Glory's Pregnancy Diary

Glory's on-going adventures on the road to a litter of puppies!

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Yay!  Electricity is restored and the cable internet is working!

With healthy puppies on the ground and over a week old, I'm going to bring this diary to an end.  It's been great fun sharing this journey with you.  I find that I'm spending so much time with the puppies, that this diary is being neglected.  If you'd like to see continuing photos as the puppies grow, please visit the litter's page.  I'll try to update photos once a week or so.

I would have expected, during the puppies' first week of life to do lots of updating to this diary with photos and cute little stories.  But, I'm limited to battery time on my computer.  All available "juice" from the generator is going to heat for humans and dogs plus keeping our refrigerator and dog freezer at acceptable temperatures.

I am taking plenty of photos and will post them all at once when we have electricity returned.  The puppies are doing great.  They've all doubled their weight and are doing great at getting around their box.  Yellow girl was up on her legs walking this morning!  She's the first and I'm sure the others aren't far behind.

Glory is relaxing well into her motherhood.  She'll take short breaks from the box now to spend time with us and take longer walks.  Her whelping diarrhea is all cleared up.  She's wolfing down any food I give her.  I've got her at about double her normal food volume and that will increase to 3 or 4 times normal within the next few weeks.  She's more susceptible to cold than normal.  Glory is usually pretty cold hardy - winter romps outside never affected her.  Now, she comes in from her walks shivering.  After she settles down with a blanket, she warms right up and is fine.  Plus, I'm still taking daily temperature readings and she's normal.  So, I'm assuming this is some transitory regulating thing due to whelping and nursing puppies.

We have had electric crews working on our road all day . . . maybe we'll see electricity tomorrow??  Of course, then we'll have to wait for cable (internet) as they are always days behind electricity in fixing things.  Starting to go stir crazy!!!

News had been forecasting a windstorm to roll through but we didn't worry about it as we get those fairly regularly during this time of year.  But this was a whopper.  Power went out last night during the early evening.  THANK GOODNESS my husband had the foresight to install a generator.  Otherwise, I'd have been panicking with fear for the puppies.  A major reason for early puppy death is chilling.  Very young puppies can not regulate their body temperature.  It's up to the mother and prudent breeders to maintain the whelping box at the proper temperature and humidity.  I have a supplementary little ceramic heater, use a puppy heating pad that covers about 1/4 of the whelping box, and a fancy-schmancy new humidifier.  I've used heat lamps in the past but like my new method better.

I slept on a mattress next to the whelping box.  The house was totally dark so I was able to watch the the massive tree movement as the storm peaked overnight.  We woke to amazing damage.  We have our entire property fenced and there are numerous places where it's destroyed.  We done some patches so that a section is moderately safe for the dogs but it will be a while before we can give them full access.  My husband and other neighbors wielded their chainsaws for most of the day because our road was impassable with huge trees downed across it. 

Land line telephones are out and the cell phones have minimal to no coverage.  We were able to reach Puget Sound Energy during a good patch of cell coverage.  They weren't willing to give estimates of restoration because of "massive, widespread" damage to the power grid and power lines.  Oh boy.  

About an hour after I went to bed, I got an urgent summons from my husband; a puppy was being born with no warning to him!  He has no experience with midwifery so he was strongly urging me to get my butt downstairs!!  The puppy was born breech (back legs first) and was almost there except for his head when I got down.  I hurried the last part along so he could begin breathing.  A beautiful boy had been born!!  Things happened fairly quickly for a while as another boy was born 13 minutes later and a pretty little girl made a quick appearance a short 9 minutes later.  Then Glory took about an hour break before she delivered another girl.  With four children nursing happily, Glory settled down to nap and relax.  If I hadn't clearly seen five skulls in that x-ray, I'd have been sure she was done; no contractions, just serene rest.  Luckily, I knew better so we settled in to wait.  As Glory was showing no distress and I could still see the bulge of the last baby way up high, I knew we'd have a wait.  A little over four hours later, the final puppy, another lovely boy, was born.

My husband had gone to bed after the fourth puppy.  My son, who had shown up after the birth of puppy number two, went to bed after the last puppy was born.  So, it was just me with peaceful Glory and her five beautiful puppies to welcome the dawn on the 14th.

Three of the puppies were born before midnight with the last two after, so I'm going to go with majority rules and make December 13 the official birthday.

Glory sleeps with her babies after a busy night of being born!

Yellow girl snuggling with Mom.

