The Flowers have Bloomed 7/29/08

There was no sign of puppies and at 4:30 my sister Francesca (who came over to assist in the labor and delivery) got ready to go home - Then Daphne's water broke on the kitchen floor. We rushed around and got everything into place and when Daphne reached the nursery she made a sharp whimper and whine. I then saw a little bulge immersing and the first puppy (Azalea) was born.

Being a first time mom Daphne was so confused. Honestly I could hear her saying "Wow- that poop really hurt and why the heck is it moving?" She backed away from it and started to whine nervously....I held it her face to make her smell it and she reluctantly licked it. It then dawned on her that this was hers. This is a pic of her first kiss:

We were expecting for the next puppy to arrive shortly after (as per textbook) - but it did not. Waiting and waiting and almost 2 hour later Daphne started to get anxious again. Relieved, we reposed our positions. And after a shorter whelp, Puppy B (Buttercup) was born.

I was really hoping that the next few would follow at a quicker pace- but it felt like we were waiting there forever. And with the fact that we had SOOOO many to go nerved us. After almost 3 hours Daphne was whining alot and this puppy did not come out as easily as the ones before- I felt terrible- bc it seemed very uncomfortable. And why wouldn't it bc Puppy C (Chamomile) was a large 9.2 ounces- 2 ounces more than the previous ones.

After that it seemed like she was going to start speeding the process.

Puppies

(D)ogwood; Dempey's clone,

(E)rica and

(F)ern came within the next hour.
That was a relief! But not relief enough bc there were still 3 more to go. As I gleamed at my new additions I was so proud- they were so beautiful and so healthy and such nice sizes. I would wonder if I could be so lucky to avoid any complications 9x.. One could never know. Daphne had become a champ and after walking her, feathering her and saying a few novenas she had had the last puppies:

(G)inger,

(H)erb, and

lasty (I)ris

in almost every corner of the house including the mahogany front porch, backyard deck- and one even in my lap! The last puppy was delivered at 11:59 AM. It took her almost 8 hours to deliver 9 puppies and she seemed very content and satisfied when it was all over.

I on the other hand had delivered my human daughter in less time than that- so I did empathize with her. When it convened we had 7 perfect girls and 2 wonderful boys and no sign of a runt anywhere...

Colors range from beautiful and rare sables to blackest black and even some sable partis. I knew we would get a conglomeration of colors- but they were even nicer than I expected.

Thank you to 4 year old Rse for making the experience most memorable.

She kept insisting that Daphnes puppys would immerge from her "boobys" bc she must have noticed they were getting bigger. When she walked in on one of the puppies beiong born she admitted that she did not think that puppy was coming from her "booby" but did not comment further. She also was concerned if she would ever be able to have pancakes again bc the puppies were waiting in the pantry as mom was in labor and that is were we keep the pancake supplies. It made us laugh.

Here is my proud puppy petter:

I could not have done it without my sister and I want to thank her for her for being there:P

She was my rock that day- bc I get a little tense in stressful situations- but she kept her cool....of course well bc it was not her dog! And also thank you to St. Francis for answering my prayers for a healthy delivery. Maybe not so speedy- but you can not have it all:)