Obi was our first baby. We were obsessed with him from the moment we picked him out, and took him every where with us. One of our big concerns was preparing Obi to be a big brother. Daniel and I talked a lot about how to help him adjust. We played the sound of a baby crying in her nursery, and started really focusing on him following rules. Honestly, nothing prepared Obi for us bringing home a baby that would take all of the attention and cuddles away from him.
When I went into labor Daniel was at work. So it was just me and Obi for a few hours at home. I was in our bed through contractions, and Obi stayed by my side the entire time. Australian Shepherds are extremely sensitive. He knew I was in pain, and wasn't going to leave my side. When Daniel got home we headed to the hospital a little after midnight. Since it was the middle of the night we didn't have a chance to arrange for anyone to come get Obi. So we had Sawyer at 8:41 AM, and my family stayed with us a few hours. My parents finally went and got Obi around noon. He'd been at home for twelve hours alone after he had seen all the pain I was in. If you're not a dog person then this sounds totally crazy, but I know that he was worried about me! He ended up staying with my parents for 3 days, and my mom said that he whined the whole time. He loves my parents house because they have two big labs (Zoe and Cletus) that are his best dog friends. So crying while there is not normal!
My brother brought him home the evening we were discharged from the hospital. Obi was so nervous. He wouldn't come near me or Sawyer. I was so upset because I really thought he would be excited. I never even considered that he would be sad. I imagined that he would be crazy wild, and want to sniff and lick all over her. He's usually my shadow. He used to follow me everywhere, even into the bathroom. Now he acted like Sawyer had somehow hurt me, and didn't want anything to do with us.
We tried to affirm him every chance we got. We constantly loved on him and told him he's a "good boy". He slowly started to warm up. He started to get a little closer to us, and even sniffed Sawyer a few times. As people came to visit us, he got more and more comfortable with her. My parents came by, and that helped so much. He finally got excited and even acted like Sawyer existed.
We love Obi so much that we dreamed of adorable newborn pictures that included him. That seemed impossible after we saw his response to her. We decided we would just play it by ear, and see if we could get any pictures of them together. Luckily, Peony + Pine Photography is the BEST. They not only made Daniel and I really comfortable, but also made Obi feel comfortable. He was so excited to meet them that he completely forgot that he was upset about Sawyer.
Newborn pictures were a turning point for Obi. He started cuddling with us again, and stopped avoiding Sawyer. Now his favorite pastime is licking her, and trying to steal her pacifier. He also gets a lot more walks, and time at the park with her than he did before. Now we are working on him going to her when she cries, but that's a ways off!
Things will never be the same for Obi, but he got a new best friend and just doesn't know it yet.
xoxo,
kelsey