My husband offered, and I gladly accepted, to take shifts with me on nighttime duty.  He stayed awake with Glory until about 3:30 and then woke me to take over while he went to bed.  Glory had a very restless night with lots of pacing and requests to go outside.  Throughout the day, she seemed to settle down somewhat.  Her temperature stayed low but no overt signs other than some occasional pacing.  Puppies continued to kick and wiggle from the inside.

We are doing a three-way split on "Glory Duty" tonight.  My husband gets first shift, my son is taking middle, and I'll get early morning.

No fun new pictures but a quickie update.  Glory's puppies are getting into position - you can tell because her tummy has dropped about two inches in the last day.  I've been taking Glory's temperature three times a day beginning about 4 days ago.  A sudden drop in progesterone is what triggers labor.  It also causes a several degree drop in body temperature, so we can use it as a clue to when labor will begin.  I noticed Glory shivering this morning so I took her temperature a few hours early and it was down a full two degrees from the early morning check.  I took temperature again two hours later to confirm and it's still down.  Good clues!!

So, if Glory follows averages, she'll begin labor in the next 12 to 24 hours.  Maybe I'll see puppies by lunchtime tomorrow!  I'll sleep next to her whelping box tonight in case she is on the early side of average.

Hopefully, I'll be reporting back with puppy news within a few days!

HUGE news!  We visited the vet for our x-ray and there are not one, not two . . . but FIVE puppies.  What a wonderful, wonderful surprise.  She is holding the puppies up high and is looking just great for a soon-to-be mother of a nice sized litter.

My mother arrived yesterday and my dogs have always adored her and she loves them right back.  She lives in Florida and we're lucky that she can usually visit twice a year.  This year, she went to visit family in Germany over summer, though, so we haven't seen her since last Christmas.  Didn't matter, all three girls were thrilled when she walked in the door.  When we both sat down on the sofas, Glory left my side and claimed her spot next to Oma (German affectionate name for grandmother).  I snapped this shot as they snuggled.  Hard to feel offended when they were so cute together!

It's fun watching Glory's tummy grow.  I'm trying to rein in my hopes but I think I've now felt small, fluttery movement on both sides - could this mean there are two of them in there???  Hope so!

I had planned to only do once-a-week updates from here on out but we had an early snowstorm last night.  Got some fun shots of Glory in the snow that I wanted to share.  You can see her little pregnancy pooch!

Beginning the Third Trimester!!  Three weeks to go! 

The puppies continue to grow and are now about 50 mm (1.96") and weigh about 10 grams.  I'm seeing a little bit of poochiness in Glory's middle plus she continues to have mammary development.  The puppies' major organs are all in place and maturing.  Skin pigment is developing. Now, it's time for final touches and growing like crazy.  At this point, my concern is to keep the puppies a reasonable size.  A small litter has lots of growing room and I'd really like to avoid a c-section for Glory's sake.  So, I'm closely watching what I feed Glory.  I've stopped all the fancy supplements that were intended to maintain Glory's health as she supported a full-sized litter.  Her normal food is very high quality and will easily provide everything needed without overdoing it and encouraging larger puppies.

Glory is enjoying tummy rubs more than ever these days.  I keep hoping to feel puppy movement but don't know if I will with this pregnancy.  With a large litter, some puppies are pushed against the abdomen wall, so you can feel things.  A smaller litter is held more in the center of the body;  but I'll continue to rest my hand on her tummy as we watch TV together!

 

Glory has an extraordinary ability to get herself under covers.  She'll tuck her nose under a pile of blankets and wiggle and squirm until she's all the way in and then plop down.  This morning, her nose found a hole in a blanket to peek out of.  This covering job is entirely her own work, with no help from us.  Pretty talented sybarite, huh?	Here's Glory's showing off her little pregnancy pooch!
Lest they become jealous, here are Serra and Pixie relaxing on the sofa this morning as we watch the Macy's Parade.

The puppies are now 30 mm (1.18") long and weigh about 2 grams.  I'm going to continue to use "puppies" in the hopes that there are two puppies growing. The eyes initially formed with the lids open, the lids are now closing and will remain closed until about two weeks after the puppies are born.  Toes and toenails have formed.  And, gender differentiation has occurred - if I had a magic magnifying glass, I could check to see if Glory is growing my boy!  Overall, the puppies are beginning to look more dog-like.

Glory has been eating a little better the past few days.  Maybe we're past the morning sickness.  With a small litter, she won't be needing extra calories during the pregnancy, but I don't want her losing weight, either, so I'm glad she's back to eating.

Woo-Hoo!! Glory is pregnant!  Now, the bad news.  Glory is indeed pregnant but with only one (maybe two) puppy(ies).  I find myself straddling disappointed and happy.  I'm thrilled there is a pregnancy (see October 15 for an explanation of why) but sure wish more puppies had implanted. 

