Stage Two (Updated)

Dear Husband woke me up at 2:00 a.m. — Daisy was having some discharge.

Sure enough — dark green drips and discharge (birth is not for the squeamish — neither is this post).

Daisy is stressing me out!!!

I remember reading an article about this being normal so I looked for it on the Facebook group, couldn’t find it, and so posed a question about the discharge — I got multiple “Get Thee to the Vet” responses.

Great, more dead puppy images crowded my mind. Just what I needed after spending my birthday stressing about that.

Deep Breaths.

I called my vet — at 2:44 a.m.

As a result, we are at home and waiting — and I found the ARTICLE I remembered. Too bad I did not find it BEFORE I called my vet at 2:44 a.m.

Although obviously unafraid to make those middle-of-the-night phone calls, I waiting for things to be a bit more imminent before I call in the troops (aka Suzanne).

Have I mentioned how flipping terrifying this all is?!

7:15 pm Update

What a day.

Lupine

The story of this day tomorrow but for now know we are home safe and sound.

Five girls, four boys — and two puppies that could not stay with us. The Angel Puppies are heartbreaking, of course, and we celebrate the nine that could stay with us.

This first week is also terrifying — please think good thoughts for all of the new lives.

So Many Things (except puppies [so far])

The only thing currently residing in the whelping box is one cat.

The extra material in the whelping box is for Daisy to “dig.”

Puppies cannot be early or late — well, they can but it is not a good thing. This is why it is important to do progesterone testing when creating the litter — it both correctly times the breeding and establishes the whelping window dates.

I reviewed Daisy’s progesterone numbers yesterday and know we are still in the safe whelping window.

As I mentioned previously, a decrease in body temperature is a sign that labor is imminent but Daisy seems to have had at least three drops in her temperature, making things confusing. Yesterday her temp was 99.2 at one point — it is under 99 this morning.

Breeders like to think temperature drop is some kind of sentinel event, but the professional literature does not seem to share that opinion. Runcan and Coutinho da Silva (2018) identify that “…the preparturient “temperature drop” is highly variable and at times unpredictable” (p. 13) and advise not using it to inform timing of elective c-sections.

Clearly something is happening now that is different than before to be giving temperature readings under 99 when her normal is about 100.5 — and that something is positive.

The same article I mentioned above, one of many I have read recently, offers this helpful table for assessing when veterinary intervention is needed:

From: Runcan, E., & Coutinho Da Silva, M. (2018). Whelping and Dystocia: Maximizing Success of Medical Management. Topics in Companion Animal Medicine, 33(1), 12-16.

Daisy does not currently meet any of the criterion listed above for veterinary intervention. Although we likely had the temperature drop (see #2 above), Daisy is showing signs of Stage One labor, which include panting, restlessness, and nesting (digging).

Daisy needs to move towards Stage Two labor today. If there are issues or concerns, I will use the secret hotline number and seek additional input from Daisy’s veterinarian.

We have not flown solo thus far. In addition to having access to literature not typically available to breeders, I am lucky to have a veterinarian in the family who provides ongoing moral and professional support.

I also have a breeder-colleague I was communicating with yesterday. I can and do ask her directly, “what do you think?” — if my thinking is off, I trust her to tell me. She shared something I think is important for all to consider because it is so true and speaks to the scary challenges of this time:

“The way I see it, there are risks with both natural whelping and c-sections. I think the natural whelp is riskier for the pups, and the c-section is riskier for the bitch. And overall, breeding is risky business.”

Risk.

All of this is about risk.

Risking lives and deaths, trying to balance benefits and burdens without complete knowledge or the wisdom of hindsight — that is what this is about right now.

I have to live with the consequences and therefore, the decisions must be mine.

The job of friends is to trust me.

The Aspirational Due Date Has Arrived!

Daisy is looking a wee bit haggard this morning.

Her friends stop by to suggest she should get this birthday show on the road.

rePete is helping out by keeping the puppy scale warm.

Daisy is pretty convinced the hole in the yard is the place to have her babies — she even helpfully enlarged it to make space for her impending brood. Given her misguided notions about what constitutes an appropriate birthing suite, she is always accompanied when outside.

Luckily, Daisy is a cooperative sort of girl — and considerate. I slept all night (until 4:00 a.m.) and now Daisy is no doubt making sure Suzanne gets to sleep in before the birthday party begins.

8:20 pm

We had another temp drop today and serious digging…

…but no puppies yet…