Whelping Story

I tracked Fillie's temperature by taking it at 1:30am and 1:30pm each day leading up to her first due date.  At the 1:30am Wednesday morning mark she dropped to 97.6.  I took it 4 times just to be sure, and it had definitely dropped.  Lindsey came over on Wednesday evening to stand by on puppywatch duties.  Fillie had mild contractions, a little restlessness, lots of nesting...but no progress was really made.  We let her be over night, hoping she'd choose to at least start having them as we slept.  No such luck.

By 1:30pm on Thursday afternoon, we were all starting to worry.  I spoke with Dr. Esmond on the phone and he advised we head up to Josey Ranch Pet Hospital and have the puppies' heartrates checked.  Some were good, some were borderline, so given that it was nearly 4pm, I didn't want to take her home and wind up having an emergency c-section in the middle of the night if she still failed to progress in labour.  There was also the possibility of puppy mortality the longer they stayed in, so we opted to go ahead and have the c-section.  SO scary, and so sad.  I cried a lot on the inside, and a little on the outside too.

Susie came up to the clinic to assist in the c-section, and thank GOODness she did, as the kennel help there was completely stupid.  They clearly had NO idea how to deal with a c-section puppy to bring it out of anesthesia.  We pushed them aside and took to rubbing them.  I was rubbing 3 pups at once for a while there!  Yipes!!  The first 5 pups all came from the same horn in the uterus, and little Trampoline, the last one out, had her side all to herself!!

In the end, it all worked out swimmingly.  Fil' came out of anesthesia with a nicely sewn up incision, and the 5girls and 1boy came home healthy as can be!

Litter theme: "Things that Bounce"

1st born: "Hot Check", Female

newborn: 11oz

1day old: 14oz

2nd born: "Tigger", Male

newborn: 8.5oz

1day old: 10oz

3rd born: "Pogo", Female

newborn: 12oz

1day old: 13.5oz

4th born: "Bungee", Female

newborn: 12oz

1day old: 13.5oz

5th born: "Ricochet", Female

newborn: 12oz

1day old: 14oz

6th born: "Trampoline", Female

newborn: 10oz

1day old: 13oz