Pregnancy Blog
3 Weeks into Pregnancy
Tue, 27 Jun 2006 - Alda is sleeping at my feet as I write this. She's had dinner, a walk, a poop, several pees, a cookie, and her teeth brushed. In a little bit, we'll walk again, then clean ears and have a Frosty Paw. She knew right where she was when we pulled in. Her bagel bed is set up in the living room; she's already checked out the new kennel and even inaugurated it with a few digs while I was folding laundry. Several of my neighbors have already come out to see her when I was walking her. One of them hopes for a "B" litter and thinks Beasley would be a great name.
Wed,
28 Jun 2006 - I wonder if a cookie (or two, if she'll take it) in
the middle of the night might reduce the empty stomach irritation and
bile vomit near the end of her pregnancy. Did you ever try that? (They
always tell pregnant women to keep dry cereal or crackers by their bed
for when they wake up in the middle of the night....) I find this kind
of amusing (in a perverse sort of way) that you and I (both childless)
are in the position of trying to figure out all of this pregnancy stuff.
:-)
I've never taken a dog's temp. before.....I'm assuming that you use vaseline
for lubrication and insert approximately 1 inch? Does Alda tolerate this
well? She woke me up by shaking her head at 1:30 this AM to do business.
Since I always have to get up around 2 or so, anyway, I didn't try to
make her go back to bed. We both did our business. I may be creating a
monster for you when you finally get her back....
We took a moderate walk this AM; she's sound asleep now. She also decided
during the night that she didn't care for my dog bed, so I brought her
bagel bed in the bedroom...she was much happier. She may prefer the other
when she gets bigger...we'll see. Good luck today. Alda sends her love
and kisses.
Sun,
2 Jul 2006 - Alda's fine, except for some nasty gas this AM. Don't
know if it's pregnancy related or a result of the heartworm medication
she had with her dinner last night. That's been the only thing different
in her diet. I remember that happening with one of the dogs I raised....might
have been her. It's not a big deal (I've got my gas mask).
Other than that, we're doing very well. We were up for breakfast and business
(hers) this AM around 5:30, but then we both slept until 9. She's sleeping
again now. The firecrackers have started around the neighborhood and Alda
doesn't seem the least bit concerned about it. She doesn't even act as
though she notices it. This is good, because it looks like we've got another
couple of days to go. I think they start earlier each year.
4 Weeks into Pregnancy
Thr, 7 Jul 2006 - Ever the trooper, Alda endured her fourth ultrasound appointment today. She's very accustomed to showing off her belly, so being on her back didn't seem to really bother her. The cold goop they put on her startled her at first, but she handled the whole thing like the veteran that she is.
"Doc" quickly found 4 pups during the examination and it appeared that that was going to be his final estimation. However, when he was nearly finished, he indicated that he found 2 more. I've been telling Alda from the beginning that 6 would be a good number this time, so I'd like to think that this will be so. However, we all know that these numbers are only "guesstimates" at this stage. One thing's for certain, however...she's definitely pregnant.
5 Weeks into Pregnancy
Bev
traded Alda back to Gary for about a week.
Thu, 13 Jul 2006 - Gary writes, "Alda is doing fine. If I walk
her once a day she can go on a longer walk and does not slow down near
as much. She has also started her pregnant wheezing wine. See you Sunday."
Bev
writes, "I see that the heat is supposed to return over the weekend.
One report I heard indicated that out here the temperature might be 105
on Sunday. Needless to say, Alda won't be doing much walking in that kind
of heat. I try and get her out some in the AM and again around dusk. Alda
must have completely switched over to the puppy chow by now. Did she tolerate
that changeover OK?
What about this whine....is it a constant thing? She is only 3 weeks from
her return date, so I imagine she's starting to get pretty uncomfortable.
I mailed some pictures to Bindy on Saturday. If she hasn't received them
yet, she should in the very near future. For a cardboard camera, they
turned out quite well. I'll be sure and take more at my house, plus take
two cameras to GDB when I take her in. See you Sunday...."
