July 16th ~ Ava was showing all of the signs of the first stages of labor (with the exception of her temperature dropping)... She was nesting indoors and outdoors, sticking to me like Velcro, and giving me the "look"...
So the girls and I crocheted some colorful collars, before going to bed, just in case...
July 17th ~ Ava woke me up at
4:00 am, to let me know she was very close, so we ventured downstairs together.
I doubled checked my supplies again, which I had set out the night before (pen and pad - with vet's number handy, hemostats and scissors that had been boiled, the new towels had been laundered, the scale was set out, gloves were on hand, stethoscope ready, Vaseline and dish soap ~ just in case a pup gets stuck, Betadine, bulb syringe, karo syrup, medicine dropper, dental floss, puppy collars, etc.. etc., etc.).
Then, I went into the office to hop online to check a few breeder sites to refresh my whelping knowledge/memory, while Ava laid down on a pile of clothes (waiting to be laundered) in the laundry room, which is directly off the office.
Here's a list of a few of those sites with helpful information regarding whelping:http://www.labbies.com/whelp.htm
http://www.labbies.com/canine_reproduction_table_of_con.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/7244/items.html
http://www.welshcorgi.com/lists/archive16.html
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/whelping.htm
At
6:00 am, Ava gave birth quietly on the laundry pile (certainly not how I had planned it), and I heard some squeaking noises. I rushed over to look, and there was
Pink Girl. Ava was happily grooming her, but her placenta was still attached, so I got my hemostats, clamped off two sections and cut the cord in between. Ava then consumed the placenta, and I moved them both to the pool.
I then woke the hubby up for backup, and Adelaide, Idela, and Cole hearing the commotion also got up to assist. Shortly thereafter Morgan woke up, and watched us all curiously.
After
Pink Girl arrived, I had noticed that there was a quite a bit of blood, left on the laundry, which had worried me. I knew blood in most cases wasn't usual, and I was envisioning the worst (hemorrhage, or uterine rupture).
So, I called the vet's emergency service, to inquire and notify them about the blood, and was sent through the loop of "it's after hours sorry", "call your local emergency vet", yada, yada...
I had been informed, when the time had come, not to take no for an answer, so on my third attempt I the service them to inform the vet's office that we'll be there when they open, and I hung up. So, we prepared the van for travel, loaded Ava &
Pink Girl, some supplies (lots of towels, clamps, scissors, gloves) and the kids.
7:00 am ~ Once we were loaded and comfortable, in the car, Ava gave birth to
Royal Blue Boy. It was a normal birth, he came out head first, in a sac, still attached to a placenta.
Immediately thereafter, one of our vets called. She said that the blood mess was probably resorption of a pup, and had me check Ava's gum's, which were fine (tuned from white to pink instantly, once pressure was released). She also reminded us that there shouldn't be any more than 2 hours between pups (which is a good thing to be reminded), and to keep them posted.
Relieved, we moved everyone back into the house, to prepare for the next arrival.
8:00 am (like clockwork) ~ Ava gave birth to
Lilac Girl.
She came breech, and had no placenta.
8:32 am ~ Ava gave birth to
Mint Green Girl.
She also came breech, but she was still attached to a placenta, which was still in Ava, so I carefully clamped, clamped, and cut, leaving the placenta inside Ava.
All was quiet for a while, and the puppies were feeding nicely (being moved back into the basket, each time Ava was having contractions/giving birth).
9:55 am ~ It hd been a bit, so I got Ava up, put the puppies in the laundry basket on the heating pad, and took Ava outback for a walk.
10:00 am ~ Ava gave birth to
Ice Blue Boy. Again, no placenta.
11:38 am ~ The water sac arrived, boy were we surprised! Shouldn't that have been first?
11:51 am ~ Ava gave birth to
Rose Girl. Again, another breech puppy, with no placenta.
1:19 pm ~ Ava passed a placenta.
1:48 pm ~ Ava gave birth to
Grape Girl. Again, another breech, but this time with a placenta, which Ava decided to ripped apart and devour, before I could do proper cord care.
Later that day,
3:30 pm, we headed off to the Vet's for an appointment.
All the puppies were looked over, and were well, and Ava got an x-ray and pit shot, to make sure that there weren't anymore surprises, and to make sure that anything else would make its way out (like the remaining placentas).
Notes: For this birth, we opted for a kiddie pool, to make for easier cleanup (vs. the whelping box that we constructed with love, for the last litter - that happens to weigh a ton). The pool also makes for moving it easily (downstairs during the day, upstairs during the night), and it can double as water training when they get bigger. The only downside to the kiddie pool, is that it doesn't have a pig rail (to protect the puppies from having their mom squish them), but the hubby and I had planned shifts, for someone to be up 24/7 to monitor them anyways, so it wasn't a big deal breaker.
Ava's last litter was born on Groundhog's Day.
This litter was apparently born on National Peach Ice Cream Day, Crank Call Day, and 15 Minutes of Fame Day... LOL!
See some video of Ava and her puppies here... "When a puppy takes fifty catnaps in the course of the day, he cannot always be expected to sleep the night through." ~ Albert Payson Terhune
"The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a baby brother — and they'll settle for a puppy every time." ~ Winston Pendleton
Pictures of Copper in Breed with Jon (showing off her trademarked "pop"), at the 2009 Samoyed Nationals in Indianapolis, IN. These photos were taken by Andrea Eicher (http://www.samoyed.ch)... Thank you Andrea!
We opted for a kiddie pool (which makes for great cleanup and is easily movable), but they will graduate into the whelping box as they get bigger!
We love taking car rides in our basket!
They are starting to get up and walk around... and their eyes are just starting to open too!
Drawn by Adelaide, 8 years old
