Greta’s Puppies #2 – Page 8 – The Dackel Princess

The Puppies Day 1

When I woke on Sunday morning I felt happier than I have in a while. It dawned on me that I have been pretty stressed and worried about Greta all during this pregnancy. So today when I opened my eyes and looked down into the whelping box and saw Greta and her happy and healthy pack of babies, I just smiled! What a beautiful sight! Greta and her babies!

I lay there in the early morning hours and watched the puppies suckle on their mother’s teat. I watched their little pink tongues wrap around the nipple and occasionally a little bit of milk rim the mouth.

Greta washed them and snuggled them and I could see in her body language the ancient bonding of mother and baby. Oh, she is such a good mother to her little puppies.

The puppies are pretty active. They spend a lot of time eating and then they sleep. Occasionally one will climb away from the pack, but is soon brought back to the fold, usually by me.

How wonderful to have babies back in the house!

4 Boys & 1 Girl!

Greta went into labor Friday night at 12:30 AM. I was up all night with her and I worried the entire time. By morning I knew that she was having a lot of problems. I called my friend Dori and she came over and examined Greta. Then we called the Vet.

We rushed her in, and they examined her and hoped that she still might still deliver naturally, but after several hours things were not going in the right direction and so they did an emergency c-section.

They delivered 5 puppies and then they fixed her so that she cannot have any more. Each puppy was born asleep and we had to work hard to wake them up.

It was hard work and the last puppy born we nearly lost. He just couldn’t wake up.

But Dr. K. worked so hard and she was able to make him wake up and start to move around. I was so happy and thankful! He is now fine and nursing on Greta along with his brothers and sister.

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Yes, Greta had 4 boys and 1 girl! They are all beautiful and healthy and I feel so thankful tonight to have them all home in the puppy room with their mother.

For more pictures go on over to my flickr account and see the additional pictures there!

Almost

Today it seemed that everything was right. The stars were aligned and baby puppies would be born. Alas, that is not the case. Greta is in the early stages of labor, but not actual labor. After 6 hours of worry, I took her to the Vet’s and they examined her. All is well, the puppies are all lined up and ready to go, but for now, we must wait!

The red arrows point to the 5 little beings living inside of Greta! The first one is all lined up for delivery, and the other 4 should turn around and be ready to head out very soon!

So tonight I will sleep with Greta in the puppy room and hopefully she will relax enough to pop those babies out.

Go Greta!!!

Hmmmmm!

Greta’s temperature dropped and she has no appetite. She lies, stretched out on the floor and she is panting. All signs that the time is near.

I have spoken to the Vet and we are monitoring this closely, as she may require a second c-section. All that matters right now is that she and the pups are healthy.

Keep your fingers crossed!

My Big Fat Mama!

Poor Greta. It’s official now. Her belly is dragging on the ground. I took her outside this morning to go and visit our neighbor, and Greta was so happy, but as she waddled trotted through the grass up the hill to our friends house, I could see her belly hitting the ground!

Poor Greta. After our visit we waddled trotted back down the hill and she came inside and lay down next to the water bowl and drank and panted until she recovered.

Fortunately, the heat broke in the late afternoon when a cool front passed over us, and after that Greta was able to waddle trot around the back yard comfortably.

But look at this poor baby girl.

Can you believe how tremendously large she has gotten?

She has been resting a lot today. Her appetite is still good, but she just doesn’t have much room in her stomach anymore. Those puppies are taking up a lot of space! So she eats a little, rests, does her business outside and starts the whole thing over again.

Oh the days are winding down and I can hardly wait to see these little ones. They kick so hard that I can feel them as she lies next to me and this makes me laugh and smile. I almost feel like I know them already.

Soon!

What To Do….

Okay, what do you do when you are waiting for your dog to multiply? Well, if you are like me and like to keep busy so that you don’t have to think about the impending birth of your grand-puppies, you cook.

On today’s agenda was grape juice. I had about 2 gallons of juice, made from our own Concord Grapes, and today I put together 4 batches of Grape Jelly. That’s 28 jars of jelly!

I love to can jelly and jams, as they make great gifts for people who do not have the time or the fruit in their yard, to make such things. Plus, I think it is very rewarding to actually produce something.

I think the next thing on my list of jams and jellies will be plum jam. It'[s one of my favorites and it appears we will have a good crop of those in about a week. I just hope I have the time and energy with the puppies due to arrive so soon.

Speaking of the puppies, I also decided to get my birthing kit out and ready. You just never know when Greta might pop these babies out and I want to be all prepared. I’ll move the bed into the puppy room on Saturday and then it’s just a matter of time.

Greta was sitting with me today and I had my hand on her belly and I could feel these guys just kicking her like crazy! It make me recall being pregnant and how it felt when the two girls had been kicking me.

I keep saying that what I really need is some rest, but I am starting to think that my nerves about Greta’s impending birth, are making me extremely productive. She better have these puppies soon or my husband will wonder who has kidnapped his real wife, and dropped her double into his house!

