A photographer’s pictorial account of her baby having babies!
If you immediately caught on to the title of this blog – you’re old! Just kidding – well . . . Thank you Butterfly McQueen for saying one of the most memorable quotes in movies – well at least for me.
Two months ago I found out in the most obvious way that one of my labs was going to be a mommy – and the other one a daddy – I’ll leave the realization of this fact to your imagination.
I have had a minimum of one dog almost my entire life. I used to live at and take care of over 40 dogs at a rescue kennel . . . I have NEVER been present for the birth of anything other than my own four children. I was very nervous about the impending arrival . . .
What happens if we’re not home?
What happens if we are home?
What are the other dogs going to do?
What if something goes wrong?
What do I do?
So, I did a little reading – which sort of helped – but frankly – other than just hanging out with momma, I did not do much! She was amazing! She did it all.
We arrived home and Emma was not coming when she was called. We normally don’t even have to call her. She is a very rambunctious and affectionate black lab. So I had a feeling those babies were on time!
We searched for her and fortunately came upon her early in our search. I used simple logic knowing that she would want to hide away somewhere. She picked a wonderful spot underneath the pomegranate bushes – a perfect little “cave” if you will to give birth. Seriously – a spot right out of a storybook. As soon as we were close she came running out and we discovered her four puppies. I thought, “Four? Wow, kind of expected more than that, but okay. At least four will be easy to find homes for and take care of.” People - never speak too soon – seriously.
We walked Emma up to where I had prepared her birthing room and then went back and carefully placed the very clean puppies into a basket lined with a small towel. Aw – “Look Buddy! Your babies!” He had the same look that most men have on their face when they see their child for the first time – sheer wide-eyed fear! We placed the puppies with momma and I, of course, ran to get the camera. Knowing everyone was safe – time for the photo moment!
I was a little disappointed that I did not get to take pictures of the birth. Well . . . that disappointment lasted about maybe a half an hour when all of a sudden two more came rolling out! Whoosh! Literally.
WOW! Never saw that before! Not only that, she did everything effortlessly. She did not act like this was an ordeal – until later . . .
So I’m texting my daughter – as she was supposed to be the Lamaze coach – not me – and updated her - Oh *&^ SIX puppies! I get everyone adjusted. Emma gets comfortable . . . half hour later SEVEN. What?! Well, I thought okay, she looks done, relaxed . . . babies are all clean, they’re eating . . . time to move them all into the basket and get a clean blanket. Jokes on me – EIGHT! Okay now she was really done. I could tell – being a mom and all – she was done. I ignored that odd bulge on one side – figured she was just out of shape . . . So AGAIN, I changed her blankets and got her and the eight puppies all situated. Aw they’re so cute. Posting pictures on Facebook . . . NINE! WHAT?! “Emma. You better be done – I can’t take any more puppies.” That’s right, “I” can’t.
She was so tired, but she made it through and stopped at nine. All the babies are healthy and she is a wonderful mommy. Every time I touch them, she cleans them . . . I’m starting to get a complex – they are all getting “chubby” already. The vet was very very happy with the health of mommy and babies.
I did realize and took comfort in the fact that I really should not have expected that I would have had to do anything other than move puppies while she was having more, but wow – it was truly wonderful and heartwarming to see a mommy at work and how much she already loved and wanted to care for each and every puppy.
