puppy a new home.  That being said, I give credit to all of you Moms out there who have a newborn and a toddler(s) running around!  You must have a lot of patience or drink a lot of wine!! 🙂