My baby is easier to take care of than my dog

Dear JAMMers,

You may not believe me, but those who know me can agree - my baby is easier to take care of than my dog.  My 15-month old son is literally an angel who took to eating and sleeping quickly.  Like, he came that way, I am not claiming any credit.

The dog however....

Exhibit A: It is Friday morning.  I have the day off from work.  I have childcare in place though.  I thought to myself - maybe I will go for a long walk or a manicure.  Some well-needed me time.  But instead, I woke up to a literal shitstorm.

I was up cleaning vomit and diarrhea between 3:30AM and 12PM today.

No, it wasn't my 15-month-old son; it was my 4-year-old dog.

She is high maintenance,

She is illness prone,

She barks incessantly,

She is needy,

She is stunning,

She is caring,

She thinks she is a human (she won't stop pawing or barking until you make consistent eye contact with her).

She is a King Charles Cavalier. A diva.

Have you ever had to clean diarrhea off the handle of a dog crate? I now can say I have. But her unconditional love and comfort is obviously worth it.  It's just that once you have a baby, your entire day, priorities, and capacity change. And this nugget has a lot more needs than the average pup.

Back to Friday. "Why is she sick?" you may be wondering? She got a dental cleaning and 4 teeth pulled earlier this week. Unfortunately, she's having an adverse reaction to the antibiotics. I felt awful. I cried as I cleaned up after her because I know how terrible these symptoms make you feel.  It was a total of 5 hours of cleaning, 1 ruined dog bed, 1 trip to the vet, and 3 now-thrown-out towels later. We have some medicine and a game plan to get her better.

As she snores, catching up on the sleep that I cannot, I reflect on my time. I cannot believe how often I seemingly have a day where the fur baby has more needs than my human baby.

This is not belittling how incredibly difficult it is to birth and raise a baby.  It is the hardest, most beautiful chapter of my adult life.  But, you have not met my dog.

When I met her, she curled up into my neck and that was it. 

She was ours.

Exhibit B: When I was pregnant with my son, I had severe morning sickness and sometimes vomited 6 times per day, even with Zofran.  There were many days during my pregnancy where the dog would also throw up.  Was this sympathy puking?

One time I was cleaning her vomit and then vomited right next to her on the floor.  We were a pair.  I called my husband crying and still puking. Like the White Horse Prince he is, he came home from work and helped me clean everything. 

My pregnancy was so difficult that I think my son was like, "Ok I'll take it easy on her until I turn 2." Only time will tell...

In summary, I am a dedicated parent and fur parent, but we have been through some shit (pun-intended) as a family over the last 2 years. You expect the highest maintenance person in your house to be a human, unless you have a Cavalier.

This is why when people say, "I want to get a dog" I yell "DON'T!"

I honestly don't think I will get another dog for 20+ years.

No worries,

Jaclyn