First 12 Hours

Okay, I confess I didn't spend the entire first 12 hours with the puppies.  I'm guilty of coming home at about midnight to get a few hours of sleep, leaving the share of wee hour feedings to Deb.  (sorry, Deb!)  But, Deb checked in with me this morning and everyone is doing fine.  They are all good suckers which is a relief.

Deb has a terrific set up for the puppies, a room right off the kitchen/dining room with all the puppies supplies, incubator, and a full-size bed for the humans.  Nice.

The c-section went great.  Earlier in the day, Whitley's temperature had dropped into the 98's which is an indicator that labor is not far away.  She really didn't show many other signs of the onset of labor other than no interest in food and she would hide in a corner behind a plant.  Her idea of nesting I guess.  :)  So we called Dr. Jim and he said bring her in (which was about 5:00 pm).  Puppies were more than ready to make their arrival...one had even started down the birth canal.  They all were vocal upon delivery with no signs of distress.  Yay!  Just what we hope for.

I'm debating on what to add for pictures...graphic, not graphic?  I got some pretty good ones of the first delivery of puppy number one (who we have been referring to as "dalmation girl.")   Named for her clear, defined spots of course!  It's funny how they get nicknamed for identification purposes.  There's also "Christmas tree boy."  Yes...a spot that looks like a Christmas tree...not so evident to me, hahaha, but with creative thinking I see it.  In the beginning it's very hard to tell who is who that we often we use markings to help us keep everyone straight but even that can be a challenge...thus, the use of whatever will help us tell them apart.  I am sure they'll all have "real" names soon as Deb's daughter's are getting the first opportunity of picking a puppy and naming it.  So far we also have Eva (aka dalmation girl) and Patton. 

So here's just a few more pictures (some are a bit bloody, so for the squimish folks, beware)...I'm off to see the puppies again.  Will update later.  Next up... BAILEY!  :))