A video from the births (just 2 - almost)

I had set the camera up to video the births but promptly forgot it. I left it running and ran out of memory (the camera, not mine - I ran out of my own memory long ago). I tried to post it last night but it was too long so I had to edit it down. Don't know if you can see anything of any interest but am posting it anyway. It was a fabulous experience.

I'll post some photos of each puppy and introduce them to you in my next post.

And here they are

In random order (just the order I took the pictures in)

I had to go back and look at them in person to tell which is which:-) 

I can't tell them apart from the photos yet. Strange.

Actually, sorting them out like this is helpful.

This is Gael.

He was number 4 and the smallest boy.

He weighed 5.8 oz at birth and is a still 5.8 oz this morning.

This is Prim. 

She was the last puppy born at 4:05 pm. 

She weighed 5.8 oz at birth and this morning she weighed 6.2 oz! Hungry little girl.

Not a spot of black on her - easy to tell which one she is.

This is Katness.

She was born 2nd and weighed 5.8 oz at birth. She is 6.0oz this morning.

This is Haymitch.

He was the 1st puppy born and weighed 6.4 oz at birth!

He lost .1 oz by this morning (the only one to lose) and weighs 6.3oz.

And here's Peeta.

He was number 3 and the biggest of the lot.

He weighed 7.4 oz at birth and is a whopping 7.8 oz this morning!

And baby makes 5

She had another one! 1st born at 11:26 this one at 4:05. This all white baby is a girl and weighs 5.8 oz. Seems to be the standard. Just the 2 boys are bigger. The other boy and 2 girls weigh the same. Will be interesting to see how they grow.

Please, no more!

Introducing Gidget's puppies

After a sleepless night last night, I had decided that I was imagining that Gidget was ready to have her puppies.

This morning she started wanting to go out to pee frequently around 8 am and by 10 she was so restless and panting so heavily that I was convinced she was in labor. She started pushing around 10:45 and had her 1st puppy, a boy, at 11:26. He weighed 6.4 oz. She had a little girl next weighing in at only 5.8 oz. Her last pup was a boy again at a whopping 7.4 oz.

Poor baby, she has so few teeth in the front that she had a devil of a time cutting the cords. She kept going back and "trimming" them.

Originally the vet thought he saw 4 skeletons but he wasn't sure. I have a call in to him to see if he wants to check and see if there is another one in there. She seems comfortable, although panting a bit. Eating well (better than well:-) Puppies are nursing well although they all want the same teet.

And! I thought I had my camera videoing the births but it turns out that the memory card was full so I go nothing!!! Here are a few photos.

Hold the presses, as I was writing that last bit, I looked up and saw that Gidget was over on the other side of the whelping box with a puppy on it's back. I was afraid something was wrong with it but... there is the 4th puppy. Another little boy. 5.8 oz, same size as the girl but looked smaller to me. Born at 2:45pm. Hopefully she's done.

Close but no cigar

I really thought we were going to have babies tonight. Gidget has not been eating much at all lately and today, she really just picked a little.

So when she was shivering and panting and pacing all over the place this evening, I figured we were close. So I took her to her whelping box and she started digging and then resting and panting. I got all set to camp out with her and took the video below.

Then she started to get more quiet so I go out a couple of pillows and a piece of blanket I had made up in case we needed extra bedding and made myself a nest.

Well, evidently she thought it would make a nice nest as well because she left the whelping box and scratched around in it until she was able to cocoon herself and relax.

Now I'm really not sure if anything is going to happen tonight at all. It's looking doubtful.

And... here we are... day 64.. still no sign of babies

I'm beginning to think Gidget plans on remaining pregnant as long as possible so that she can see what new and exciting taste treat I can come up with. Last week she practically stopped eating so I began mixing canned food in greater proportions into her kibble. That worked for a while but pretty soon she stopped eating even that so I cooked up some chicken and added that to her kibble and canned food. She ate the chicken out and left the rest. So, I decided to boil some chicken livers. I added some of the liquid to her chicken, canned, dry mixture and she ate most of the chicken and sucked out the broth but left the kibble and canned food. She doesn't appear ready to deliver any time soon. We'll see how well she eats the liver once it cools down. Oh, and I almost forgot, I added some vitamin supplements that you mix into a gravy to add to her food this morning and that didn't tempt her either.

If she weren't pregnant, I'd not worry about her refusal to eat or if I thought she were going to have these babies today i wouldn't be trying to enhance her diet but who knows how long this can go on?

If I place my hand on the side of her tummy and IF she'll stay still for a few seconds, I can feel a puppy moving. I'm not sure if I feel one on the other side. She really doesn't want her belly touched and will wander away. If I try to put my hand on her chest to kind of keep her in one place, she gets a bit trembly. I don't want to stress her so I haven't done it much. If I try to watch her belly when she is lying still, she gets antsy and moves as well:-)

When we went to the vet (2 weeks tomorrow) he said he thought she had about 3 more weeks. I'm beginning to think he's pretty accurate. I was going by the date we were told she was bred but from what I have read, fertilization might not occur for a week or more after breeding so we may be looking at another week. She's not getting bigger as fast as she was but I do think she looks bigger today than she did. No milk yet. She will let me check her teats. Guess they are not as sensitive as her tummy. After 10 pregnancies, I'm guessing her uterus is pretty tired. I am so glad for her that this will be her last. Can't wait to meet the little guys, though.

No Sign of Babies Yet

I really thought she was going to go into labor yesterday. She didn't eat at all until late in the afternoon. But this morning, she seems to have gotten her second wind. Not really active but way more so than the last week or so. Here's a quick clip of her leaving the porch for a second. (she really doesn't like the grass:-) Also, note that she refused the kibble. If our dates are accurate, we should be at day 62.  Tomorrow's another day.