We're pregnant!

[dukepow]

Hi everyone! Hope you are all doing great! My husband and I will be having our first child this October. Our boys are pretty well behaved, but do have some issues...we are thinking of hiring a trainer to come to the house to work on the problem areas before we bring a new baby into the house. Anyone have any suggestions/stories about bringing home a baby to a house full of boxer babies? I am excited and think the boys will do well, however, they are so used to having the house to themselves and sometimes get a little rough when they are playing. I think we will all adjust, it will just be a matter of getting used to being a little softer or aware of where they are playing.
Thanks guys
Also-I have been extremely sick..any suggestions on helping w/the all day morning sickness? Food no longer sounds good..

[Slobberchops]

Congratulations on your exciting news
Let your dogs smell everything that comes into the house for the baby,so it will be familiar to them,and then when you come home with the baby,allow them to do the same thing,supervised of course.
Just lay the baby on a blanket on the floor,and let them have a good sniff,they'll soon realise where the baby comes in the order of things
Peppermint tea is supposed to be good for nausea,you could give this a try,don't let yourself get dehydrated though,don't want to hear that you end up on a drip in hospital because you can't keep anything down

[Biff]

Congratulations on the new baby!

Slobberchops ( I always laugh at that name ) gave you good advice on introducing the baby things - I would add that if you are having the baby in hospital, get DH to bring home something the baby has worn too, to let them sniff.

Morning sickness - over here we recommend a slice of dry toast and a wee cuppa tea 1st think in the morning, nibble/sip slowly - it should settle that tummy

Good luck!

[miri_tx]

I can't really add to the excellent advice that's been given and I've never been pregnant, so what would I know about morning sickness anyway? LoL

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[Roscoes_Mom]

Congratulations on such wonderful news!!!

As far as the morning sickness advice....Gingersnaps always worked for me. Ginger is supposed to be a great remedy for nausea. I would just nibble on them throughout the day.

Good luck!!

[DiverDiva]

I've never been pregnant, but I am a bit prone to motion sickness (not good for a Scuba Instructor, I know ). The anti-nausea wristbands help some women. You can also try ginger. I like the crystaized ginger candy that is sold at Asian grocery stores. It is usually covered with sugar, so you may want to rinse some of the sugar off. You can look for ginger ale that is made with ginger, but it is hard to find. Most ginger ale is made with artificial flavor. There is a product called ginger beer that is made with real ginger and I am pretty sure it has no alcohol. Another thing that helps is club soda or carbonated mineral water.
All these things were suggested to me by another female passenger on a dive boat when I was very seasick. They all helped her through morning sickness when she was pregnant. She said seeing me being sick brought back memories...
Congratulations on the new baby.

[jenalyn]

Congrats!!!! How exciting. About the morning sickness, I too had lots of this with my first pregnancy. I did the plain toast and flat coke. (I know flat coke is gross, but it helps) The morning sickness should go away by 2nd trimester, or when you feel the most wonderful thing in the world, MOVEMENT!!! Good luck.
Also with the boys, I would suggest putting a baby doll in some of the already purchaced items, that way you can safely moniter how they will react. I agree with Biff, on having dh bring home something baby has worn. I'd also get a recording of a baby cry and put the tape player, or whatever the recording is on where you have the doll baby. Get them used to ALL the sences of new baby. My Thatcher tends to paw at whatever is make a strange, loud noise. This way the real baby won't get hurt and you can get all the pawing at the sounds trained properly. Plus they will also be more aware of blanket belonging to baby and that the bundle of new noices on the floor in the blacket, stroller, or swing is off limits to touch or paw. Good luck and happy parenting, enjoy being pregnant and having a babe, they grow up too fast! Mine are 8 and 6, going on 18 and 16! lol. I miss those good old days.

[dukepow]

Thanks guys!! I have tried the ginger..found a ginger peach tea that is pretty good! I can't taste the ginger in it, so that's a plus!
I have tried all sorts of things-I do keep forgetting about those sea bands..maybe I'll get those.

