Holly’s birthing day

​I was hoping Holly would deliver her puppies today because I was off work today until next Tuesday, giving me plenty of time to be with them. Holly proved to be very accomodating because she did just that, starting this afternoon and completing the process of producing seven puppies over just a few hours.

There are seven, don't ask me genders, it hasn't made it to my top ten list of concerns. I set up a second heater with the cord running to the a different shed that's on a separate electrical circuit. A heating pad under the wading/whelping pool was also added. The first couple of pups came out pretty close together, but then she had difficulty passing one placenta that didn't develop and I helped her out with that. The next three pups came pretty easily, but then was a long span before number six showed up. We were all relieved when number seven appeared. Erika came over in time to be there for the last two or three and helped stimulate one's breathing. The last one didn't want to give up his umbilical cord so I helped Holly with that. There's one that should be Holly's color, five blond beauties, and the last one was jet black, sleek and shiny. 

Holly was great and had no objection to be being there and "helping" if that's what I did. She was  understandably exhausted after it was over. I was too. I had forgotten show scary this process is. I also realized that I won't really relax until some eight to ten weeks from now when the pups are all adopted and under someone else's care. 

I came inside to write this blog post but have set up my cot and plan to spend the night with Holly and the pups. I'm not sure how much any of us will sleep.