On Olive...
Several people commented on my video post a few days ago how sweet Olive acted around Ben, giving him doggy kisses and such.
What you don't realize is that Olive thinks Ben is 'her' puppy. Seriously. She's been that way since he was born (can it really be a month ago already?)
During the last weeks of my pregnancy, she was very attentive to me and I tried to give her as much snuggling as I could, knowing that things would change here very soon. In the midst of labor she was pretty calm and collected, except when the midwives showed up and then she was hyperactive and wanted to be petted. It was during the 3 hours of pushing, though, that her demeanor changed. She got very keyed up and was getting in the way of Kate and Keisha, so they had to put her out of the bedroom. I was making some pretty fantastical and beastly noises at this point and Olive did NOT like that at ALL. She would whine and yip and scratch at the door. I'm pretty sure she thought I was dying or something and she wanted INSIDE THAT ROOM to save me.
Eventually they had to put her outside because she was making such a fuss at the bedroom door. That was almost worse because she was right at the door howling and barking and whining almost the whole time I was pushing. I can remember hearing her in between contractions and worrying about her a little bit, wondering if she was all right.
After the birth, Olive had to wait a few minutes before she could be let into the room because of all the blood and gore that was spilled all over the place. After Ben and I were cleaned up, she was let in and OMG THE EXCITEMENT!!! What was this new creature that was making such loud noises? Why were Mama and Daddy holding it so lovingly and WHERE THE HELL was MY attention and petting?
All that day whenever Ben would make a sound, she would whimper. When he would cry, she would bark as if to tell us "Hey! The little guy is upset! Do something, humans!"
She follows us around when we hold him and wants to be in the same room with him at all times. This makes bathtime a little bit crowded and sometimes she's a bit too close, especially when I'm trying to latch him on and nurse. She sleeps at the foot of our bed or next to his co-sleeper, wherever she will be closest to the boy. When we're holding him on our laps and he's having some happy awake time she likes to come over and gently lick him. I try to keep her from licking his face and mouth because, let's face it, she eats her own poop.
She really likes that we've been doing tummy time on the floor recently because not only does that mean she has a nice soft blanket to lie on in the middle of the floor, but she can lick his legs and arms and back of his head to her heart's content. Which is a lot. And more so when he cries because he can't get his fist into his mouth when he's on his belly.
If nothing else, I'm glad we had the homebirth so that Olive could be there when Ben came into the world. It's been so much easier introducing him to her through this medium than it would have been had we gone to a hospital for a couple days and came home with this strange new human. The fact that she identified with him so readily affirms my belief that she is such a sweet, caring dog and a perfect member of our family of four!