Five, More or Less

On Friday, Greta went to see our Veterinarian. It was finally time for her to have her x-ray! I have been anxiously awaiting this!

I left the house a little early so I could stop and get the mail on the way over. Down town was a crazy mess, as some person had parked a car about 4 feet from the side of the curb which essentially means that they parked their car in the road. I had just managed to drive my station wagon by when the police arrived.

Greta accompanied me into the Post Office and was her usual sweet and bubbly self, especially when a woman stopped to ask what sort of dog she was. I wanted to tease Greta and say, “Oh, this is a pot bellied pig”, but I knew I was the only one who would get the joke, so I just laughed to myself and told the woman that Greta was a wire-haired dachshund.

Traffic was heavy, but I got to the Vet’s office in plenty of time and they weighed Greta. Twenty-five and a half pounds! Wow! That is nearly 6 pounds more than she weighed pre-pregnancy!

Suddenly the National Weather Service announcer came on the radio to declare a weather warning for our area, and at that exact moment I could hear thunder boom in the distance! Dr. N. came in and took Greta quickly for her x-ray. She was worried that a thunder storm was going to force them to shut their equipment down. Lucky for us we did not get any more of the thunder, just torrential rain!

Soon Dr. N. brought Greta back and she showed me the x-ray. She asked me how many puppies I saw.

“One, two, three, four, five, six!” I said with glee!

How Many Babies
You can click on this and look at the larger detailed picture if you would like.

Dr. N. was not as convinced about puppy #6. There are definitely 5 puppies (red arrows) in there, but the sixth one (which is where the purple arrow is) could be a combination of a shadow and the ribs of the pup next to it.

Excitement is now building as Greta’s due date nears. Sometime in about 8-9 days, Greta will become a Mommy again. I pray for healthy and happy and beautiful puppies and for Greta’s safe delivery. She sure has quite a load in her belly! No wonder she waddles and falls over!

What A Day

In anticipation of puppies arriving very soon, Hubby and I took to the Market and did our fair share of buying. I stocked up on dog food and puppy food, and yes, I picked up my glasses.

So, here they are. What do I think? I think it is wonderful to be able to see again!

We got home and I found some beautiful pictures waiting for me of Ali and her very own little girl, Faith. Faith’s Mom is a professional photographer in Michigan and as you can see she did a great job with these!

When I saw these pictures I started to cry with happiness. Ali has a great life with Faith and her parents. She is greatly loved and then she is a real dynamo out in the field learning to track with her Dad. Thank you so much for these great pictures!

Greta is getting bigger by the second. Since today was in the upper 90’s, we had our air conditioners going just to keep my little princess cool and comfortable!

She is so close to having her x-rays and I am just dying to know how many babies she has in there.

Hot Belly Days!

I woke Sunday morning and looked over at Hubby, but what did I see? My big girl, Greta rolled up on her back with her gigantic belly sticking up in the air. She looked comfortable, and I swear, she was smiling at me.

I patted her belly and then gently lifted her up and placed her on the floor. I don’t want her jumping around in her “condition”.

We’re having another high humidity, high temperature day. Anyone who has been pregnant in the summer can relate to Greta’s plight. I turned on the air conditioning about 10 AM just to help keep her comfortable.

She went out, and usually enjoys lying in the sun, but as soon as she was done with her business she came right back to the door and wanted to come in.

I got her to lie down on my chair so that I could take this picture. It shows pretty clearly that she now has a 24 inch waist! Wow!

Click to bring you to Flickr where you can see it in large format.

I did get her out in the yard and I played ball with her for a while. She loves to run after the ball and then bring it back. I always know when she has had enough because she escapes up under the Peach tree and lies down.

Just a few more days until the x-rays. I think I shall go crazy waiting for that! Best of all, the Vet has a digital x-ray machine so I will be getting the x-rays on a CD and can report in on Saturday with pictures of the unborn puppies!

Have a great week everyone!

Kick, Kick, Kick!

My day started at 5:30 AM. Greta was restless and wanted to go out, so all the dogs got up and out we went to commune with nature. Now I have nothing against the beauty of Mother Nature on a warm August morning, but 5:30? Bah!

We came back in and I told the dogs to come back to bed with me, because Mama needed her beauty sleep!

They let me sleep until 6:30 and then they all demanded that I get myself out of bed and start the coffee. No, they didn’t need to go out, no they didn’t want to do very much at all, but letting me sleep in was not on the docket!

I sipped my coffee while Greta demanded that I pay attention to her. She wasn’t feeling too well. I think the babies kicking was bothering her. As she lay across my lap, close to my stomach, I could feel the babies kicking her! It was amazing!

She spent most of the morning feeling sorry for herself, but by noon she had perked up and was back to her normal self. I gave all the dogs compressed rawhide bones and they each took their bone to a corner of the family room and spent several hours chewing them.

I’m starting to think that I should probably set up the puppy room again. I want Greta to understand that this is her special place.

Later in the day the pups started kicking again. Now Greta is simply lying on her side, resigned to the fact that she can’t escape the little monsters!

Kick, kick, kick!!!