dog scared of storm?

Sorry I don't know where to post this. It's been stormy today, the thunder was pretty loud and happened often this morning. And my dog was shaking really bad and laying right next to me almost on top of me because he was scared. And when my boyfriend got home from work he said how he was panting. But I'm confused and wondering why. Because he's heard storms and bad storms before, we live in the Midwest so it's nothing new at all and this year it's been storming a lot. He's almost 2, so it's not new to him. But I just had a baby a week ago tomorrow. So I'm wondering if he was acting like that because he's just trying to get my attention because he's always been a mommas boy. And still is, I haven't really gave him any less attention besides being gone in the hospital. Or if he was truly scared because of the thunder, it storms but doesn't thunder like it did often. So what do I do about it? Like how do I calm him down? Especially since I don't now if he was doing it for attention or he was actually scared all the sudden. It's suppose to storm more later and in the night, and I don't want him to keep me from being scared since I have to take care of the baby by myself since my boyfriend will be working.