Part of our family

So this past Friday one of our dogs had to be rushed to the veterinary emergency clinic. I had planned to enjoy my 1/2 day off from work to try to get over my sinus infection but, as luck would have it didn't happen that way. DH and I were sitting down enjoying a TV show when I got up to get something from the kitchen, well as usual Rudy, Abbey and Maddock all followed me. I turned around and that's when I noticed Rudy's upper part of his face looked swollen. I bent down to touch his face and noticed it was swollen and puffy. I yelled @ DH to come look @ Rudy because he didn't look right & when he saw what I'd seen we took off the Vet ER clinic. Now anyone who has a small dog or a cat knows that because of their size any allergic reaction whether it's cause of an insect bite or food that it's gonna affect them even more than a large dog. Well Rudy is a 7 lb chihuahua so you can imagine my concern especially since the swelling was spreading & I feared it would block his air way. Plus we weren't sure right away what caused it until DH saw a broken capsule on the couch....he'd ingested part of my herbal pills I take for liver/gallbladder support.
I took the bottle that the pills come in and we took that w/us to the clinic. We got there around 6ish but didn't leave till a little after 8pm, and we left with out him. let me tell you that night was not the same and the other dogs kept looking for him. We were able to pick him around 1pm the next day but I don't think anyone in our household slept well that night.
You see our dogs & cats are our fur babies until we have are human babies. Even if we ever are blessed with babies they will still be our first babies. But Rudy is a little bit extra special to me. He came to us in May 2006, the same month we lost our baby due to an ectopic. He was a belated birthday gift that I got from a friend. I was not looking to replace or forget our baby by any means, since it'd been 3 weeks and the loss was very much still fresh. But I was extremely depressed and was seeing a counselor to help deal with the loss but still felt broken, hollow and I was afraid I'd never be able to be a mother or "mother" anyone ever again. I was in a fog and just could not get out of it. Three days after we got him I went to my counseling session and even my counselor noticed something had changed in me, I smiled just talking about this 2lb little puppy. I talked to her about our newest addition but felt a bit guilty and didn't want it to seem to anyone that I'd forgotten or replaced our baby. But she assured me that what we lost was very precious and getting Rudy did not replace or make us forget that loss rather it allowed to ease the pain we as a couple felt. By focusing on this new puppy and his needs it took the focus of our heart & pain off us. I still cry from time to time and I know DH may or may not cry but he gets sad too for our loss we are both grateful for Rudy, who came to us at a time when we were hurting bad. And as for me, he helped me to be able to see that I can still be mothering. Each of our fur babies are special to us and some may or may not agree with me but to us they are part of our family. I hope we are blessed one day with child(ren) so they can experience the unconditional love a pet brings. Sometimes I sit and imagine how much richer our lives will be.
so here are a few picture of our fur babies. Enjoy. the top picture that is Rudy and Abbey and the other picture that is Maddock.