January 22, 2009 - BIRTH DAY

What a day we all had!!! Miss Mini labored lightly all night with me at her side (albeit some what semi conscious sometimes !!) and FINALLY decided to have her first born at 10:01 am. She had her last at 9:00 pm !!! She really did not have any trouble delivering--- it is just that she birthed TWELVE puppies !!!! The delivery did NOT go as I planned; however, as I got a call from, Paul, one of my ‘adopted” children, at 8:00 am telling me that he was seriously ill and would I please come ASAP!!! I knew I could not leave Mini Me alone, so I begged for help from my son in law’s little sister, Theresa, who works at a doggee day care/boarding facility, is training to be a groomer, LOVES dogs, BUT has never delivered puppies !!! I assured her that I had everything ready to go, that Mini knows what she is doing and is a GREAT momma, and that I was pretty sure I would be back before she had any pups!!! Well……I spent 5 hours in the emergency room and ……..poor Theresa delivered the first 6 pups before I got home !!! Nothing like giving delivery instructions to someone over the phone!!!! Theresa was in tears, not from fear – she did FABULOUS! – but from the sheer joy of witnessing and participating in her first birth !!! She says it was one of the best experiences of her life!! I am MUCH relieved to have it turn out that way for her!! THANK YOU so much, Theresa, from Paul and I !!!!

I helped Mini Me finish up at a much slower pace, made my birthing chart documenting important things like gender, ridge, tail, feet coloring, chest coloring, body coat color, face coloring etc….. so that basically I can tell them apart beginning at birth. I documented that we had 7 girls and 5 boys - a LARGE, beautiful litter. All have ridges – might even have 12 perfect, showable ridges !!! As they age, I will really get picky and will note any that may have off set crowns or too short but at first look – a wet look ! – they all looked REALLY good to me!!! I have one female with a pretty little white foot which may be enough to be called “excessive” – we’ll see. I have a couple who may have tiny bumps in the tip of their tails, and a couple that have a bit of a kink at the top of their tails which can be either genetic OR, most likely, due to ‘fetal malpositioning” which means their little tails got SQUISHED !!! Sometimes, those kinks smooth out now that they can stretch their tails out, so again I will be making notes and letting you know what I find for sure.

Mini Me is a FABULOUS mother - so careful not to lay or step on any of them and a great milker !!! All are getting chubby already!!! They weighed between 13 and 17 oz at birth, and will generally double in size almost every week for the next 3-4 weeks !! Amazing food conversion !!!! All appear to be black nosed, some are REALLY dark red with really black masks and some are a little more golden red with a medium black mask. All have white on their chests – some almost none, some with BIG spots! As they age, they will each develop into their own little selves!!!

Last night, I sorted them out by gender to check belly buttons, compare coloring, and just give them another good go over. My piles had 6 pups in each pile !!!! WHAT……….???!!!!! Another very personal check and YOU GUESSED it ----- 6 Boys and 6 Girls !!!! I have figured out WHO got mis identified and it was the last one born at 9;00 pm. I plead exhaustion !!!!

Pretty much at this point they eat and sleep and then eat and sleep some more !! All is well.  Enjoy the pictures!!!




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