We adopted a husky while I was pregnant. We had her for 5 months before DS was born, during which time she grew very attached to me. We also have a cat (well, at 25 lbs, he may be a second dog) who can be a little mean. Luckily, so far everything has worked out. We were a bit concerned because she had been abused, but she is absolutely wonderful with him. We did the things you've mentioned -- sent a blanket home, had DH carry DS into the house, etc. She was curious about him the first day home, but she was PISSED at me for having left her for 2 days. Luckily she didn't do anything but give me the cold shoulder for a while. DS is now 19 months old, and our dog is still wonderful with him. She's a little protective, actually -- she'll get between the stroller and someone who approaches us on the street; she gets upset if he cries, or she'll look at me like if it were her kid, she'd get to that crib faster than me! Food may be another big issue, especially if your dog is used to table scraps. Try putting your hand in/around the bowl when the dog's eating to see how she responds. If she's the least bit snappy, you may have to feed her when the baby naps, especially after baby is mobile. One of DS's favorite haunts when he started to crawl was the dog bowls -- to splash or check out the food (we try to empty the dish if she doesn't finish b/c the food can be a choking hazard in addition to being downright gross). And our DS also loves to feed the dog from his chair, so if that's something that's going to annoy you, make sure you don't let the dog or the baby develop that habit after you start on solid foods. For us, the problem began with cheerios at about 8 or 9 months. I've tried to make it a point to integrate the dog and the baby. We have a jogging stroller, and most days I'll take both of them on hour long walks. I think it helps the dog to just see DS as an addition to her life, rather than competition. We practice petting gently. When DS was old enough to sit up & reach for the animals, we would take his hand, help him pet them, and say gentle. Now if he gets a little rough, all we have to do is tell him to be gentle. That's pretty much all I can think of. We've got great pictures of DS crawling all over the animals and giving them hugs. Congrats.

Thanks for the replies. I guess anything is normal looking at the answers. Dances - did you ever look into Sheehan's syndrome? Not being able to breastfeed due to no milk production is a major sign of Sheehans. I don't know if you ever had a large amount of blood loss (especially while pregnant or shortly after), which is a cause of Sheehan's. That is what I am looking into since I had a hemmorrage after a miscarriage and D&C about 25 years ago. The syndrome affects the pituitary - so it can cause thyroid, adrenal and ovarian problems as well as diabetes.

>>He says that it's just the truth and if I don't want to be the reason he isn't allowed to do things, I have to "stop being the reason." No, HE has to be the reason things stop. If the affair is over, he would not be playing online games with her or have any kind of contact with her, except regarding the child. Think about this way, if you cheated on him, but realized it was a mistake and wanted to work things out with your BF, would you decide to play a game with your ex-lover on your phone? You would do everything you can to make sure your behavior was beyond suspicion. There is no reason for her to be invited to holiday and family events. They aren't together, your BF can divide the holiday time so each parent gets to spend time with the child without having to deal with each other. You are right, your BF has inappropriate boundaries with his baby mama, and tries to make you feel guilty for daring to voice your concerns.

I love your photos. I love your birds. I love your postings...but Alisande, bats? Bats! BATS??? As blood sucking rabid vampire bats...with rabies! LOL Can you tell I'm a little leery of bats? As in...I'm terrified of them. Yes, I know the benefits of insect control and pollination they do. I know "all bats are rabid" is a myth. I know they have an important place in the life chain. I love vampire stories (at least True Blood and Twilight) but bats still scare the beejeebers out of me. As Barney Fife of the Andy Griffith Show once said, "...Bats! That's right, bats! And do you know what they do? They fly into your hair and get tangled up in there and lay their eggs and you go crazy. All right, laugh! It's happened. Do you want a head full of bat eggs? I don't!" I even know bats are mammals and give live birth. They still scare me. Our school's janitor caught a Little Brown Bat one Friday; the science teacher put it in a cage, intending to give a "bat talk" the next week. When we came back to school Monday morning, it had given birth and had a tiny little baby bat. I forced myself to get close enough to the cage to see the baby. (Kitten? Pup?) It was precious, in a terrible way. It would take a lot of re-programming to get me comfortable around bats. Can you post a photo? I'll try my best to look at it.