what did you do with your dog when you went to the hospital? did you have someone watch your dog for you and feed them and everything or what'd you do?

Yep...my neighbor. Then DH went home after the baby was born and took one of the little hats she was wearing and gave it to the dog so that she would already know her "smell" before I brought her home.

dh wants his mom to fly up here and stay with the dog while we are gone, problem with that cosby will be anxious and will want to go out and everything in the middle of the night and he sleeps in bed with us. i would absolutely ask a friend up here to do it but i don't know who to ask, i'd ask jennifer (jennygirl) but she'll have her baby and her own things. i'm just really worried about him being scared and anxious you know.

The first preference would be to do whatever you can to allow him to stay in his home and maintain his routine. Bringing he baby home is going to be upheaval enough for him without having had everything turned upside down for a couple of days right before the baby comes in, kwim?
If your mother-in-law is willing (and you are open to having company when you bring the baby home)I would go with that option. I would try and have her arrive a few days prior to when you antipate the birth so that Cosby has a chance to adjust to her being there and so she has chance to learn his routine.

The first preference would be to do whatever you can to allow him to stay in his home and maintain his routine. Bringing he baby home is going to be upheaval enough for him without having had everything turned upside down for a couple of days right before the baby comes in, kwim?
If your mother-in-law is willing (and you are open to having company when you bring the baby home)I would go with that option. I would try and have her arrive a few days prior to when you antipate the birth so that Cosby has a chance to adjust to her being there and so she has chance to learn his routine.

that's what we were thinking too, having her up here but she's so into everything with suggestions and everything that it drives me batty lol. she thinks breastfeeding is silly because it will cause too much pain, she thinks baby wearing is silly and that sort of thing. dh and i are going to talk about it some more

Since you wont be going very far from home to have the baby :lmao (unless you are :thinking) I dont see why any of that would be necessary. Your dh can run home to let the dog out and feed him while you and baby are sleeping. No biggie, its not like a vacation :) And if you have a WONDERFUL labor and delievery, you will be home quickly.

Since you wont be going very far from home to have the baby :lmao (unless you are :thinking) I dont see why any of that would be necessary. Your dh can run home to let the dog out and feed him while you and baby are sleeping. No biggie, its not like a vacation :) And if you have a WONDERFUL labor and delievery, you will be home quickly.

i'm delievering at bremerton. i am more concerned about the actual labor process and cosby being alone all that time. plus we might have his mom come up anyway just to help out.

We didn't do anything. We left him at the house. John would let him out in the morning before he left for the hossy. Then he went home at least once during the day and let him out. And then he would let him out at night when he got home. We didn't have any problems so I guess it worked out just fine that way for us.

i'm delievering at bremerton. i am more concerned about the actual labor process and cosby being alone all that time. plus we might have his mom come up anyway just to help out.

Oh then poor Cosby is going to have a rude awakening when the baby comes home. He will be alone ALOT. Its easy to think "no way" now, but you will be so busy with the baby that he will need to be alone alot :) But hes a dog, he will deal :D

good luck Jill-I know you love Cosby so much & want it to be as smooth as possible for him

We put Iris in doggy daycare for two days. WE took her the night before I went in for induction, I stayed for two days, and she was home when I got home. Also in our area at least, I know that they have services that people can come to your home a few times a day and feed your pup and let him out. I think here they come every few hours, but we just sent her to daycare and she was fed and got to play with other dogs.

Oh then poor Cosby is going to have a rude awakening when the baby comes home. He will be alone ALOT. Its easy to think "no way" now, but you will be so busy with the baby that he will need to be alone alot :) But hes a dog, he will deal :D

yes he'll deal i know that lol. he'll just be a 13 months old when the baby gets here. he's getting better about not having to go out every hour anymore which is great but i'm just concerned about him being alone for 12 hours or so kwim?

Iris was great when Ava first came home. I had my mom bring home a hospital blanket that was Ava's and put it in Iris' "spot" she didn't like it at first, but then she would snuggle up to it.
Now she has been a little more rambuxious (sp?) Dh plays with her everyday and I try to have Iris time, but it is a little difficult because she only wants to play with me when the baby is crying or I am eating or feeding her. I think that overall she transitioned very well though. I was really really worried about it before.

Dh will probably just come home and let her out, feed her, make sure the cats have food, etc. We only live 10 mins from the hospital so I don't see it as a big deal in him getting here to do that right now.

If I dont have to have a c-section like they are thinking I might, I can ask DH for you!

We just put them in there kennel and DH would stop by during the morning to feed them and let them out...which ended up being a bad idea since we ended up staying in hospital for a week. So he just stayed nights at the hospital and days at home with the dogs.

If I dont have to have a c-section like they are thinking I might, I can ask DH for you!

thanks :)