On Saturday evening, Friday’s temperature dropped to 97.0 degrees. Translation: you have up to 24 hours before puppies arrive. So I called my friend and (puppy whelper extraordinaire) Anne and told her to pack it up and come on over.
Anne napped on the sofa in the living, and I napped inside the whelping box with Friday. To be honest, it was quite comfortable in there. We each set our alarms to wake up every hour. And every hour, Friday showed no signs of having puppies; she was perfectly happy sleeping through the night.
9:30 AM: Still waiting.
Then Sunday morning arrived. We waited, and waited, and waited. We tried to pass the time by drinking lattes, eating scones, and surfing the internet.
Eventually, Friday’s water broke. And at 1:41 PM, Puppy # 1 made his way into the world.
1:41 PM: BLUE BOY arrives. This photo was taken before his first breath.
He came head first, but without his sac. The moment he arrived, Friday licked him until he squirmed and mewed. Instincts are amazing, aren’t they. How did she know to do that?! BLUE BOY weighed in at 10 3/8 ounces. Perfect.
We had to wait more than three hours before Puppy # 2 arrived. When he did, we figured out the hold-up; GREEN BOY was GINORMOUS, and weighed in at 17 ounces. (For a list of all birth weights, go here.)
After GREEN BOY, Friday was pretty quick to deliver PINK GIRL and ORANGE BOY. Girl came out feet first, boy came out head first. Both in the sac. And both ridiculously quick to figure out how to latch. Note: PINK GIRL is a squealer.
4:44 PM: The first four; quick to figure out how to nurse. See those synchronized paws?! Also, did you know that Weimaraner puppies are born with stripes?
At 6:14 PM, PURPLE GIRL arrived. She was delivered so quickly that we have no idea if she was head first or feet first. But she came inside a sac. A little slower to latch, but she eventually figured it out.
6:13 PM: By now, we had five puppies. We weren’t sure if anymore were coming, but stayed in the box with Friday just in case. Here she is, taking a little break.
And then at 6:40 PM, another gush of water came out. We fed Friday some raw ground beef balls to give her more energy. It worked.
6:57 PM: Who looks this good after six hours of labor?! She’s all rested and ready to.
And then, at 7:02 PM, Another head emerged. BLACK BOY. No sac, just like his BLUE BOY brother.
By now, we think we’re done. We have our six babies!!! And Friday’s doing great, so we treat her with ice cream.
7:19 PM: Dessert for a job well done!
7:23 PM: A quiet moment between Mamma and PINK GIRL. By the way, if there’s a pup hangin’ on Mom’s arm, it’s usually PINK GIRL.
And then at 7:59 PM, another gush of water.
And at 8:14 PM, a little foot emerged. The back right, to be exact. Out of the sac. It turned out to be YELLOW GIRL.
8:29 PM: A moment with BLUE BOY, the baby of the litter.
By about 10:00 PM, we were pretty sure it was going to be the PIONEER SEVEN. Here’s their debut photo, taken while they were sleeping in the warming basket, which is a bin set aside and under the heat lamp for puppies to stay while Friday delivers the latest (it’s a safe spot where they can be set aside and protected from danger/injury):
10:55 PM: The Pioneer Seven.
At 11:00 PM, I was exhausted. Anne had gone home. So my husband, Barry, volunteered to do night duty while I napped on the sofa. He took this final photo from the night. Quite fitting, don’t you think?!
11:50 PM: Miss Friday and her BLACK BOY.
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