It should go without saying that, once you become a parent, your priorities change drastically (for the most part). Gone are the impromptu roads trips with friends. You can say sayonara to splurges at the mall. And let’s not even talk about late nights spent at the bar!
These little luxuries—not to mention your free time—can all go right out the window. Taking care of children is a huge responsibility, and, put simply, some sacrifices just need to be made. Most of the time, though, new parents welcome these changes with open arms; their precious wee ones are worth it.
There was one sacrifice that expecting mother and Bengaluru, India resident Sanjana Madappa just wasn’t willing to make. After she announced her pregnancy, several of her friends and family members told her that she would have to give up one—well, five, to be exact—of her favorite things. Instead, she flaunted it right in their faces!
When Bengaluru, India resident Sanjana Madappa and her husband of two years, Aditya Raheja, happily discovered that they had a baby on the way, their friends and family were concerned. You see, the couple owned five large rescue dogs, and they didn’t think it was appropriate to keep them once the baby was born.
“I was told the same things that all those people who have given up pets tell me,” wrote Sanjana on Facebook. “To all those people I can just say this: I couldn’t ever in good conscience give away an animal that loves me and trusts me with the same innocence and purity that my baby does. I couldn’t abandon a family member to bring in another. I will not betray a life that depends on me as much as my son does. To all those people I will always say, NOT WITHOUT MY DOGS.”
Sanjana works for an animal rescue organization, where she meets many pregnant women who must give up their dogs to accommodate their new arrivals.
“Being in animal welfare, one of the most common reasons I hear for giving up a pet is ‘I’m pregnant,’” said Sanjana. “When I have tried to counsel these families, I get it thrown back in my face that since I don’t have children and haven’t experienced a pregnancy, I don’t get to have an opinion. So last year in April, my ever supportive husband and I decided to see what the fuss was about.”
Yet the pregnancy was an extremely challenging one. “I had an unreasonably difficult pregnancy. For the first six months, I was glued to my toilet, even hospitalized because I was throwing up blood,” said Sanjana.
“The morning sickness really took a toll on me and I didn’t think I would make it to the end of the pregnancy,” she said. “I had a few weeks of respite before issues from a car accident four years ago started cropping up.”
“My pregnancy became a high-risk one for pre-term delivery and I was restricted to the confines of my home,” she continued. “I cannot even begin to describe all the thoughts that went through my head but what I can tell you is this: not once did I think, ‘Hmmm, my dogs have got to go.’”
Sanjana was determined to keep her pups. So, with just a week until her due date, she arranged a maternity photo shoot with her husband and dogs, who wore signs to express their excitement.
“My dogs are the reason I got through my pregnancy with my sanity intact,” she wrote. “The days I spent crying, I had the comforting weight of Diego’s head on my lap reassuring me things would be OK.”
“The nights I spent on the bathroom floor, Leo kept me company, gently pawing me now and then to see if I was OK. I lost a very special little girl along the way, Leela, who kept me smiling with her silly antics till the end. When I could finally fall asleep, I had Cujo resting at my feet.”
Even when things seemed hopeless, the dogs stayed by Sanjana’s side. “I couldn’t afford to stay in bed feeling sorry for myself when I had these kids depending on me,” she wrote.
“Taking care of my dogs ensured I never felt the need to blame my pregnancy, the baby, or my husband for the state I was in,” Sanjana continued.
Sanjana and Aditya needed all the support they could get, and the dogs were more than willing to oblige!
Giving up the dogs also didn’t seem ethical. “I don’t know how people can bring a child into the world while letting go of another at the same time,” she wrote.
The week after the photo shoot took place, Sanjana and Aditya welcomed their healthy son, Ayan, into the world. He immediately fit right in with the furry members of his family!
“I can’t think of anything that could have prepared me as well for motherhood as my furry kids,” wrote Sanjana.
While everybody’s situation is different, it’s smart to remember that dogs and human babies can have a great relationship if introduced properly. If a couple can handle having both kinds of kids, there’s no reason to discourage them from it!
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