we too were concerned about how our animals would cope. like some have mentioned we set up the nursery and let the animals check it out, and we also made sure that they knew the cot etc was off limits.

when i had DD i made DH bring home some of the labour clothes and DDs wraps and a nightie. this way the cats and the dog were able to sniff both me (b/c my hormones would have changed my smell) and the baby. that way when you get home, although the baby is rather a shock to their systems at least the smell has a bit of history ITMS.

i recommend just taking it nice and slow with the animals. let them approach in their own good time and make sure that someone is around to give them extra pats during high stress times (ie 'witching hours' etc). our pets got a little stressed when DD cried in those early weeks so we had to have a 'safe' place for them to retreat to that wasn't full of baby stuff and smells.

HTH