Dog died, I'm due in 3 weeks

[HyphenCobra]

Hi all,

Today was the first day without my dog.
My beautiful best friend of 14 years suddenly got sick 4 weeks ago out of nowhere.

We thought we were on our way to fixing him. But he suddenly got worse, we took him to vets who diagnosed him with various things that had just appeared out of nowhere, and some things they couldn't diagnose unless we have a post mortem. That was Friday. We thought we'd have a few more weeks with him, but by Saturday/Sunday he'd got so bad that we had to have him put to sleep Monday morning.

I always knew I'd be sad, but what I'm feeling is actual full blown grief. Today I've been crying on and off. I have to try not to think about him otherwise i would just spend all day crying.

I'm 37 weeks pregnant and I'd been planning on trying to make this last bit of pregnancy all full of oxytocin in order to encourage baby out in time, unlike my other overdue pregnancies 😆

But now i can't face trying to watch comedies on TV etc to get my happy hormones flowing let alone get excited about the baby.

How do i stop feeling so miserable and concentrate on the upcoming arrival??? When all i can think about is the last few days of my poor dog in pain and immobile and how we can never see him again 💔

So, so sorry to hear this. They leave such a hole in your life. Not sure how you get the happy hormones when grieving. But let yourself grieve and don’t beat yourself up. You did the best you could with the information you had. You cared 💐

Op I'm so sorry . I have a dog and honestly he's like my child. He's only young but I worry about him dying a lot. I'm so scared of when that time comes . I would be a total mess. It is actual full on grief . They become family. Just try to think that he is no longer in pain. And had the best life with you ❤️ I hope you will be ok x

I'm so sorry. There's no right time but I think your grief must be even harder to bear than usual. Cry all you need to. You won't hurt the baby. xxx

Let yourself grieve, you have lost one of your best friends.
Very sorry for your loss xxxxx

@HyphenCobra I'm very sorry & hope you're doing OK.
Something very similar happened to me (we lost our cat though) and it was an awful time. I let myself grieve instead of blocking any emotion & I think it helped. I spent a lot of time in the garden (luckily it was summer) & getting things ready for the baby.
Your sadness won't go straight away, even now 2 years later I miss him terribly but once the baby comes hopefully that'll be a good distraction.
Take care and good luck

I'm really sorry. We had to let our lovely boy go two weeks ago today and I am bereft. I've got to say I'm surprised how many people appreciated what a loss it is, and my boss suggested I took the next day off work (thank goodness I did). After a couple of days, I could get by, but still missing him so much now, but not feeling the crushing sadness of the first few days, so I think you'll be in happier spirits soon.

My dh has been away for work for weeks, and was not here to support or take part in the final decisions (he was gutted as it was his dog - until lockdown when our lad transferred his allegiance to me), so when he gets back (this weekend) we need to collect his remains and bury him, which is going to be so awful, but he really feels he owes it to him, and we do want him home here. I'm welling up as I type. Honestly, don't underestimate what a big loss it is. But you will be able to be happy and laugh within a few days, with smaller bouts of melancholy along the way.

It's the price we pay for the joy. It is worth it, just wish they lived even longer. Take care.

I'm so sorry to hear this.

My cat was killed on the road in front of me last year. Devastated wasn't the word. The next 3 weeks were horrific and then we got another kitten. It didn't replace him by any stretch but it gave me something happy to focus on and i was GENERALLY happy by then (if that makes sense)

Your baby is coming in 3 weeks. You're allowed to grieve but it won't ruin the arrival of your baby - I promise.

Oh what horrible timing op, l am so very sorry.

Let the grief happen before your baby comes, them just try and focus on the 14 lovely years you had with him.....

I have been there and it is so very very hard,

Thankyou everyone, your kind words have made me tear up.

Today is slightly better, we collect his ashes next week.

It comforts me that I'm not alone in having my pet mean so much to me. Especially as he was with me through my previous pregnancies and birth, I just always assumed he'd be here for this baby too.

Thankyou again, I am going to just let myself feel whatever emotions i have and hopefully when baby arrives I will be through the worst of it ❤