2018 > 12

Today the puppies turned three weeks old. That means new individual photos and their weekly weighin. They are all gaining weight nicely and today the were dewormed for the first time too. Tomorrow they will get their first taste of solid food (minced meet and egg). But for now we say good night!

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The K-litter are now 2,5 weeks old and have moved on from the sausage phase to the actual adorable puppyphase! They are up "walking" on all four legs, exploring their little world and eachother. A lot of chewing on eachother now, their teeth are just breaking through and they will soon get to start to taste solid food.
Below are a big bunch of photos from yesterday aswell as a video of them 17 days old. Enjoy!

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The puppies are now 2 weeks old and has grown a lot! They have all gained around 1 kilo since birth, some just under and some even slighty over. They have all opened their eyes and are now trying to walk on all four legs instead of dragging themselves forward ;)
I took some new individual photos. All the puppies were very sleepy so they don't look to happy hahaha! But I think they are adorable anyway!

Todays weights:
Ms Pink - 1450 g
Ms Red - 1460 g
Mr Blue - 1425 g
Mr Orange - 1730 g
Mr Grey - 1515 g
Mr Black - 1370 g
Mr Brown - 1690 g
Mr Green - 1705 g
Mr Purple - 1645 g
Mr Yellow - 1415 g

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The puppies are today 11 days old and they are all starting to open their eyes, some more and some less. I love this part of their development, when they start to become tiny little dogs, seeing a blurry world around them, seeing their siblings and starting to explore. So far no teeth but those usually start to break through aroung 2 weeks of age so not long now until they will start tasting eachother and chewing on things!
Below are some mixed photos of the beautiful bunch 10-11 days old. Enjoy!

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Our sweet puppies are now 1 week old. New photos of them has been taken, they look just like stuffed little bulldog sausages, but still, adorable!
Within the next week they will start to open their eyes, which is always a wonderful thing, seeing those tiny eyes look back at you. So hopefully next week you will see those eyes on these photos too!

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Some new mixed photos of the puppies 6 days old! They are growing so much, looks like chubby sausages! Today I had their 1 week photoshoots, will share those photos with you tomorrow! But for now, you get these to enjoy!

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The puppies are four days old today and growing steadily. I weighed them yesterday and they have all gained between 100-200 grams in 1-2 days. Some mixed photos from the past two days below for you to enjoy!

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Today the puppies are two days old. To be really honest just 6 of them are that, since one was born just after midnight yesterday and the last three in the afternoon. But since the most of them were born on Saturday that is the date I will counting from, just so you all know!
They are all doing very well. A strong bunch! Can't help it but I am already in love with all of them! Just gorgoeus! 
Below are their first individual photos. The ridgephotos isn't great, I should have used a different lens but just couldn't care to go and change... And dark days as these I had to get it done during the day when there was still some natural light in the room. 
Enjoy!

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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

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Yesterday Christoffer helped me with a new stacked photo of Mira, day 61. I also took some photos of her on day 59 when we were out on a walk in the woods. It is hard to remember after two or three months who big she acctually was here at the end of the pregnancy!

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Now we can truly say that the countdown has started! Mira is today on day 56 of her pregnancy. A normal pregnancy is 63 days give and take +/-2 days. I am counting from her and Colins first mating, so it could be that she is only on day 55 or 54 today. But I still think the puppies should arrive around next weekend, and for Mira's sake I am hoping for Friday! 
When we are out walking she is fine. They weight of the belly does not press on her organs as much then as when she is trying to lay down to sleep. 
Then she is a lot more uncomfortable, breathing heavy and just making a lot of complaining noises. Me having been pregnant with twins I sort of understand how she is feeling, but I think she's got it even worse than I did!
Let's see if I will be able to update more this week or if next time it will be with pictures of our puppies?!

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