There are many reasons to wish for a normal-sized litter.  First, it gives me a choice of puppies to find our next family member.  Next, I hate disappointing the wonderful puppy families on my waiting list.  Then, there are the issues to Glory.  A very small litter can mean larger puppies which increases the possibility of a required c-section.  I'd really rather Glory not have to go through that.  Then, there are all the little interactions between puppies that a singleton or 2-puppy litter miss out on.  Fighting for a nipple at the milk bar, sleeping in a comforting puppy pile, more movement in the litter box to hone the new senses, competition at the food dish . . . all those little things that we take for granted with a normal-sized litter are missing.  My family and I will do our best to fill that role.  It's a time consuming, and pretty much 24-hour, job but necessary for the development of a dog's personality.

I know that I should be very happy to have a healthy puppy - was able to see it's little heart beating on the ultrasound.  But mostly, right now, I'm mourning the loss of puppies that never existed.  It's hard to stay sad around Glory, though.  Her joy, exuberance, and love are always out there to enjoy.  Will report back soon.

If Glory is pregnant . . . the fetuses are about 18 mm (0.71") long.  The umbilical is forming, pigment is filling in the retinas of the eyes, toes are beginning to take shape, and little whisker buds have sprouted!

This is it!  The last update before Monday's trip to the vet.  I'm both excited and afraid.  From my research and imagination, I'm already in love with the little three-quarters of an inch long proto-puppies and I don't even know if they exist!  Check back Monday afternoon . . .

If Glory is pregnant . . . lots of new and exciting developments.  The fetuses have been very busy.  Those somites have been busily forming into organs.  Paddle-like limb buds have grown.  The face is taking shape with a muzzle and eyes are forming.  Growth hasn't been as fast with focus being on formation of body parts; the fetus is 11 mm (0.43") long.

Glory was totally uninterested in her dinner last night.  I hand fed her and got, maybe, a couple tablespoons in her.  I'm ambivalent about this right now.  On the surface, I'm happy because I hope this is morning sickness.  On the other hand, I'm feeling guilty because this is all my fault and slightly worried because she needs her nutrients and calories right now.  If it truly is morning sickness, just a week of coaxing her to eat and her appetite should return with a roar.

Keep thinking good thoughts for us!!

If Glory is pregnant . . . the embryos are now about 10 mm long and continuing to develop.

I *think* I'm seeing some morning sickness.  Glory ate less than half of her dinner last night and ate breakfast this morning very, very slowly.  She's also eating more grass on our walks outside; she's never been much of a grass eater, so this is a clue that her tummy is feeling a little off. 

We're having practically a monsoon, today.  Okay, that's an exaggeration, but it is raining like crazy.  We had three inches of rain by lunchtime.  The dogs have zero interest in going outside.  So, we're having a lounging day in the house.  I removed Serra's staples this morning from her wound (see Day 14 for an explation).  I've never removed staples before but Serra is my sensitive girl and is afraid at the vet, so I thought I'd try it.  She was a good girl and didn't flinch at all as I figure out the lift and rotate method to get them out.  I took some silly, hanging around the house photos that I thought you might enjoy.

If Glory is pregnant . . . the embryos are 5 or 6 mm long.  Primitive brains and spinal cords have begun to form and tiny little hearts have begun to beat.

I'm still very unsure if there is a pregnancy . . . and will probably remain unsure until the vet visit in 9 (very long) days.  The problem is that almost all of the very early pregnancy signs can also occur with false pregnancies.  So, I'm just going to keep hoping and managing Glory as if she were pregnant.  Many vital and delicate things are happening right now.  This is a time to make sure Glory has no exposure to drugs or chemicals.  To help with this, I'm going to make the huge sacrifice to stop doing housework . . . after all, those cleaning products might be harmful! 

If Glory is pregnant . . . the embryos will be invading her endometrium (lining of the uterus).  I've found a great article on the CSU website that explains things nicely:  http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/reprod/placenta/implant.html.  The embryos will be continuing to grow and develop as they firmly attach to Mom.  Primitive body segments, called somites, are beginning to form!

If fertilization took place . . . it's touchdown day!  Over the last few days, the embryos have developed a thin mucoid coating.  Today, having achieved their space in the uterine horns, the embryos touch and stick to the walls of the uterine horns.

According to my reading, the embryos can't be flushed away at this point - I'll try not to think about how they figured out that little piece of data.  I'll keep Glory to leash walks for a couple more days to make extra sure of a good attachment and that "invasion" has begun.  You'll read more about invasion in the next few days.