I try and let the boys smell all the baby things that we bring home. They do well with it-never have tried to tear anything up..though I do think they want the stuffed animals to play with I had heard about bringing home a blanket or something w/the baby smell on it so the boys can sniff that also.
I worry most about Bitty-he just plays so rough and I don't think he realizes how strong he is. Tyson plays rough w/him too..but Duke is so tender-I think he'll be just perfect! I worry about them getting jealous. My mom is a wonderful help and she of course has offered to watch the baby (when we have him/her), that way my hubby and I can take the boys for walks and give them 'quality' time. I'm sure it will all work out..now we'll just have 4 babies instead of 3haha

[boogiesmom]

Congratulations!! First -- morning sickness -- ugh. I have had 4 pregnancies and am a certified nurse-midwife -- so I've been there and then some!! Ginger tablets work well too. Basically eat whenever and whatever you can -- don't worry about perfect or even good nutrition at this point -- just calories. When I was pregnant with twins, all I ate for 4 months was chocolate malts -- it kept me from losing weight and I didn't throw them up. If you can stomach them -- try mixing a protein shake with a regular yummy chocolate shake -- that way you'll get some vitamins and minerals in with the regular chocolate shake.

As far as the baby... yes I agree with everyone about getting your boxers to get used to all of the "senses" a baby will impact. I have a 2 year old with special needs and am scared of our new boxer pup hurting him with her puppy-ways. Our trainer has us say "ah ah ah" in a loud, obnoxious voice and get our bodies between Boogie (the boxer) and Robert to let Boogie know that Robert has a sort of "force field" around him that she is not allowed to enter unless we invite her to come give him a kiss. After only one week of doing this -- she rarely goes near him uninvited (and then is very very gentle) -- but with a quick "ah ah" from me -- she backs up. She is more respectful of his space than anyone in our family. (Plus Robert now mimicks me when I say "ah ah" -- so eventually he'll be able to tell her to back off too!). This might be a good thing to do prior to your baby being born. Get the bassinet, crib, playpen -- whatever, built and out in the house. Then, teach your dogs that they can't go near those things (even a baby blanket on the floor) by doing the "ah ah ah" and "herding" them away from the item. Of course, once you have a real baby in those things, they'll be even more curious, and will need some more training because it'll be more tempting. I think dogs are good at sensing when they need to tone it down, but you still have to remember, they are dogs, and you cannot leave them unsupervised with the baby at all. They'll learn and probably be very protective of your baby. Our old labrador is very protective of my kids when Boogie is being psycho-puppy and jumps on them -- the lab intervenes with a loud, menacing bark to let Boogie know she is messing around too much.

Hope that helps and that you start to feel better soon. Oh -- and for the morning sickness --- lots and lots of sleep helps too -- getting too hungry and too tired are a yucky combination! Just when you think there's no hope, it will end (even if it's not at 12 weeks like most women brag! -- for me it was at 22 weeks!).

[dukepow]

Boogiesmom-we're going to a midwife for our baby-it's nice to hear all the advice I can!
I have been quite depressed about my eating/not eating...I have worked out for many years and been an avid runner, but since i have been pregnant and so ill, i just haven't been able to do it. I always said I would be even more healthy when I became pregnant, but it just hasn't worked out that way. Last week I lived on cereal and pop-tarts, but it was all I could stomach. It does seem worse when I am getting empty, but food has just been so disgusting to me that it makes it hard to eat and stay full. I haven't been 'sick' the last 3 days so I am really hoping this is the end of all that and the beginning of the fun stages Once I'm feeling better I want to pick up my healthy habits..though I know I will have to start off slow.
I picked up some Carnation Instant breakfast since I ran out of my protein powder..I think that helps some too....

Sorry-this was about the pregnancy and not about the boys.
I will definitely start working w/them on the blanket idea so they can get used to it and learn to take it easy around those things. I do think a trainer will help also-help to train my husband and I so that we are doing things correctly..I have noticed Duke being protective of me like you said your lab is of your son. If Tye and Bitty are playing rough Duke will come stand over me and bark at them if they get too close. They are so amazing!