WE ARE HERE!! ALL 10 OF US!

So all my wishful thoughts for a day time delivery did not work out. But my wishful thoughts for a successful and relatively easy delivery did ..... and I will take that any day! Although I am the first to admit that 71 years old is TOO old to stay up all night, no matter what the reason! Cypress had the anticipated temperature drop on Monday but then it went back to 100 Monday eve and she ate her dinner so she wasn't quite ready. By Tuesday am she had dropped to the anticipated 98.6, refused her breakfast and the temperature drop held at noon. She was not very interested in doing anything at that point! I think this photo clearly shows why!

By 6:00 pm she was wanting to "nest" in her bed so we moved out to the whelping room. I sat with her in the whelping box for most of the evening, cuddling and reassuring her that all was good and I would be her trusted assistant. It's a very special bonding experience with a momma dog. She is feeling a lot of things and leaned on me to help her relax and know we had this!!! Then we tried to get some rest, me in my NOT very comfortable camp chair recliner and Cypress with her very uncomfortable belly. The word "tried" was appropriate for both of us.

At 3:00 am the first puppy appeared, we had a little time to reset but by 4:15 we had 4 puppies. Then it was over 2 hours before any more came......not gonna lie, I was getting a little nervous but Cypress was calm, not at all in distress and at a little after 6:00 along came 2 more. We worked well together, she delivered the pup and placenta, did her part to bite the umbilical cord and then let me take the puppy, clear it's mouth and rub it with a washcloth to get all their systems to wake up! I put an identifying ribbon on the puppy, log the weight, time of birth and check for cleft pallet, count their toes and tails....And then make sure they are latching! There is no milk yet but critical colostrum is there and it's important to get them started ASAP. It's also super important to keep them warm so the heating pad does that job in the beginning.

We waited for a while longer before any more contractions, but then 2 more came within 15 minutes of each other. We had already taken 8 reservations so I crossed my fingers and toes that we would get 8! At 6:00 I started my "oh please, just 2 more" dance. Low and behold.....here they came! A sigh of relief and then here comes #9......and just a few minutes later, #10 torpedoed her way out. Bonus babies!!! Total count is 5 males and 5 females, couldn't be more perfect.

We changed towels, cleaned up a substantial mess and let Momma do her job while we moved on to laundry! She went out to potty, drink more water and ate some boiled chicken and sweet potatoes. We add freeze dried carrots and canned pumpkin to help solidify the post delivery stools that are typically quite runny!

The puppies and Momma have all their natural instincts in high gear. Cypress is continually licking them to stimulate their elimination while they are suckling. New born puppies can't eliminate, walk, hear or see but their instinct to suckle takes them straight to Mom in a little wiggle.....accompanied by the cutest noises.

For the next 2 weeks especially we will be hyper vigilant to take could care of Cypress. Taking her temp to watch for infection, mastitis is a common problem and if we catch it soon enough it can be managed with no ill affects to the puppies (or Cypress!). She does 90% of the work to care for the puppies outside of me cleaning and changing the bedding constantly. We have to be so careful about keeping the environment clean, calm, clear of any contaminants, etc. These little neonates are so susceptible it makes their first 2 weeks an extremely critical time. Unfortunately that means we can't let visitors in but if you watch the Facebook and instagram pages we will post lots of photos!