Can a dog be baby's best friend?

It’s week 28, and the sleep just keeps getting more and more uncomfortable. No, I’m not complaining, just adjusting to all of this still. Every week is an adjustment since it’s always something new.

Let’s see … this week, in addition to the hard time sleeping, I’ve started to get leg cramps or “charley horses” at night, as some might call them. Those are quite the shock to wake up to when you’re peacefully sleeping.

It’s hard to believe we are about 12 weeks out from meeting our baby girl.

One thing I have yet to talk about: I’m not exactly sure how our dog will take this new addition. Evie is a 2-year-old Siberian husky, and she loves her mom (me). She’s protective, even when her dad (Sterling, my husband) gets a little too close.

She gets curious about a lot of things, but she also can get pretty jealous. I’ve seen her around other kids and she does pretty good. She doesn’t really like when I hold babies much, so that will be interesting when this new baby comes.

However, dogs are smarter than we give them credit for. I have a feeling she can sense there’s a baby in my belly, because I find her laying her head there more often. And maybe it’s just me, but she has acted more protective over me recently.

I’m not too worried about how she’ll respond to the baby, because I truly believe she’ll be just as protective over the baby as she is over me. And no doubt they’ll be buddies for sure.

I guess my question is, are there any tips or tricks to get a dog used to a new baby in the house? If so, what are they? I’d love to know.

Landry Sena writes for The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact her:

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