We're Expecting!

Big news, Path & Paw family - the family is getting bigger! This time we will be bringing home a human baby, due January 2020. I am incredibly excited, and am hoping to share some of my dog/baby journey as the pregnancy progresses, and the baby arrives.

We're in for a wild ride! Baby Jordan coming January 2020.

As a Family Paws Parent Educator, dog/baby preparation, management, and safety are huge priorities. For those of us with reactive, fearful, or generally sensitive dogs, these preparations and laying a foundation of training is more important than ever. However, I will also note that many people that may have seemingly "well adjusted" or generally "friendly" dogs often over estimate their dogs' ability to cope with the huge adjustment that is life with a new baby. There is a huge difference between being neutral or friendly with the occasional kid while out and about, versus suddenly co-habitating with a living, breathing, unpredictable, noisy, and strange moving little two legged critter. Having reasonable expectations, may in fact be the one advantage for those of us with less easy-going dogs!

So, I do plan on sharing more specifics on training exercises and preparation as we get ready to greet the newest member of our family, but my first big lesson with this pregnancy was actually on letting go.

As is typical of me, I had big expectations for my pregnancy. I assumed I was going to feel great  (why? I don't know) and, in spite of the fact that the pregnancy and our big move to Sacramento happened pretty much at the exact same time, I thought I would have ample time to not only begin my prenatal training plans, but also that I'd be inspired to video and blog about every step of the way. That, of course, in addition to moving, starting a new job, and also getting my business up and running in our new location.

So newsflash to me — pregnancy is hard. First it was fatigue, then nausea,  and now migraines, topped with a heavy dose of stress. We are now living in a small duplex with a yard that we share with two other tenants, both of whom have dogs. Letting the dogs out in the yard to play and use the bathroom on their own is no longer an option - potty breaks involve surveying the yard, putting up an x-pen to provide an extra layer of security for unexpected appearances of the other dogs, and supervision. Because of that, daily walks are more important than ever - especially since for the first time in Koa and Muchacho's lives I'm working 40 hours a week at my new job (previously I worked shorter shelter shifts and was often home in between training sessions and classes throughout the day). Given the new needs of the dogs, plus the new needs of my body (and the new body my body is making!) giving the dogs regular outings and enrichment became a challenge in and of itself, my elaborate training and blogging ideas not included!

During the spare moments that I was able to stay awake, I was busy trying to get our new house set up, and spending long hours on the phone trying to get health insurance so that I could see an OB. My husband and I are both on probationary periods with our new jobs, and therefore are not receiving benefits yet, but that's a whole other story for another day.

All this not to say "poor me," as I know my story is not all together unique, but just to say that if I took anything away from my first trimester as a working dog mama, it was on the need to let go, and give myself a break. Sometimes, the dogs just get a short neighborhood walk. Sometimes I am stuck in bed with a migraine and all I can manage is getting them out to use the bathroom, before crawling back to bed with my ice pack. At the end of the day, I am a good dog mama (and wife, and trainer, and business lady, and employee, and friend, and...) but sometimes, not everything is possible in one day. As a perfectionist, this is a hard pill to swallow, but the thing about my pregnant body is, it does NOT care how much I WISH I was up and training and passing out flyers and hiking. It has it's demands (lots of sleep and even more food) and there's nothing I can do but take good care of myself and trust that my body knows what its doing as it manufactures a small person.

I still have plans, and I still plan on sharing our process. I'm now in my second trimester, and feeling a little less crummy (less nausea and fatigue, more migraines and acid reflux) so hopefully things will happen! Stay tuned, folks!