Sunday, April 10, 2011

Puppies Arrive

In the wee morning hours of January 9th, Bella started acting very strangely. From what I had read, I identified these behaviors as early signs that she was going into labor. Not wanting puppies to be delivered in my bed, I moved Bella to her whelping area and pulled the futon mattress out onto the floor next to her. We slept there for the rest of the night eagerly awaiting six puppies to join us.

Finally, somewhere around noon, Bella began to wimper and stare at her rear end. When I checked on her I could see the pup moving into position getting ready to make its way into the world. I turned on the web cam so friends and family could share this experience with us and sat beside Bella ready to help her if she needed it. Within minutes the first pup slithered from the birth canal and into the world. Instincts took over and Bella immediately went to work on the sac and umbilical cord. Once those were taken care of she settled in to give this newest member of our family some love and attention. After an hour, a bath, and some food, the fawn pup was pushed aside as puppy number two started into the world. Pups two through six arrived at 20 to 30 minute intervals. Each pup came without problem and Bella continued to clean and nurse each new baby as it appeared. After the sixth pup, Bella and her litter laid down to rest. It had been a long afternoon for all of us and we were ready to relax. About 45 minutes after the appearance of the final pup, I noticed Bella having contractions again. Much to my surprise, a few minutes later a 7th pup appeared. dan declared victory as he had predicted 7 puppies from day one. He and Buster took off for the store to buy a few puppy items we had forgotten while Bella and I stayed to monitor the babies.

Bella and I marveled over "our" litter and accepted congratulations from around the country as over 50 people had watched the delivery live on UStream. Exhausted and ready for some rest, Bella and I were overwhelmed when we realized an 8th round of contractions was begining. With a little more effort than the first, our finally puppy came into the world just over 4 hours after the first. I happily called Dan to tell him he had been wrong about having seven pups. I could nearly see the dollar signs lighting up in his eyes.
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