May 15, 2008: - My babies arrived on May 15 at 2:45 a.m.!!!  Not quite the way I planned the whole experience, though......I was in mild labor all day on Wednesday, with my water breaking and heavier labor starting around 9:00 p.m.  My Mom wasn't very comfortable with the way labor was progressing and my behavior didn't seem consistent with my labor behavior in 2005.  Although I was having contractions and seemed uncomfortable, there was no progression towards having a puppy.  Once the water breaks, it's important to see a puppy within 2-3 hours.  At 11:15 I still hadn't whelped any pups, so off we went to the emergency vet.  The x-ray that they took there showed that there was possibly a puppy whose head had progressed past the birth canal which meant that not only was that puppy "stuck", but so was everyone behind him/her.  The decision was made to deliver the pups by c-section at that point.

We have 5 very active, vigorous puppies: 3 black girls, 1 liver girl and 1 black boy.  They were weighed and their toenails cut tonight and we put rick-rack collars on them so we can forever know who is who:
Puppy #1 is a black girl, she's wearing a pink collar and weighs 12 5/8 oz.
Puppy #2 is the liver girl, she doesn't need a collar, since she's the only liver pup.  She weighs 17 1/2 oz.
Puppy #3 is a black girl, wearing a yellow collar and weighing 16 1/4 oz.
Puppy #4 is a black girl, has a blue collar and weighs 12 3/8 oz.
Puppy #5 is a black boy, wearing a green collar - he weighs 15 5/8 oz.

The puppies and I had to stay at the vet until this afternoon as my packed cell volume (PCV) indicating anemia needed to be increased.  I got a blood transfusion last night and was feeling better today.  It's SO nice to be home with my babies!!!!
Here's the URL to the Flashback puppy cam - come visit us and see how we're growing day by day!!

 
 
May 8, 2008 (Day 57) - Today was x-ray day! Doesn't look like as many puppies as I had last time, so both Mom and I are celebrating! I'm in great shape and should have an easy time delivering the pups according to the vet (which is easy for him to say, since he doesn't have to do the work......). I'm still being fed 4 meals a day, which is GREAT - that might be the best part about being pregnant! Mom also continues to take my temperature twice a day, which ISN'T so great; as a matter of fact, I hate it!!! Conventional wisdom says that when my temp drops a degree or so, whelping should occur within 24-36 hours. I did follow that pattern with my 2005 litter, so Mom's hoping for the same warning this time!  
 
   
     
 
May 4, 2008 (Day 53) - “Sorry that I haven’t been able to keep up the diary…..my “dad” has been in the hospital after a very serious work related back injury on 3/25 and “mom” has been scrambling to keep up ever since! Dad remains hospitalized, although he’s now in a physical rehab facility, so we’re hoping his progress speeds up there!! Dad is normally our webmaster, so first I’d like to thank our friends Emily and Craig Antolick for their help on updating everything at this time!
   
My pregnancy was confirmed by ultrasound on April 3. Ultrasound when done that early isn’t useful for determining the number of puppies, but I will be x-rayed next Friday (5/9) and we should clearly be able to see the number of pups at that time. Too bad we won’t be able to see how many of each color!!!!  Although it’s been very busy around our house, Mom has been sure that I get my leash walk in every day to make sure that I’m in good shape to deliver the babies.

Mom and a couple of friends set up the whelping area this weekend – I’m not too sure that I’m glad to see that whelping box again! Meg, on the other hand, seems to think it makes a fine sleeping area. For those of you who don’t know, my real mom (CH WR Lyric's Kay CD SH WCX CGC TDI) was whelped in this same box (in Virginia), *I* was whelped in this box (in Maryland), my first litter was whelped in this box (here in MN) and now my 2nd litter will be whelped in the same box. Is that good karma or what????

They tell me that they’ve decided on a litter theme for my upcoming babies. Since my first litter theme was song titles from the 1960’s, the (not very creative) people that are making this decision have decided on song titles from the 1970’s. Here’s a website with a list of the top 100 songs from the ‘70’s: http://www.mbgtop40.com/top100s/1970s/chart.html I have to admit that it looks like there are some very cool names there. Since my Dad is a HUGE Dr. Seuss fan, I thought it might be appropriate to choose Dr. Seuss characters for the litter theme, but I’m not so sure that names like Bingle Bug, East Beast, Eskimo Fish, Hippo Heimers, etc. are *exactly* what we’re looking for!

So……we’re getting closer to whelping day and I’m getting rounder and rounder……but the GOOD news is that I’m now getting FOUR meals a day. Since the pups are getting bigger, there’s not as much room for my stomach, etc. so we need to split the meals into smaller amounts. Today is day 53 of my pregnancy so we expect that the pups will grow significantly in the next week. Think I’ll still be able to fit through the whelping box “door by then?????”

 

 

 

March 19, 2008 - I saw on the Flashback YahooGroups list that Dad said “Snicker has *finally* begun her anticipated litter diary”  NICE…….does he think I don’t have anything better to do than write stories????  Take today for instance – Meg & I have an appointment this afternoon to see our sports massage therapist, I have to get my long walk in, I have to lay on the window seat and watch the front of the house for dogs nervy enough to walk by on my street, I have to make sure to hassle Mom enough that she gives me plenty of treats throughout the day, I probably should be brushed and have a nail trim……see how busy my days are????   
 
 
March 18, 2008 - I was very glad to get home on Sunday, but now my daughter Patsy is in heat and she's behaving very oddly.  She just keeps hanging around poor Kona who is CLEARLY trying to tell her to bug off.....I thought that *I* was the only one who drove him nuts around here!
 
March 16, 2008 - After all that fun, now I get to spend the day in the car driving back home!  Mom keeps telling me about how much fun the next nine weeks are going to be, but I did hear her mutter something about "hoping for less than 9 puppies this time....."  Less than 9 gets my vote too - I remember how much time and energy taking care of all of those puppies took last time!!!!
 
March 15, 2008 - Another breeding was accomplished today!!  Mom says if the breeding takes we should have puppies around
May 13!
 
 
March 14, 2008 - I had an appointment this morning to be bred by transcervical insemination here in Minneapolis and after that we drove to Wisconsin to do another breeding tomorrow or Sunday.
  
 
March 1 - March 12, 2008 - I'm in heat!!!  We'll start progesterone tests on 3/7 to time the breeding.  3/7 progesterone is .91, 3/10 progesterone is 2.14, 3/12 progesterone is 6.51, which means ovulation probably occurred today!!!  Looks like we'll be doing the initial breeding on Friday 3/14!!!