Baby Girl Halen (Light brown and white)

This was our big surprise.. I thought we were done and then Ella's last little girl made her arrival. A whopping 6oz baby girl and she is white with brown patches.

2 day old Shih Poos

This morning I weighed all the puppies, only two have gained weight. So we are starting some bottle feedings to supplement what Ella can provide for them. This will help them gain weight as well as relieve Ella a bit. Ella is pigging out on all sorts of food to put some weight on, but that is not going to happen for a few more weeks.

We did run into one problem. I used a sharpie on the three white ones to differentiate them, and it has disappeared! One of the white girls is more of a caramel white so I can tell her apart. However the other two are exactly alike. The only way I can currently tell them apart is by the length of their umbilical cord. Kim will need to come up with something else to tell those two apart.

Everyone is doing really well! Here is a pic of them sleeping, all lined up. I have a heating pad under the blanket to help keep them warm.

Shih Poo puppies are here - Six of them!!!

This is the only boy in the group!

Such a good mommy, nursing the first two born

I thought we were done... but one was hiding...

Ella went into labor around 9pm tonight and at 9:30 the first of five girls was born. The second born was the only boy of the group. We had one that was breech, but everything went well and they are all doing great. Here are some pics of the crew!

Puppywatch 2009 day three...

Around 2am this morning I was woken by Ella. She was anxious and pacing and I thought this is it! After about 10 minutes and trying out the whelping box, her bed, Daisy's bed, a patch of carpet in the hallway, and her bed again she curled up and went to sleep. Around 4am we went through this scenario again. At 5am my alarm went off and we went outside for a potty break then I got ready for work. I hate that I have to work today, but I'm hoping to be done by noon. My good friend Steph just checked on Ella and she is pretty calm. She seems to be calm during the day, and pacing all night long. If she doesn't deliver tonight I am going to take her down to Kim's and see if being in her normal environment will help her to deliver.

There isn't much more room for those puppies to grow. I keep feeling paws poking out through her ribs. I've counted 4 heartbeats but I think at least one puppy is hiding under her ribs and is too close to her heart to hear the difference. Everyone say a little prayer that the hospital stays slow so I can go home. :)

Still no puppies....

Puppywatch 2009 is still going strong. I thought for sure Ella would deliver the puppies last night. Her belly has dropped more today and she is very uncomfortable. Her breathing has become more labored and she just can't get comfortable. She is drinking a lot of water and licking anyone she can. She loves to go outside and lay down on the cool ground to try and get some comfort. She has checked out the whelping box a few times but has not really done any nesting at this point. Her temperature dropped to 98.7 last night and is back up to 99.6 today, so we will continue to wait....

Brand New Litter of Shih Poos!

Daisy's Mom Ella is staying with us this week. She is due to have her puppies at anytime. It's been an interesting day, I have three generations of dogs in my house. Ella, her daughter Daisy, and her Grandson Bentley. Daisy and Bentley love to play and Ella sure wants to join in but that will have to wait until the puppies are born.

Ella is doing really well. Her milk came in on Wednesday and her temp dropped to 98.7 at 7pm tonight. So she should have the puppies within the next 24 hours. I think they will come sometime in the middle of the night. She is sleeping really deep right now, not even waking up when you walk by her. She is drinking a lot of water, but not eating any food. Her belly has dropped and she officially has the "swelly belly" going on. She keeps wanting to go outside but when I take her she just looks for poop to eat. So we are staying inside now, especially since some creepy fog has rolled in. This would not be a good time to lose Ella.

Good thing we had a lazy day because I feel we are going to have a long night ahead of us. I will put up some pics soon.

Update on Tori - First Haircut

I recently talked with Tori's family about how she is doing. Sadly they are moving to Phildelphia soon, but I know it will be such a fun adventure! Tori's mom sent me some pictures of Tori's first haircut, oh my is she gorgeous or what!