Jaxi-Tocin?
- TM
- Nov 23, 2025
- 2 min read
I didn’t expect a dog to shape my motherhood story so deeply, but looking back, it’s obvious Jax was part of every chapter, even the very beginning.
Stella made a drawing for me since has passed, and it says everything without needing an explanation. Kids don’t need science terms to understand love. They just feel it.
When I was pregnant with Stella, my water actually broke while I was cuddling Jaxon. People talk about all kinds of tricks to trigger labour, but mine was literally just lying there cuddling with my dog, Jaxi-hog... feeling safe and calm and loved in that quiet way animals bring out of you.
Zenley’s birth was different. She had to be induced, but her godmother Auntie Karly was my labour nurse. She taught me how much our hormones guide everything, from trust to pain to the moment your body finally decides it’s ready.
Once I learned how oxytocin works, it honestly made perfect sense. And of course it sent me down a full squirrel trail of reading about bonding hormones and why our bodies react so strongly to the ones who make us feel safe.
Jax wasn’t just comfort. He was oxytocin in dog form. My body knew it before I ever had the language for it. He wasn’t only there at the beginning. He stayed that steady, grounding love all the way through.
---
Check these links to learn more about the oxytocin pet bond:
The Possible Role of Oxytocin in the Human–Dog Relationship
NIH / PubMed Central https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408111/
The Role of Oxytocin in the Dog–Owner Relationship
NIH / PubMed Central https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6826447/
Oxytocin, Bonding, and Female Social Behavior