Glory only ate half her dinner last night.  Could it be morning sickness?  Maybe?  Two more weeks of waiting for a final answer. 

If fertilization took place . . . a fluid filled space is opening in the center of each morula to make a hollow ball called a blastocyst.  The embryos continue to be free floating in the uterus and are moving to space themselves evenly along the uterine horns.  I can't find anything in my reading that lets me know how they know to do this.  I assume it's some sort of chemical signal from the uterus that says "this space is occupied"??  I'll keep looking.  I'm enjoying learning all the tiny little details as I survive the endless wait for November 13's appointment!!

Had some non-Glory excitement yesterday.  Serra tangled with a deer yesterday - before I could get Serra inside, both ended up equally damaged.  On the way to the vet for stitches, I tried explaining to her that wolves usually go after the larger game in multi-dog packs for a reason!  We've been in this house for 11 years now and this year has had the most deer incursions by far.

If fertilization took place . . . the embryos will be in little 16 to 32 cell clumps.  They continue to be in the oviducts, migrating toward the uterus

Glory had her last post-surgery antibiotic last night.  I'll continue the probiotics for another week to ensure the flora in her digestive system recovers from the anitibiotics.  Must make sure she gets all the benefit from her food over these next several weeks!

Quick anatomy lesson:  Ovaries are suspended from the top of the abdomen by a broad ligament called the suspensory ligament. Oviducts are small tubes that extend from the ovaries to the uterine horns. At the end of the oviduct nearest the ovary a funnel-like structure, the infundibulum, catches the immature egg (primary oocyte) when it is released from the ovary.

The uterus of the dog is Y-shaped, with the arms of the “Y” being longer than the stem. The long arms of the uterus are called the horns, and the short stem is called the body. The uterine horns extend from each ovary and join to form the body of the uterus. If Glory is pregnant, after implantation (a few weeks from now) the fetuses will be arranged in a row in both horns.

Glory is recovering nicely.  She's wide awake, bored, and showing few pain symptoms.  I keep laying her down and piling on the covers in the hopes that she'll try to nap but it's not really working.  The only real indication I have that she's sore in her tummy area is that she isn't doing her usual full body stretch; she's stretching backwards in a play bow but doesn't do the second half of the stretch which involves her legs waaay out behind her.  No free running for a couple days; leash walks only.  She tried to chase a bird (or maybe a squirrel??) this morning; glad I had the leash on her rather than rely on her common sense!

Just don't know how to begin in describing this day - it was both exciting and awful at the same time.  Glory is currently sleeping on the sofa, covered in multiple blankets.  This is the first time I've ever been so intimately involved in a surgery.  As the prime time for insemination was very early on a Sunday morning, the only folks in the hospital were the vet, one technician, my husband, and me.  So, I was the second set of hands with the anesthesia, surgery prep, and post-surgery work.  I was invited into the surgery for the actual procedure but I chickened out and declined.  I love biology and am fascinated with medicine.  Some day, I'd like to watch this type of surgery.  But, I'm fairly certain that watching the procedure done on a dog I love would have had me fainting and causing all sorts of havoc.  Even watching Glory go from a struggling, unhappy dog to a limp noodle was almost too much for me.  Then, afterwards, watching her slowly wake up while watching her chest for every breath was also full of tension.  I am an acknowledged wimp and worrywart!!  My husband, who assures me he would have been there if needed, hid around the corner. He can handle all sorts of his own pain but can't stand to see it in his family!  I seriously hope Glory gets pregnant this time, because I'm fairly certain I'm not willing to do this to Glory (or myself) again.

Tristan's semen thawed well and was spun down to concentrate the sperm (how are they supposed to know where they're going when they're all dizzy??).  One positive aspect of a surgical insemination is that the vet can examine the uterus.  This provided the one piece of bad news for the day.  Glory's uterus is not the picture of excellent health that I had hoped.  It's a little on the small side and has several small cysts.  The vet said this would not be that unusual in an older bitch whose uterus had suffered through many seasons (the high progesterone level really "beats up" the uterus) but is unusual in such a young girl.  So, what does this mean for Glory and the puppies?  First, this won't affect Glory's health in any way, happily.  It does make it a little harder for the fetus's to implant.  The vet was very confident that we put healthy sperm exactly where they needed to be to fertilize the eggs.  The tricky thing will come in a few weeks when those fetus's want to implant in the uterus.  Will the uterus be healthy enough to support puppies?  The vet thinks so, but this discovery does drop the probability of success somewhat, and maybe litter size.  This vet has a 94% pregnancy rate for surgical inseminations; and she's our area expert so she has reasonably high volume of surgeries.  I will just hope that Glory's slightly lower percentage of success is high enough to make puppies and a nice sized litter.

