The Kiss-puppies are here!
It all started on Friday evening when Mira started breathing more heavy, so I figured the openingstage had begun. I spend the night on the couch with her and tried to sleep as much as possible, knowing that we would have a busy day or two after that. The night went ok, she was restless but we could both sleep some.
Saturday started off pretty peaceful. She went on short walks with us and it was not until the afternoon that she started to have some contractions.
At 15.07 pm our first puppy was born. A MALE with singlecrown/short ridgeI think with white chestmark, and weighed 647 grams.
Next puppy arrived at 16.37 pm. A BITCH that looks correct, no white and weighed 646 grams.
At 17.59 we got our second MALE, a ridgeless boy weighing 672 grams.
At 18.44 we got our third MALE, similar to our first with a singlecrown/short ridge, weighing 636 grams.
At 19.46 our fifth MALE arrived, a boy with an extra crown and white on the chest, weighing 607 grams.
At 21.13 we got our sixth MALE, another ridgeless boy weighing 625 grams with little white on the chest. After this she rested for a bit, which is normal for Mira's deliverys.
At 00.07 we got our first correct MALE weighing 619 grams.
After this she rested again, but this time for longer that normal, and longer than I was comfortable with. She was fine, she was eating, peeing when I took her outside, drinking water, caring for her puppies and sleeping. I could feel the puppies moving in her belly so I was not worried about them yet, and I knew there should be four left.
She had a bit of contractions which I see as just to move the puppies along inside that big belly, and not any contractions for pushing them out.
I could not feel a puppy near the hips when I examined her, so I was not fearing that there was a puppy stuck. But still, after several hours she should be rested and have more contractions to get the next puppy out. So I decided to go with her and the puppies to the animal hospital Ultuna/UDS in Uppsala about 55 minutes drive from us,
So I packed all the puppies in a box and took them and her in the car and headed for Uppsala. I stopped several times on the way to check on Mira in the back of the car, I hoped the trip in itself would trigger the contractions and that she would give birth in the car... But unfortunately not.
At the hospital we got to go into a room right away and Mira was happy to get her puppies back, she even tried to fit into their tiny box to be close to them!
We checked her Calcium levels and Glukos levels and they were normal. We did an X-ray and it showed four puppies left just as I thought, no one close to the exit. They borrowed Mira for an ultrasound and checked for heartbeats. They could for sure see three heartbeats, and was not sure if they saw the fourth or if it was the same puppy twice because two puppies had the same heartrate.
I decided I wanted to wait with a C-section since Mira was doing so good still, and start to try to get her contractions stronger. So she got a first dose with a bit of result. I could eventually feel a tail and one backpaw. I could not feel or get a hold of the other backpaw. Two different veterinarians tried and one managed to get the other foot back, but not enough to get a proper grip of them both to help to pull the puppy out. We decided to give her IV fluids with calium aswell, even though her levels were normal to help her uterus contract. Another shot to get her contractions going. With her standing with her front feet on the table, a bit of help from gravity, me and three different veterinarians we finally got the puppy out. A gorgeous dark correct male... But he had been stuck for a while then and he was unfortunately stillborn...
I am so amazed by Mira, I know she it a tough girl, but seeing her fighting through this, accepting all these people around her and her puppies despite being a very protective mother, makes my heart so filled with love. My dogs are all amazing, and when they go into the role of mother they show so much strength. I hope she knew that we were all trying to help her.
We don't know why the puppy was stuck. He looked perfectly normal, weighed only 518 grams so smaller than the others. I believe he was stuck because he was acctually dead. A dead puppy get's a bit stiff in the body and doesn't help to stimulate contractions at all. The question just is, why did he die in there from the first place? I will never know...
Mira had better contractions after this puppy was out, probably because the next puppy in line stimulated the contractions better. But by now I worried that if the next puppy would also get stuck we might loose it too. We gave her a little bit of time, since she seemed better now after some IV fluid she had more energy. I examined her again and felt the same as last puppy, a tail and two backlegs. I felt so torn... should I wait and let her take her time to push this one out, or should I not risk it?!
We made a second ultrasound and all three puppies were alive, but stressed. I listen to my heart and the veterinarians recommendations and went ahead with a C-section. A big surgery is always a risk, and Mira is so important for me, but so is those three puppies and I did not want to risk loosing them!
So I gave Mira hugs and kisses and tried to not break down... and let them take her to surgery. After not sleeping for almost 35 hours and just lost a beautiful puppy my emotions were everywhere. So I was so happy to about thirthy minutes later hear the puppy cry coming outside our room when the nurses came to me with all three alive puppies.
We got a lovely second correct BITCH weighing 575 grams, a correct MALE weighing 695 grams and one more ridgeless MALE weighing 547 grams.
Strong and full of life! They got to join their siblings who was comfy in blankets in their box underneath an infrared light.
Now all I had to do was to wait to get Mira back from surgery. I was happy again when I recognized her cries about an hour later outside the door. She was ok, she was awake, the surgery had gone well. She was a bit cold so she got to rest with her sweet puppies under a infrared light and lots of blankets and after about an hour she was feeling better and we could drive back home again.
At home she settled in right away and she is like her previous litters, a wonderful caring mother. She wants to sleep as close to them as possible, keeping an eye on each and every puppy, wanting them all near her.
A very huge thank you to Colins breeder Renate for being so involved and supportive through this whole thing! To all my excited and waiting puppybyers, give me a day or two and I will contact you!
15.07 pm - Mr. BROWN - Male, singlecrown, 647 grams
16.37 pm - Ms PINK - Female, correct, 646 grams
17.59 pm - Mr GREEN - Male, ridgeless, 672 grams
18.44 pm - Mr BLACK - Male, singlecrown, short ridge, 636 grams
19.46 pm - Mr GREY - Male, extra crown, 607 grams
21.13 pm - Mr PURPLE - Male, ridgeless, 625 grams
00.07 am - Mr BLUE - Male, correct, 619 grams
13.20 pm - ........ - Male, correct, 518 grams, STILLBORN
Approx 15.20 pm - Ms RED - Female, correct, 575 grams
Approx 15.20 pm - Mr ORANGE - Male, correct, 695 grams
Approx 15.20 pm - Mr YELLOW - Male, ridgeless, 547 grams