Ok... so here are the promised details.
Pagan had been panting and nesting in my bed since about 5am. No sign of puppies all day though. I was getting cabin fever from being with her all day!
At about dinner time Michael heated up some soup he'd made the night before and I went into the kitchen to have that, putting Pagan in the whelping box so she wouldnt have puppies on my bed, and I was eating when I heard a squeal.
I ran into the bedroom and there was Pagan, standing up, over a puppy who was crawling around squealing. The puppy was a white girl, green at the time
. Pagan's rear end was green too
.
I checked Cheyenne over and she was ok, not congested, Pagan had cleaned up the afterbirth and cut the umbilical cord nicely without hurting her. phew.
From then on it was wait and catch puppies. This is how it went:
Cheyenne (white/girl) was born at 7.30pm and weighed 11oz.
She was delivered by Pagan alone, a very strong little girl.
Chinook arrived at 8.40pm (black/girl) and weighed 10oz
Long and lean when she came out. She latched onto a teat while still attached to the afterbirth inside her mom and sucked like a leach! LOL
Lakota arrived at 9.25pm (black/girl) 10oz
Born legs first and came out congested and needed shaking to clear her lungs. She was fine though.
Comanche (black/boy) arrived at 11pm and 11oz
Also feet first and congested but it cleared up easily and he latched onto a teat.
Navajo (black/boy) arrived at 11.20pm and 9oz
He was an adventure! He was born outside on the lawn! Pagan wanted to go out and pee and since
she'd had decent breaks between puppies I asked Michael to take her out (on lead and only in the lit part of the yard) while I cleaned up in the whelping box. He came running back in with a puppy! I cleaned Navajo up and cleared his lungs and he was fine.
Maya (black/girl) arrived at 12.40am and 10oz
She was like an afterthought! I really thought Pagan had finished and couldnt feel another pup - I was waiting for 2 hrs to give her an oxitocin shot! She was resting and feeding happily when she stood up (to change positions I thought) and just gave one little push and out popped Maya! Maya was born tired. She cried loud (good lungs!) but wouldnt suckle for long... it was like it was too hard work. I gave her some glucodin in water to get her going and after that she suckled fine.
I didnt get much sleep. I was up at every cry, making sure they were warm enough and that they were near their mom etc. Hopefully tonight I'll sleep better. They all feel warm and full and healthy. and they are moving around well. They seem happy. and Pagan is being a great mom. She's cleaning them and
being with them all the time. We have to pry her out to go pee and we had to pry her away to wash the goo off her rear end! She is eating a bit but not much - I think she'll start eating a lot more soon as the puppies start really drawing down a lot of milk. Last time she ate so much I couldnt believe I was feeding one dog!
Meanwhile I'm tired and sore all over from sitting in the whelping box. Getting old sucks! My back cant take sitting cross legged any more!
As for the names? Well, you know I dont like referring to puppies as 'the white girl' or the 'big black boy' or whatever. So I give them 'litter names'... kind of like little allowing them to develop their own personalities. Since their father is Apache, and their mother is Pagan I decided to give them all an indian tribe name. I figure most of those wouldnt make great call names anyway so it'd be easier to change them. Last time I named the puppies all after cities/states and stuff and although I love the name Montana I was kinda hoping to keep 'Dallas' or 'Memphis'... but Montana had been 'Montana' since the day she was born so I couldnt bring myself to change it! Nothing else felt right! This time, by calling them names that wont stick as easily I figure it'd be easier to change them! (I did threaten to name one Iriquois or Arapaho!)
So there you go.
At times last night I wondered if I'm a masochist doing this!
I was so tired, my back is so sore and my head is still thumping from lack of sleep... why do we do this? Is the puppy breath and their little suckling noises worth it?
I guess so!