In the meantime, I am assuming Glory is pregnant and will treat her accordingly.  Dr. Smith suggested that, during the period when the babies are trying to implant, we do leash walking only.  No wild, twisting, sprinting hunts around the property to rattle around puppies that are trying to implant in a less than ideal environment.  I'm hoping that everyone who reads this sends lots of puppy energy our way to help the process along!  

Glory's progesterone test was 5.4 ng/mL.  This means Glory began releasing eggs sometime early this morning.  Well, they're not really eggs.  When dogs ovulate, they are releasing primary oocytes, which are immature eggs.  It takes about 3 days for those eggs to go through the process of becoming an egg (secondary oocyte) that has unpaired chromosomes waiting for the male half (the sperm) to complete itself.

Next step is implantation of the semen.  We have an appointment for early Sunday morning, when the eggs will be mature and most receptive.  Again, we are doing everything we can to help the tired, frozen then thawed sperm to get where they need to be with minimal work.

Notice my count of days above.  I'm going to change the count from days since the beginning of the season to days since ovulation.  Knowing ovulation date is very useful because it gives us a surprisingly accurate timing on birth.  IF Glory gets pregnant, she will give birth 63 days (plus or minus a day) from ovulation.

We made another run out out to the vet.  Today's progesterone test came back at 3.8 ng/mL.  We're getting there!  Mara, Glory's mother, ovulated on Day 14, so it looks like Glory is right on schedule to follow in Mom's pawprints.

I ordered the delivery of Tristan's semen, today.  It's being stored at the International Canine Semen Bank in Oregon.  It should arrive at the vet tomorrow so it will be ready to go at the appropriate time.

We have been taking a series of blood draws over the last week to test for progesterone rise.  Today's progesterone test came back at 2.0 ng/mL.

Technical Stuff

So, why are we doing all this testing?  Well, if Tristan were still alive, it wouldn't be needed at all.  He had a keen sense of the proper time to breed a bitch in season.  I came to trust his judgment over any of the other signs that one looks for to decide proper breeding time.  But, Tristan is gone and all we have left, besides the memories, are 5 little vials of frozen semen.

Timing is absolutely crucial when doing artificial insemination with frozen semen.  The problem is that thawed semen (sounds weird, huh?) doesn't live very long - it's expended all it's energy in surviving the freezing and thawing process.  Normally, you could expect a 3 to 5 day life span once inside the bitch.  That gives plenty of time for the little swimmers to get to the right place then wait around for ovulation and the eggs to mature.

For thawed semen, this life span drops to 12 hours.  And, according to Dr. Smith, the sperm is really only able to penetrate eggs for 2 or 3 hours.  If timing is perfect, that's certainly long enough to make little puppies-to-be, but timing must be perfect.  This is why I'm dragging Glory down to the vet for blood tests so often . . .don't want to miss prime time!

A slew of hormones are affecting Glory right now.  Some are increasing, some are decreasing, all in a lovely dance designed to prepare the uterus for pregnancy, prompt eggs to mature and be released by the ovaries, affect behavior - many things are happening!  In many animals, it's pretty easy to predict ovulation with great accuracy.  Dogs are not one of those animals.  The best we have is to watch the rise in progesterone.  We do know that most bitches ovulate when progesterone rises to around 5.0 ng/mL.  So, we test until we have one test less than 5 and one test more than 5 to pinpoint as closely as possible ovulation date.  Another interesting thing about bitches is that they ovulate eggs that aren't quite mature.  After ovulation, the eggs spend another 2 to 3 days maturing before they are ready to be fertilized.  Then you wait for your vet to decide the optimal time for implantation. 

October 2 - Day 4

We had our first visit to the reproductive vet, today.  Dr. Cynthia Smith has a very successful reproductive practice at The Pet Doctor in Lakewood.  It's a long drive but she comes highly recommended by several of my Sighthound friends.

Glory's physical exam showed that she has normal physiology and examination of cervical cells showed her to be in very early proestrus - which we knew. Proestrus is the time when the bitch is in season but hasn't ovulated.  The eggs are still in the ovaries but are maturing and moving toward the surface for release.

While there, we helped out a Chesapeake Bay Retriever.  This boy needed a little "incentive" to cooperate with a semen collection.  Glory was happy to do a little flirting to help the fellow along. :-)

We go back on Thursday for the first blood draw for progesterone testing.

September 29 - Day 1 (of the season)

Woohoo!  After over a month of providing little clues, Glory has begun her season.  Now the real fun begins.

This is Glory as a baby, charming my mother-in-law!