6 Weeks into Pregnancy
Tue, 18 Jul 2006 - Alda gets more food starting today. I'm feeding her three times a day, so I'm giving her 1 1/2 cups at breakfast, 1 1/2 cups at lunch, and 1 3/4 cups at dinner. That's a lot of food, but she's supposed to be at 4 3/4 cups now. I've noticed a correlation between the number of cups of food and the number of poops she does in a day. Since I've had her, she's been "doing her business" 4 times a day, and she's been eating 3 3/4 cups of food. I'll shortly be able to tell if that's a pattern or if it was just a coincidence.
Wed,
19 Jul 2006 - I'd forgotten Alda's flair for the dramatic. Last
night, near the end of our walk, she was moping along, looking extremely
forlorn....kind of pitiful, actually. At that point, I happened to notice
a cat so I started talking to it. That certainly perked Alda up...she
started prancing like a pony...all the way back to my house. She forgot
all about the moping routine. Sometimes, I think she just needs a distraction,
something to take the focus off of how miserable she feels. I've started
singing lullabies to the pups. I'm willing to bet that's something that
hasn't happened in prior pregnancies. Alda's not quite sure what to
make of this....
Fri, 21 Jul 2006 - Alda's hanging in there, but she really doesn't care for this heat (who does)? I told her today that if this continues for too much longer, we might have to start reversing our days and nights. She continues to shed a great deal, the whine is becoming a little more frequent, she's somewhat larger, but everything else is about the same. Fortunately, she's still got her appetite. Her mealtime radar is all off now because I added that third feeding in the middle of the day. I do think it helps her comfort level (and probably her digestion) to have the meals be smaller.
Wed, 26 Jul 2006 - Alda is doing well, in spite of this heat. Today is a little cooler (I was able to get the house temperature down to what I usually keep it at this morning...for the first time in days.) She's been eating 6 meals a day since yesterday and so far, so good. I've been feeding her five meals a day: 1 1/2 cups at her usual mealtimes, and 1 cup at the other three times. Because of the heat, one of these "snack" feedings has been in the middle of the night, which seems to work out well. It's a whole lot easier to do the walking at that time, too. Of course, if I had a job, this would be difficult. Since that's not a factor, we're free to experiment. Today I feel more tired, so we'll probably go to bed earlier tonight and get up later on.
I think I told you her collar is on the first notch. I measured her yesterday and came up with 32 (A) and 30 (B), which didn't quite match up with yours at the same time...but, I may not have put the tape in the exact same spot, either. I can definitely feel the puppies moving now. I'm giving Alda daily sponge baths (I have noticed the occasional droplet of milk), she's still shedding, although her belly isn't bald, yet, and she's loving those belly rubs. I also noticed that in the past few days she's become less clingy...I think it's become too much effort for her to get up and follow me wherever I go. It appears that the rest of the time that I have her we'll have more normal temperatures. I hope so. She's done well with all of this, but she deserves to be more comfortable (we both do!)
Sun, 30 Jul 2006 - Well, we've finally hit the change in appetite. She did fine with her middle of the night "snack" and with her breakfast around 5:00. When it came time for her mid-morning "snack", however, she just stood there and stared at it. So, I dumped it out, got a different dish and put in some dry kibble and mixed it with several tablespoons of canned food, making a sort of hash. She thought this was pretty good stuff and practically inhaled it. We'll see how she does in another hour, or so.
A couple of days ago, the pups felt like a little flutter when I put my hand on Alda's abdomen. Last night, it was definitely more like a thumping that I was feeling. The pups were certainly active early this morning. It's a wonder that Alda can get any rest at all. It doesn't seem to bother her, though.
Mon,
31 Jul 2006 - Alda's doing well. She moves around a lot when she's
sleeping, so I can tell that she's having a hard time getting comfortable,
but she's hanging in there. I haven't noticed any pitiful sighing or moans.
She's still eating well, as long as I continue to give her the dry kibble
mixed with some canned food. We are now on a similar schedule to the one
that I remember you talking about before: 9 PM, 1 AM, 3 AM, 6AM.... She
doesn't eat at the 3 AM one, but she usually needs to do some kind of
business around that time. I got a glimpse of the "rolling earthquake"
last night. It's hard to believe, but she'll likely be a mom within a
week. In some ways, the time went by very quickly. And, even though it
will be good to sleep a little longer during the night, I know that I
will miss her. She's really been very good through all of this.
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