The Protector

This child is on my mind practically every waking moment of every day. In fact, I've become an overprotective 'protector'. Maybe I'm tapping into some kind of primitive caveman instinct or behavior? Or maybe it's chivalry?

A few days ago, we were in the car and traffic ahead of us came to a sudden stop. I had to slam on the brakes and swung my arm out to protect my wife, even though she was wearing her seatbelt. I had never done that before...

Our dog usually sleeps with us almost every night, at the foot of the bed in between the two of us. The dog is about 60 lbs. and our bed stands about waist high. Our dog can jump up easily onto our bed, however when it's a different story when it comes to jumping down. He can't. We have to lift him off the bed and place him on the floor. My wife used to also share in this task the morning, just depending on who's the last out of bed (our dog's extremely lazy...he's not like most other dogs, he loves to sleep in). But now...I don't want her lifting anything heavy. I'm sure she'd be okay, but just to make sure she and the baby are okay, I'd rather not.

Later this afternoon, we were relaxing on the couch. The dog also likes to jump up on the couch and settle in between us. He got somewhat rambunctious and stepped on my wife's abdomen. That freaked me out and I pushed him off the couch. My wife scolded me for pushing the dog like I did, but it seemed more of a reflex than anything else. Don't get me wrong, I love the dog and up until we found out we were having a baby, the dog was every bit our child. He still will be after the baby comes, but it's just different now. I'm hoping that all's okay, and I'm sure it is. However, I'm the hypochondriac and the worrier of the family, so this will have me concerned for the next few days I'm sure.