Of course puppies conceived on Christmas Day HAVE to have holiday theme names. Registered names and Kennel Names (temporary - new owners can choose their own call name, but we just like to have a name to call them .... helps with those 2 AM and 4 AM wakeup calls etc., plus it's easier to share love with them and train later on when they have names!) 4 boys, and 2 girls . . . .

Our beautiful Stella free whelped 6 puppies on 2-24-22. We went to the vet for her xray/radiograph in the morning. The scheduled c-section was planned for Saturday but Stella decided it was time! This would be Day 62 from our first AI which was on Christmas Day 12-25-21, which means she ovulated Christmas Eve. 4 beautiful boys and 2 gorgeous girls .... all very uniform and consistent in size. 

Here is Stella last night .... she even ate breakfast this morning, but she was definitely about to pop! 

And a few scenes from Day 1 of the puppies lives . . . . .

What a miraculous day! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. She was such a super star today. ​

Our beautiful Stella enjoyed some laptime while we watched t.v. this evening. Parker the puppy went to work with dad for choir rehearsal and won the hearts of every choir member. He especially liked the alto section. But the pregnant girls are staying home where it's safe and quiet. Stella got a bath yesterday in some special shampoo we bought at the vet which kills lots of bacteria. We have an x-ray (radiograph) scheduled for tomorrow morning and we are estimating the scheduled c-section to be Saturday. We are taking her temperature much more often than she would like but, so far, (unless we missed it), we don't have that dramatic drop yet. She is about to pop though, and still enjoying eating as long as we hand feed her. Tonight she enjoyed some freeze-dried Life's Abundance water buffalo lung, raw sirloin steak stew meat, and a couple of bites of some chicken thighs I cooked for her. We will shove (bless her heart) the OxyMate supplement, folic acid, probiotic, and fish oil down her tonight before bedtime. When we place our hand on her belly though, those puppies are totally salsa dancing!

Stella, Buttercup, and Lilly are finicky lately with food .... this morning, however, they were open to the idea of baked chicken (as long as they were handfed .... with small bites) ;)

Lilly's ultra sound today revealed 4 or even possibly 5 puppies!

We try to keep detailed records which helps for future when we want to remind ourselves of things in subsequent litters but also helps when we swap out nursery room duties. (Did each puppy poo? Did each puppy nurse vigorously? Did purple puppy have diarrhea? etc. etc.) 3 Notebooks are now ready to go for Stella, Lilly, and Buttercup! Here's a quick tour of each day from Day 1-84 gotcha day . . . . .