Monday Memories-One Line

OK, so I have an inch think folder of info about dog pregnancies and births.  Silver's been in pre-labor for 19 hours and I've been up with her since 7:00am the previous morning.  Knowing things could happen any minute.  There was one line that I remember in that stack of papers that stuck in my mind:  Follow your dog outside, for how many times does a soon-to-be mother dog think she has to go potty and starts giving birth.  I remember laughing at the statement, it just cracked me up the possibility.  So I ran after Silver every time she had to go out with my flashlight in the midst of a bitter winter night, watching every move she made.

Next thing I know, Silver is squatting and next thing I know there is a bubble coming out of her.  I freak out.  In those few seconds I don't know what it was, but somehow something register to me that it wasn't a puppy.  I rush Silver back in the house and sure enough her contractions begin.  I wake up my husband and Silver drops Zappa in my husband's hands. (Monday Memories-Surprise!) Soon enough nine puppies follow and there is a total of ten.

Now the vet had told us that there were ten puppies for certain, but there was always a possibility of one or two that couldn't be seen on the x-ray.

Silver jumps up after the last puppy Fiona was born and is ready to go outside.  Her skin has snapped back into shape except for a bulge about the size of a puppy on her right side.  Is this where Fiona was?  Or is this the hidden puppy that couldn't be seen? (Monday Memories-Black Beauty Momma) Dog moms are known for having so many puppies, getting up and walking around and then give birth to more.  There can be an hour or more between puppies and we just weren't totally sure about this bulge and what it meant.

Then I remember the gray bubble Silver had expelled.  I run out into the yard looking for signs of it where she had squatted.  I check a few other places she had been.  Nothing is there.  I am baffled.  I know what I saw.  I am starting to panic.  Silver is showing all signs of being done giving birth, but after being up for over 24 hours now, I can't stop worrying about the possibility of this "lost" puppy and gray sac.  It has to mean something.

The vet says to wait.  If there are more puppies they will come.  If not, he informs us to take her to the vet and have her x-rayed.  I end up checking the yard a few more times.  I am scared and I can't seem to make any sense of that gray sac I know I saw.

Are all you mothers and breeders laughing at me yet?  It wasn't until almost six months later I was typing out my whole dog breeding and birth experience for my records,  when ONE line in my thick stack of notes finally caught my eye:  the gray bubble was her water sac.  Talk about a sigh of relief!  Finally the mystery was solved.  Out of all the information I had compiled it was only mentioned ONCE, just as the line about following your dog outside in case they think they have to potty.  If it hadn't have been for latter statement, I probably wouldn't have thought to go outside trailing after Silver, and would have missed seeing the mysterious water sac to know that the birthing process was about to begin.   How one line made all the difference in knowing what to do and while the other slipped from my mind and posed fear and panic that I would never get an answer to until many months later.  Funny how things work out.

Silver didn't have anymore pups.  We did end up taking her to the vet for x-rays just to be sure.  Another Monday Memories in the works....