Too much party.

From left to right: Cedar, Dandelion or Larkspur (can't see right ear!), Blossom, Dandelion or Larkspur, Dahlia, Moss, Hawthorne, Berry.  Click on photo to see it larger!

Growing!!! and Biological Stimulation

The pups are one week old today!!!

Here is a chart of their growing progress:

You need to click on it to see the entire chart!

Here are the pups weights this morning in pounds and ounces if the grams don't mean a lot to you, in order from biggest to smallest:

Hawthorn: 1 lb and 5.27 oz

Moss: 1 lb and 2.51 oz

Dahlia: 1 lb and 0.93 oz

Larkspur: 1 lb and 0.71 oz

Dandelion: 15.83 oz

Berry: 15.69 oz

Blossom: 14.85 oz

Cedar: 13.54 oz

We are working on some 1 week "birthday" pics for you.

Lynn has been busy since the pups were 3 days old doing the biological stimulation exercises.  These will continue until they are 16 days old.  You can read more about them here: 

http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com/articles/early_neurological_stimulation_en.html

Daily photos

I finally have a few moments to put the photos right on the blog.  Lynn has been taking daily photos we are just a bit behind in getting them up.  
Here are pics from the 19th and 20th.
Here's Cedar on the 19th.  For some reason this photo is blurry and his photo from the 20th isn't available: 

Here's Dandelion, 19th and 20th:  

Here's Dahlia on the 19th and 20th:  

Here's Blossom on the 19th and 20th:  

 Here's Hawthorne on the 19th and 20th:  

Here's Berry on the 19th and 20th:  

Here's Larkspur on the 19th and 20th:

 

Here's Moss on the 19th and 20th:

Puppy pics

Here's a link to some individual shots of the pups!

http://s343.photobucket.com/albums/o457/flickapup/puppies/

Mom takes a break

Top 5 left to right : Cedar, Hawthorne, Dandilion, Berry, Larkspur Bottom 3 Blossom, Dahlia, Moss

Taken today in the Garden

Day 1

All the pups and Ivy had a good night. They all appeared warm, roly poly, strong, and had good appetites today.  Ivy is eating well (as long as Lynn serves her in bed.)  When pups got squeaky in the night, by the time Lynn got to them, Ivy had readjusted herself so that Lynn didn't have to help at all.


Amy spent a few hours sitting with mom and babies today as well.  Ivy is a bit nervous today of various noises.  When she gets spooked, she hunches down over the pups and tries to cover them with her head.  Pups were doing great, little heat seeking missiles are good at finding their way to the faucets!  They already look more solid today than they did yesterday.

Finally, birth video of Moss

It took forever to load, but here it finally is.  Little Moss, surprise #8!  ;)

Names and weights

#1, "Cedar," 7:42am, male, 264 grams

#2, "Dandelion," 8:02am, male, 300 grams

#3, "Dahlia," 8:20am, female, 287 grams

#4, "Blossom," 8:39am, female, 251 grams

#5, "Hawthorne," 9:02am, male, 322 grams



#6, "Berry," 9:35am, male, 252 grams

7, "Larkspur," 9:55am, male, 260 grams

8, "Moss," 10:21am, male, 305 grams

Lots of birth pictures here, and possibly a video of Moss being born, if it ever finishes loading:
http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a175/amiabledoggies/NEBCR/IvyPups/

Surprise!

#8, male, Irish markings, white head, left ear patch.  Breech.

#7

#7, male, all white except eye patch on right eye.  Normal presentation.


That *should* be everyone, unless someone was hiding on the radiographs!

#6

#6, male, mostly white, kissy spot, back spot, 2 butt spots.  Breech.

#5

#5, male, 2 ear patches, kissy spot, normal Irish markings.  (First puppy had a kissy spot too.)

now 4

#4, female, white head, marked like a pinto horse, we had to work a little to get her to take her first breathes but now all seems well.

Puppies!!

So far we have 3 puppies, first 2 boys, third a girl.  Both boys breech!  Female normal presentation.  Amy helped the first one come out and Lynn helped the second.  First puppy has one red eye patch and normal Irish markings otherwise.  Second puppy is all white.  Third pup 2 eye patches and normal Irish markings.

Feb.17, 4am --

Ivy is restless, nesting intensly ! Lynn is not going to work this morning.

Soon . . .

We are expecting puppies soon . . . sometime soon . . .  Ivy is not giving much away, but her  temperature had dropped by this mornings reading.  It can drop anywhere from 24 to 48 hours before whelping begins, apparently.  So far, Ivy shows no signs of beginning labor, and is resting comfortably.  Lynn and Amy, on the other hand, are not!  Lynn continues to monitor Ivy and Amy is ready to head over and assist at the first sign of labor.  Please continue to send good thoughts for a smooth delivery!


In the meantime, here are some photos of some toys we picked up for the puppies . . . can't pass up cute puppy toys on clearance, right?

and here is a video of daddy Peat in Petco for his first time:



We will keep you posted!!!
~Lynn and Amy

Radiographs

Ivy had radiographs taken on Monday, February 8th.

The vet counted 7 puppies.

She expects Ivy to deliver sometime in the middle or end of this coming week (week of Feb. 14.)

We have the whelping box all set up.  Foster mom Lynn helped introduce Ivy to it.  Now, she is busy tracking Ivy's temperature.  We know that normally, the mom's temperature will drop before she gives birth.  All we have left to do it wait.

We hope you will join us in wishing for a smooth and uneventful delivery!