Wednesday, June 20, 2007

ISS & Atlantis

I've always been facinated by the stars and space, and tonight I got to see the ISS and the shuttle Atlantis. They flew in from the Northwest, straight over my head and into the tree line to the Southeast about 10:25 tonight. The ISS was first with the shuttle chasing right behind it. Pretty cool! I saw the ISS a few years ago, so this was the second time I have got to see it with my own eyes.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Just One Survives

Most of you know, I breed and raise Yorkies. I'm still pretty new at this, I have been doing this for a couple of years now. Some of you may even remember my first litter, back in March 2005. That was Lucy's first litter. She had four puppies, all female, without any problems. It's been more than two years and Lucy was ready to have her second litter.

Lucy went into labor later than I thought normal. I had come home for lunch and found she was in pre-labor stages. I stayed with her, and then slept with one eye open all night that night. The next morning, still no puppies. Lucy seemed to be doing okay, but I worried and called my vet. I explained Lucy's condition and they said to give her another 45 minutes, and if still no pups at that point, I'd need to bring her in.

That next 45 minutes seemed to drag on. Lucy pushed and pushed. I called the vet again and we were on our way to vet's office. Lucy was taken straight to the back immediately. Five minutes later the doc was out to talk with me. He explained he found two puppies and no heart rates via ultrasound. It was imperative that he do an emergency c-section if he was going to have a chance at saving the puppies. I agreed, and left. They would call me with any news.

My phone began to ring as I walked into the house. It was the vet's office. They had delivered two puppies, they've got one revived and were working on the other. Lucy was doing well. I headed back down to the vet's office.

After a couple of hours, Lucy and one puppy were able to come home. I was thankful that Lucy was okay, I felt horrible she had gone through this. I have heard the horror stories of Yorkie breeding from my Yorkie Breeder circle of friends. I was the only one that hadn't lost a whole litter, I had never had any trouble what-so-ever.

Lucy and baby boy were doing fine and I was able to bring them home. I spent the weekend helping the little guy feed every hour or so. I think the drugs from mama's c-section were making him a bit drowsy and so he needed help.