Six Days - The Gang's Still Here :o)

Well, we made it through the night (it's about 4:30 a.m. now). DH was able to bottle feed Mr. White (Don has the magic touch; did with our babies, too!). He got Mr. Black and Mr. Red to take some, too, but they're not at all thrilled with a bottle. They seem to be suckling a little better, so we're trying them back on Elsie's teats on their own.

So far, no tube feeding, but we'll make that call after the 6:30 a.m. weight checks. We're only weighing the little ones 2x daily; the big guys (the one's growing just fine) only get checked 1x daily now. Once we see how Red, Black, and White are doing, we'll decide whether or not to attempt tube feeding. I've watched DVDs on how to do it, have two great books here that walk you through it step-by-step, my vet walked me through it on the phone yesterday, and in a pinch, I'll call my breeder friend Momma Teese out in AZ (she's had to do it with a pup or two before in her Labs' litters).

I'm still scared spitless about trying to tube feed, but if I have to, and if the pups would die if I didn't, I can't really do any harm. I just have to take a deep breath and jump in. As my vet said, I gotta learn sometime.

Mr. White's diarrhea seems to have settled down (none since late yesterday afternoon), so we may not have to do subcutaneous fluids with him (he's nursing just fine, too). And no one else developed diarrhea overnight (yay!).

All three strugglers are sleeping better and longer and crying less (though when they do cry it's pitiful). I had six straight hours of their crying early yesterday morning (was at my wit's end by the time Don got up). But this morning has been much quieter. I even napped for an hour in another room!

Just for your comparison, here's Mr. Black between Mr. Lime (above him in the picture below) and Miss Pink (below him in the picture). Mr. Lime and Miss Pink are thriving, but they are not the biggest in the litter (tank-o Mr. Blue is).



You can see the size difference even better below (just Black with Pink):


He really doesn't look bad; he just looks so much smaller and seems a day or two behind the rest. Otherwise, he looks great!

I do wonder if he, White, and Red were conceived later (at the second mating) so they would have ended up being two days less developed at birth. It's certainly possible. And that would explain them being not quite as refined in their development as the rest (if you want to call the rest "refined" - hehe).

Wow... all three are sleeping soundly (breathing, twitching, etc. as they should). Boy, does that feel good. Yesterday morning they were all screaming at about this time. What a difference 24 hours makes.

But we're not entirely out of the woods yet. We'll do weight checks later this morning and will check in with the vet then. I'll update you when I know more.

Keep sending those thoughts and prayers our way. They've encouraged me more than you know!

I'll post again in a few hours.

'Til next time,
Joan