Puppies born April 25th, 2010.
Jett was in labor overnight, pretty typical, and I up with her catching snoozes here and there on the couch. In the early hours of the morning on the 25th, labor transitioned and she really started working on the first baby. SO exciting, my adrenaline was flowing and I was ready to get this show on the road! Pretty much like Christmas, I didn't know what I was gonna get (colors, sexes, etc) At 8:11 am, our first gorgeous babe was born at 1 lb, 2 oz! Flashy brindle girl we call "Sydney". I was super extatic that it seemed the birth was very smooth and easy, and started to relax and wait for baby # 2 to come.
I waited, and waited... and WAITED. It was apparent, since the first puppy birth, my children had woken up and were all excited and bounding around the house... there was too much commotion. Jett had STOPPED the labor process. (Dogs can do that if they feel they aren't in a quiet, comfortable, safe and secure location to birth their litter). At this point, I had the Doc on the phone, ready to come in for oxytocin shots and a possible C-Section (also unfortunately rather common in the breed). At the same time, I had my folks come and pick up the girls so I could focus at the task on hand. Amazingly, as the girls were leaving, Jett sensed the coast was clearing , and she finally pushed out baby #2! Classic brindle boy "Apollo, born at 12:43 pm, weighing in at 1 lb, 4 oz. Pretty much right after that puppy # 3 popped out, flashy brindle boy "Vaughn" at 1:04pm, weighing in at a whopping 1 lb 5 oz! (Average boxer pups are anywhere from 10oz to 16oz/ 1lb)
I was amazed at the size of ALL these pups! Incredible and all by natural birth. The progress went back to a more normal pace, and pup #4 was born at 2:20 pm, flasht brindle girl "Francie" weighing in a 1lb 2oz. Last but not least, puppy # 5 came into the world, but not without a fight. He was MASSIVE... momma Jett had to work SO hard to push him out, and after a bit if a battle of contractions and wills, "Loki" was born, weighing in at 1 lb, 5 oz at 3:19pm. A pretty normal timeline for the birth of a litter, but I will add it is NOT normal or safe (usually) to let the time lapse more than 2 hours between pups being pushed out. Jett had stopped contractions (after baby #1) so no pups were stuck or in distress during the time lapse, or know I would have been at the vet faster than you can say GO.
A long day, and draining for everyone involved, but I am so pleased with the quality of the litter, and how well Jett did delivering and caring for the pups. The second they came out she was right there, cleaning them up, nudging them towards her teats to nurse, super gentle and amazingly aware of how fragile they were. Now, time to rest... or so I thought. I spent the next week and a half sleeping on the couch, making sure mom and babies were doing ok. Just like having a newborn in the house again :)
