None of us are especially patient. I did crazy amounts of research (thanks to Debbie Jensen's website, and dogbreedinfo.com!!!), kept track of temperatures for 2 weeks (my kids will never view a thermometer the same way again!!!), and we missed lots of life waiting for puppies (I'm glad our church and small group are understanding! LOL - and my daughter's dance class!)
Finally, Monday the 11th, Luna started spending lots of time in her box. We created this monstrosity from giant pallet cardboard Brian got from work, and allowed it to take over our kitchen!
(yes, this is after - and where I spent Tues night!)
By Tuesday, we knew it would be any time. She was panting and digging like crazy, when all of a sudden my son Sebastian hollered "Mom! Something's happening"
What did I see when I crawled in the box? (warning: graphic image!)
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This! And like any responsible owner, I totally took a pic before I did anything else! (in my defense, I did the same thing when CJ, the youngest, crawled up the steps for the first time!)
Whoo hoo! We were on our way! Pup 1 was a little female, and she instantly stole my husband's heart, because as soon as the sac broke, we could see she was red.
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She has lightened up a lot. And her toes aren't nearly that red/purple anymore!
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We were so excited! It was 3:35 pm, and we were ready!! .... to wait. #2 waited almost 2 hours. When I noticed Luna straining again, I leaned in to look - and the sac burst all over my jeans. Ew. As I looked, all I saw were toes and tail.... he came with a little bit of help, and our first male was here! He was dark like daddy, and has the most perfect little white spot on his back!
Apparently, once we were rolling, we were rolling! 20 minutes later (barely time to get 1 and 2 cleaned, dried, and settled), #3 was on the way! She was also backwards, but came without help, and was perfect!
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As you can see, the red lightened up a lot as she dried - and the battle of the sexes lives strong in our house, even with the dogs! Girls on the left, boy on the right.
Again, we waited. I grabbed a bite to eat with the family. Feeling her belly, we could still feel wiggles, but she seemed pretty chill for the moment...
#4 came about 3/4 of the way through an amazing plate of pulled pork nachos. But it's cool. She's a sweetie and a pudge! Were we done? I didn't think so....We hung out. I played on Facebook. The kids visited, which didn't bother momma in the least (I told you she is an awesome dog!). Luna ate ice cream.
Our second male was born at 9:12. He was a porker when he was born, and still has everyone beat!
Then I really thought we might be done. 3 girls, 2 boys. Cool. Momma's healthy, babies are healthy, I'm sleepy... I was super cozy, when, at almost midnight - 3 hours after the last pup, 9 hours since we started....Luna started grunting & pushing. And grunting and pushing. I checked, and I saw a head out, but upside down. And getting blue.
Luckily, I'm gross, and adventurous, and a google freak, and occasionally view myself as some sort of medical professional...so I reached in, and slowly tried to A, grab a foot, and B, turn the pup faced down. I got her close, and helped Luna get her out. This was the only pup that I cut the cord on before Luna could bite it.... I cut it, and rubbed. And rubbed. And swung. And after a minute or so (or hours, as it felt!), Little Miss started screaming like a banshee!!! Scariest moment!
#7, in order to be different, decided to have her own birthday! #6 was born at 11:52, and #7 slipped out uneventfully at 12:41 am on the 13th :)
Here's a pic of 1-6. You can tell 6, because she is so much darker. And tinier. She was the smallest of the bunch, which is a blessing, because I don't know what we would have done if she was any bigger! (I didn't get a pic after 7. I got Luna some water, and myself a bigger blanket! We were exhausted!)
blue
Green
smile!!!!
