Born Yesterday

No post yesterday as there was much ado about puppies and unfortunately I had to work at almost the *exact* time Karma started whelping. When I got home Karma was well into her litter with a total of 5 and everyone was doing great, including the humans! This was my view of the room as she was contemplating the balance of the litter still inside her. There were more than expected!

While I was on Skype Karma whelped 3 more puppies. I can't believe how CALM Karma was for the whelp. Compared to Halo she was practically comatose. The only time she expressed real animation was when a puppy was taken away to be weighed and when she was actually having a puppy, during which time she would SCREAM and a puppy would pop out. Insane. After the puppy was born she'd look for it, clean it, and then settle right down to nurse. She is going to be a great mom.

At about 2am my time we thought she was most likely done because she was sleeping and having contractions that didn't seem to be waking her. I knew from Halo's litters that Karma may continue to have contractions after the last puppy (Halo did this and expelled a placenta 12 hours later).  Since it was 2am and Karma was pretty relaxed, Adine and I concluded that although there may be one more she could handle it since things seemed to be going so well. We signed off Skype and I went to bed. While I slept Adine was still hard at work with Karma delivering 3 more puppies! Visions of Halo's Xmas litter (which Karma came from) float through my head - notably the part where I thought she was done at 9, cleaned up her rear, and she then had 3 more!  

A grand total of eleven puppies (5 boys & 6 girls *I think*) for Karma's first litter is amazing and wonderful and for a better first whelping experience you could not hope - that applies to everyone! Her husband Stephen was taking (what seemed like) dozens of pictures and catching puppies when necessary, her daughter Danielle was a stellar nurse, and her youngest daughter Sonya was very attentive to the puppies and offered Karma hugs and kisses as moral support. All the things that can go wrong during the birth of this many puppies stayed outside the front door and I am hoping that as I type both Adine and Karma are getting some well deserved rest while the puppies get nice and fat! Congratulations to the happy family and best wishes for many puppy kisses!