A Heartfelt Thank You....To My Dog

Before I was blessed with two healthy, beautiful daughters, I suffered two miscarriages. After marrying a wonderful man, we were both eager to start trying for a family. The miscarriages were crushing blows. I was filled with anxiety at the thought that I may never be able to have children. One Saturday, my husband decided it was time to get a puppy. Initially I wanted a Dalmatian but after being warned they are occasionally not tolerant of children, of which I was hoping to have a houseful of, we picked out the most adorable golden retriever I had ever seen. Big floppy ears and soft golden red fur....I was in love. Cody was a handful from day one, but I was in heaven. I had something to "mother". I relaxed and stopped obsessing on getting pregnant. It was just what the doctor ordered.

You can guess what happened next. After a few months, I became pregnant again. We were excited and hopeful that this time would be different. Time started passing very quickly. Cody began to grow larger...and so did I. When I went out on maternity leave, he was my constant companion. We ate at the same time, we napped at the same time and curled up on the couch at nite together to watch television. He did take advantage of the situation somewhat. He started stashing all his "treasures" under the dining room table. You know, socks, magazines, paper towels. Whatever struck his fancy. He knew I was too big to crawl under there to take it away from him.