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| Last week.... |
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| This afternoon! (Yellow = watch range) |
What an uncomfortable puppy our sweet Holly is. We continue to spend more time in the whelping room aka puppy cave aka grooming studio. Brittanys are versatile, so are we.
Almost a week ago I began to monitor Holly's body temperature using a chart I created for that purpose. Today, as you can see, we've just had our first temperature drop. This initial drop indicates for me it is time to begin to monitor her temp every 12 hours instead of once a day. (I use a thermometer that is specific for veterinary use.) It's also time to watch her much more closely for those ever so subtle signs that 1st stage of labor is drawing near, a stage that lasts about 6-18 hours.
Holly's progesterone level will drop about 48 hours prior to whelping. We are not there yet though. It most likely will go back up a little bit. It's important to realize that the temperature drop may or may not be indicative of the actual time pups will arrive. For me though, it's always been pretty darn reliable! My rule of thumb is once her temp drops below 100 and STAYS there, and continues to drop further she will not be left alone. Today is just the first significant drop so I had to look twice!
Holly soon will be separated completely from the other dogs, we'll do our best to eliminate unnecessary noise and unexpected visitors (no offense intended). As it approaches and also during the 1st stage of labor it's important for the momma to be kept as calm and to avoid as much stress as possible. She'll be having mild contractions during this stage and her cervix will begin to dilate.
I have my Kindle and my Urbanista charged up so that I can have Pandora playing and my choice of relaxing, calming music is piano solos. This time we will be using an Adaptil calming collars at the suggestion of one of our vets. I also have lavender essential oil to diffuse as needed. We have our surveillance camera/monitor set up so that we can see and communicate with each other if needed. One of us will always be with her.
I'm still waiting for my order of Calsorb to arrive so in the meantime I will be making a batch of Mother's Nursing Pudding. Once labor begins and the first puppy arrives we will give Holly calcium. The Calsorb should be here by then but we'll still have the pudding. John brought home cottage cheese and yogurt too so we'd have it handy. The importance of the calcium can't be taken for granted. She'll also be given Pedialyte in her water bucket because they lose a lot of electrolytes during the whelping progress.
Stage 1 labor ends and Stage 2 begins when contractions begin to become more forceful and involuntary. The water sack bursts and then momma dog will begin to give birth. Holly's mother and grandmother were considered to be 'easy whelpers'. She has a half sister who followed in their paw-steps so we're hoping Holly will too!
Stage 3 comes when all pups and placentas have been delivered. momma is visibly resting, and her uterus begins to relax.
Don't be worried if there's no communication from us during this upcoming time-frame. We won't be getting any sleep and life will literally be on hold for us with the exception of 'all things Holly'.
Dear Lord please be merciful as Holly approaches the birth of her first litter. We thank you for your faithfulness to watch over and protect all that concerns us in Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
As always, take care and God bless and thanks for your interest. It means a lot! John, Ann, and All Things Brittany
PS Our waiting list is nearly full, there's still some availability though! Thank you to those who have confirmed with us this weekend and to those who have referred people to us. But mostly I thank God for causing our paths to cross. I am looking forward to this expansion of the ATB Family as we approach with great excitement the arrival of the 4th generation of J&A's Brittanys. Yes I am excited and proud :)
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