Pregnant and Dealing with Loss of a Dog

BriannaE129129 · May 2016

I'm about 5-6 weeks pregnant (Have yet to have my first appointment to know the exact date yet) and Sunday, my first, and furry baby, Hank had a heart attack/stroke out of no where at 4 years old. I have never experienced anything so horrible in my life to date. We had close family over at the time, to tell them about the new baby, and within an hour my first baby was gone. My husband and I stayed home from work yesterday and spent the day crying but back to reality today. I have no desire to eat or drink and all I want to do is curl up and cry but I know it's not good for the baby so I've been forcing myself to eat. Has anyone else experienced this and have any advice?? I don't know how to cope with my emotions being all over the place and I'm afraid that the stress will effect the baby. I can't lose my baby on top of everything

Emma61210 · May 2016

I am so so sorry for your loss. I have 2 fur babies and I could not imagine how heartbroken you are. I could cry just thinking about losing my babies! I dont have much advice for you other than just remember you have to do whats best for the baby and make sure you're staying hydrated even if you dont feel like drinking anything. You've gotta stay positive for the baby. Again, I am so so sorry!!

cjs260 · May 2016

I'm so sorry for the loss of your dog. Go ahead and feel the feelings you feel about it - it's much healthier than keeping them in. From what I've been told, it takes the stress of a significant traumatic event to negatively affect a pregnancy. Thoughts for you today.

emerald24-2 · May 2016

Oh my goodness, I am so sorry for your loss, especially with how unexpected it was. My heart breaks for you. I have no doubt that you loved Hank as if he was your own child. You definitely need to give yourself time to grieve his loss. But stressing about how your emotions are affecting baby will only make things worse. Give yourself permission to feel sad and cry, cry, cry and get angry and feel every possible emotion and don't worry about how your emotions are affecting baby and stress yourself out more. You need to grieve and if you don't give yourself the opportunity to do that, it may result in more underlying stress. Of course, I'm not a doctor, but my instinct tells me that a few days of being emotional is better than a few weeks of constant, underlying stress.

I understand that when you're so distraught that you don't want to eat, so just try to eat small, nutritious snacks when you can. Or you know what??? If the one time you feel like eating, all you want is cake and ice cream, go for it! Treat yourself! I think the best thing you can do for baby is to take care of yourself.

Hugs. I hope you find comfort and healing soon.

BriannaE129129 · May 2016

Thank you everyone. My family is all very upset as well so that's been difficult but with all the emotions from pregnancy and it being my dog it has hit me the hardest. He came everywhere with me. It's going to be a long road. So sad that baby won't get to meet Hank

ashanne88 · May 2016

Everyone else has had great advice. I'm so very sorry for your loss. I know how heartbreaking it is to suddenly lose a beloved dog. Please be kind to yourself and allow yourself to feel any way you want. Big hugs to you.

ThePax89 · May 2016

I'm so incredibly sorry for your loss.

TinaBelcher · May 2016

::hugs:: I'm so so sorry

mommywesley · May 2016

Loosing a pet is awful on its own :-( I'm so sorry this happened so unexpectedly at a time that is supposed to be full of joy!

Josie3=5 · May 2016

I lost my 7yr old dog with no warning in November. It was devastating. The only advice I have is to let yourself walk through your grief and honor your pup how you need to. We have Katie's ashes under a painting a friend of mine had made from one of her pics and it helps comfort me and feel like a part of her is still with us. So so sorry for your loss.

Gogogirl16 · May 2016

Losing a beloved pet is so hard. I'm so sorry you are going through this right now. Lean on your SO and family for support, take time to grieve and try to take care of yourself. {{Hugs}}

curlysue22 · May 2016

I'm so sorry to hear this sad news. I do understand how difficult it is to lose a pet. It made me even question getting one because of the inevitable. It's especially difficult because of the sudden and early loss. ((Hugs))

lafemmej42 · May 2016

I'm so sorry for your loss. We lost our rescue dog a few years ago now (cancer) and I was devastated. Cried all the time for weeks (stifling sniffling at my desk), stopped eating, caring what I looked like. The pain of losing a pet is real. I swore I'd never get another dog because we couldn't go through the pain again. We had only had him 3 years. The best thing we did was...break down and get a puppy. Not a rescue this time but a puppy from a reputable breeder with a 2 year health guarantee and a long life expectancy. We'll go back to adopting when it's his time, but our hearts couldn't take another loss so soon. Of course that doesn't guarantee anything, but we will have our little Wrex coming up on 3 years. He is the sweetest dog we've had and he's going to be great with the baby. It took us 2 months to grieve through the loss before deciding to get another dog though. If you're not ready for another dog, realize it's ok to grieve and do whatever helps make you happy, focus on plans for the baby. I think baby will be ok no matter what. Hope you and your husband find peace and happiness soon.