I think they can Colleen... Lucinda used to be protective of me when I was PG and Abby used to sleep with her head on my belly heaps...

One thing I forgot to mention in my epic post was our pre baby preparation...

When I hit 3rd trimester I started working with the dogs, I got some sound files off the net & played them a cd of babies crying and laughing etc, and whenever the screaming came I would get them to "go to bed" on the mats I bought them and give them treats... well now when Matilda really starts screaming they lay down wherever they are, and that is sooo helpful to me because I get stressed and then I at least don't have to worry about them!

I also started training them to do what I wanted them to do, so sleep somewhere other than our room, change feeding times to not be at the same time everyday, miss walks, leave them outside while I was home for a few hours at a time ( that was a big shock to them!) but I didn't want them to associate the lack of attention that they were used to with Matilda, so I started doing things I thought would happen a few months before Matilda was born. I read and starting writing articles about introducing babies to animals too... so I learned HEAPS about it, and started applying it to our home, and its worked out well... now I just need to have the time to finish that article...