A Restless Three Days

Lola had her puppies! She starting contracting on Wednesday around 5:00 p.m. Her first puppies came at 9:30 p.m. A strong male that we call "Spot" because he has a black spot above his right eye. Lola delivered all her puppies by 12:30 a.m. AJ and I stayed up with Lola during the whole thing. I felt so sorry for Lola, she was working so hard to get her litter here. After the fourth puppies she was exhausted! She allowed AJ and I to help her break open the thin birth sacks for the last three puppies. After the sixth puppies was born AJ and I stayed up for a little while to make sure Lola was ok. We went to bed a little on the edge because it looked like Lola was still pushing, but we weren't sure.

The next morning all six puppies and Lola were alive a well. Lola's maternal instincts kicked in as soon as each puppy was born. While AJ was at work I continued to check on Lola and the puppies throughout the day. I notice that Lola look like she was having contractions. I talked to AJ and we both decided that her stomach was contracting, going back to it's natural shape. I thought that she might still have puppies inside of her but that idea was ruled out after talking to AJ, and friends who's dog just had a litter. Lola continue to have contractions, which later turned into a weak push throughout the day. When AJ came home from work I told him what my concerns were but we decided to give it another day. Lola was being a perfect mother but she had sad eyes, and lying around a lot. Since this was our first time having puppies AJ and I did not know what to expect. We went to bed around 10:00 p.m but I could not sleep because I was so worried about Lola dog.

I woke up around 12:00 a.m. to check on Lola, and she was fine, still contracting/pushing but still being a good mom. I stayed up with her for an hour, rubbing her head and talking to her. I left Lola so that I could google her after birth symptoms. I learned that dogs will have a dark green discharge for eight weeks after giving birth, their stomach will continue to contract, and they need lots of water and food. Hoping that Lola's stomach was just contracting, I felt much better after I learned that all of Lola's symptoms were normal. I told myself that I needed to stop worrying, and let nature take it's course. So, I went to check on Lola one last time before I went back to sleep. I spent another thirty mintues with her so I could feed her and let her outside for a break.

AJ got up at 5:00 a.m to check on Lola and the puppies, and they were fine. I woke up an hour later to start my day but of course I had to check on Lola first, and that's when my day came crashing to an end. Lola's puppies were in a ball sleeping on top of each other and our sweet Lola was laying down next to a dead puppy that she had just given birth to, and she was still trying to push. I ran upstairs to tell AJ, and call the 24 hour vet. While AJ was getting something for the dead puppy, Lola delivered another one. Our poor dog had been pushing for thirty hours tying to deliver puppies. I decided right then that if Lola was going to make it through her first litter, she would not be having any more puppies . I called the vet and explained what had been going on for the past two days and they advised us to bring Lola in for x-rays. By this time I was so upset and crying so hard that I could barely talk. The thought of losing Lola made me want to vomit. Thank goodness AJ stayed calm because I was a MESS!

AJ took Lola and the puppies to the vet this morning. We had x-rays taken to make sure all of Lola's puppies were out. The vet gave Lola and her six puppies a clean bill of health. She said the first puppy that was stillborn probably, got stuck (it was a very large female with a big head) which is why the two puppies died inside Lola. There wasn't really much of anything we could have done, short of a C-section. Lola got two shots, one was for the pain since she was pushing for thirty hours, and the second was to help flush all the after birth out. We were advised to continue to watch Lola since she could develop an infection due to the nature of her delivery. The good news is that Lola is alive, and her puppies are going to be fine.

Now I need to get me some sleep!