Birdie & Harlow: Life, Loss, and Loving My Dog So Much I Didn’t Want Kids (…Until I Did)

Adding a baby to one’s family is a life-changing moment, especially if the would-be parent already feels full. In this book, Wolfe describes in a mostly lighthearted, sometimes heavy manner how her world shifted as soon as she became a parent—a dog parent, that is—to Harlow, whom the author credits with changing her life. Focusing on all of the ups and downs of loving a pet and her journey toward motherhood with the birth of her human baby, Birdie, this book demonstrates that there is no one right way to do things. Wolfe does not hold back in her descriptions of how anxiety can be all-consuming and how a pregnancy can hinder one’s mental and physical health, even with love and support from family. This book is also a love story dedicated to Harlow and to all the pets that have gotten people through difficult periods of life.