So I have been working very hard on my websites and not having a lot of time for much else. Last night I was just settling into bed and I gazed over at the empty playpen beside me. I was hoping I would sleep well even with Daphne & her Little Puppy sleeping in their Whelping box, between My husband and I. I then thought about Gwenny sleeping on her bed in the kitchen. Gwenny is due to deliver her litter on March 8th but she is quite large and I am always thinking of their comfort when they are that close to their due dates.
I knew that if I did not get Gwenny and put a super comfy bed in the playpen that I would never sleep, after all I would want to be in a private bed that is more comfy, especially if I did not have to share my bed in the kitchen with my yorkie friends.
SO I went out into the kitchen and asked Gwenny if she wanted to come with me to the bedroom. I was actually glad to have a reson to go into the kitchen because I remembered I forgot to turn on the dishwasher anyways. So, I ran the water hot, turned on the dishwasher and then opened the gate between that end of the kitchen and the hallway. I only had to say "Hey Gwen Gwen are you coming"? and she quickly ran out of the kitchen past the gate and into the hallway. She could have gone in one of two directions upon her exit from the kitchen, if she turned left she would have entered the living room with the extra fancy beds, more dog toys and soft furniture to sit or lay on. If Gwenny had turned right she would enter the hallway which leads to the downstairs nursery, the bedrooms, the hallway bath and the laundry room. I usually see Gwenny go into the living room because she loves to lay on the couch and chew on her bones, especially if she can be alone in there, but she did not turn in that direction. Instead Gwenny turned right and walked down the hallway past the downstairs doorway, past the bedrooms and hallway bath and right into our bedroom. She walked with a purpose.. She approached the playpen and then with the slightest lifting of her front legs on to my knees she signaled me that she wanted to get into the playpen. .. I was happy that I did not have to try to pry her away from the toys in the living room or off of the couch. It did seem that she was going to settle in quite quickly into the softness of the bed I had placed in the playpen.
I was glad I put her in the playpen even if it was a bit early, it just felt like she would be happier there beside me. I did hesitate a bit becasue Gwenny can jump and climb almost anything and I was a bit fearful she might jump out of the playpen and onto our bed. If that were to happen then Daphen could get quite upset and feel that Gwen was trying to get to her baby in the whelping box. If Daphen felt that then there would have been some sort of scuffel between them. A Yorkie mommie is a protective as a human Mother or moreso on the lies of a mother TIger, they will fight to the death to protect their young.
To my relief, Gwenny seemed o have no interest in trying to jump or climb. Daphne was sitting in her whelping box with her puppy watching for the slightest indication that her baby might be in danger. No signals were received by Daphne that Gwenny was going to get near her or moreso her baby so Daph lay-ed down and cleaned her baby then nursed her.
I was so pleased that Gwenny seemed to be going to stay in the playpen. I petted her and talked to her and she was happy and wagged her tail. I had made the right choice in bringing her into our bedroom. I then thought that Gwenny was being so good that I would get her a extra special bone to chew on. We call it the pregnant mommies bone. Every pregnant Mommy gets to have this extra special bone to chew on. The bone lasts for days and days and they love it..
Gwenny was busy chewing and chewing and she got quite thirsty so I took her into our bathroom to give her a dish of water and then let her go potty. She went back to chewing the moment she was back in the playpen and also back to panting like she was really thirsty again. I gave her some more water then I decided to take the bone away. Now I hated to take the bone away because she was enjoying it so much but I could not take the panting and water then potty routine all night if I wanted to get some sleep. Gwen did not seem upset about the loss of her bone and she layed down and then did some minor digging/nesting. But this is something she does anyways. It is also a signal of the onset of labor.
I said to Lee my husband that I was a little bit concerned about the panting Gwenny was doing and he & I decided it was brought on by the bone chewing and nothing to worry about. I sleep with one ear open all night anyways so if something changed I should hear it. I was thinking that with her litter being due in eight days and the panting it might be a good idea if I check to see if her milk was in. It was…..ummmm this is the second sign of impending labor, but no, it was eight days away. .. it couldn’t be this early, eight days early, that could lead to premature birht and sick or weak or dead puppies. Daphnes milk was in for a week before she delivered, and other mothers milk is in for a long time too , so Im just being a worry wort right?
Wrong… The panting went on and off during the night, the “nesting” kept happening and Lee and Daphne went into the other bedroom so that I did not keep them awake. (Funny, how he doesnt go in there when his snoring keeps me awake)..oh well thats another story for another time.
I am almost convinced that Gwenny is going to deliver early. I get my birthing kit and place it on the bed, I get a waterproof pad ready just in case. Then I deceide to rest and try not to think about the possibility of premature delivey of yorkie puppies. I got about two hours of sleep, then the stiring of Gwenny, and her looking at me to make sure I was watching her, kept me awake. I got a box of cereal (I would have loved potato chips but I didnt want to provide any additional padding to my behind), so I went with cereal.
Now for a quick interjection, If it is the middle of the night and you HAVE to be up and wide awake and attentive for any reason, I can guarantee you there will be nothing to watch on any of the 300+ telivision channels cable provides, that is if you enjoy wathcing anything other then a infomercial. I thought I had enough stuff recorded to keep me busy and awake but I had already watched most of it since I was not planning on a early delivery and I wathced so much of the stuff already from being SNOWED in for so long. Oh dear, I resorted to pay -per -view.. Turly I had no other choice, either that or risk ordering some lame product that was on the infomercials. The onger your forced ot listen to them the more you risk the junk seeming as if you must have it .
Now back to Gwenny, yes I think I saw a contraction out of the corner of my eye. No, I must be wrong, it is too early. I see another one then a third, Cr-p this IS going to happen. I get out my emergency respiration injections, the needles, and then wait. That is the hardest part. Am I waiting for sick puppies to arrive? Am "I waiting for premies who I will not be able to save? about a hour of contrations yields a puppy, a male, seems to be normal size, seem to have all his hair, he is breathing alright too. Wow, eight days early and he is fine… I then hope the rest are fine too. The second puppy is fine, the third too, the fourth-not fine, its a premie, its a girl, its not alive, I can get it to breath, I pull the dophram into the needle, remove the needle, lace the mirical fluid under the tounge, not reaction, repeat procedure, not reacting again… I know at this oint that with the hair not being present and not breathing that this premie was not going to make it…. I place her in a soft washcloth, Gwenny is looking at me and I know she is asking me why I haven’t fixed the puppy and given it back to her. This is a hard look to see from a dog you love. I try to tell her the puppy did not make it and that I am sorry… I think she knows what I was saying. She looks at the cloth and says goodby to her little premie girl. She then is tending to the other newborns and has two more puppies. All alive and doing well.. Six puppies were delivered, four males, two females with one female premie still born. The birth takes five hours from the first puppy to the last… All are nursing well, Gwenny is fine, we got all the placentas, none are retained.
Im sleepy, Gwenny is enjoying her puppies. I give her some canned food and fresh water…We did well with the unexpected early birth…The little girl we lost is given to my husband for burial. Then I take a nap and so does Gwenny. It is now ten in the morning and I want to sleep the rest of the day. I cant sleep the day away because there are other moms and puppies to tend to but it sure would feel good to take two days to sleep….
This is my day today up to ten in the morning. Some sad, some blessed. Blessed that the rest of the early puppies are fine.
I did not spell check this, and I am not great with puctunation either. If you see a comma I indended there to be a breath taken at that place by the reader.
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