Here are the pictures I promised - Page 1

This is an update to an earlier thread I posted:

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/forum.read?mnr=804562-experience-with-odd-heat-cycles
 

My girl had two pups via c-section on Saturday, November 29th.  1 black male, 1 sable female. 

We only saw two pups on the ultrasound, but were hoping that we just missed some.  When she wasn't getting any bigger about 7.5 weeks into the pregnancy, I scheduled an x-ray and confirmed there were only two pups and they looked to be good size.  I scheduled a c-section for 63 days past ovulation for several reasons:  The small number of pups, the size of the pups, both were coming breech and she would most likely be delivering on a Saturday night or Sunday making it an emergency if something went wrong. 

Her temperature dropped on Saturday morning which made it perfect timing for the c-section.  Everything went smoothly and we were home within two hours of the start of the section. 

Here are some pics of the "little" ones right after getting settled in at home:

WOW:  what little chunkers'  they are just beautiful.  Glad you decided on C section; probably saved their lives.  Thx for sharing  Nan

Cuties.   Thanks for the update.

I'm confused about something. 

What do you mean you could tell they were coming "breech" and would need a c-section? What did you see that was concerning? Was it just their size and low number of pups that had you worried? Or did the vet say something about it to concern you? 

On the x-ray, we could see just two pups that were big for gestational age.  That, along with the pups both being breech was the concern.  In my experience, when delivering large puppies, it is the ones that are coming breech that I have always ended up losing.  They get stuck in the birth canal and the umbilical cord gets pinched off and when you can't get their head out in time, they end up suffocating.

The pups being breech was not in and of itself concerning.  I've delivered plenty of breech pups before.  It was the whole picture together that led to me scheduling a c-section.  If there were 4+ puppies, I probably would have let her try delivering.  If there were only 2 pups that looked to be on the smaller side of normal, I would have let her try delivering.  If the pups were coming head first, I would have let her try delivering.  If we weren't delivering over a Sunday when all the regular vets were closed, I may have let her try delivering.  But we had all of those things working against us and this was our absolute last chance of getting pups from our male (remember, he is 13.5 years old now) while he is alive.

What do you mean breech? Back feet first or butt first with legs still inside? Curious because a lot of people talk about breech and they really mean rear presentation.

I have one right now who is pregnant but not looking huge and I'm trying to decide if I should try to see how many are in there or leave it alone until I see a sign of a problem. I always dread going to the vet w/a  pregnant dog due to the plethora of ignorant advice and comments flying around, lol. Experienced female, 5yrs old. Wide-bodied dog, so there could very well be 4+ pups in there. My concern is always enough pups to trigger labor and are they a reasonable size? 

I am very sad to report that my girl gave birth to a beautiful deceased sable female this morning.  The vet missed a puppy in the c-section.  She was perfectly formed and not decayed at all, so she had to have been alive at the time of the section 3 days ago.  I have started my bitch on antibiotics just in case.  I just can't believe this happened.  I am so thankful that this puppy was delivered and my girl did not go septic.  I never would have thought there was another puppy left in there.  This could have ended much worse than it did.  Although that doesn't help with the pain of losing a pup unnecessarily.

So, Jenni... there you have it.  Either way you go, you may not end up with safe, healthy puppies. 

Shit! Glad your female is fine though...time to change the vet.

Oh geez!!! How horrible. Poor poor little girl. And your poor bitch, post surgical and having to deliver. I'd be pissed, frankly. 

Geez. Geez Geez. You could've lost your girl. This is the kind of stuff that scares me about most vets and reproduction. Was this a repro vet or a "regular" vet? 

This was a regular vet.  I tried to get the repro vet to do the section, but she was out of town for the week for Thanksgiving.  She doesn't get back until today.  I had the vet's office reverse the charges for the c-section, but it is little consolation for the loss of our pup.  I am still watching my girl like a hawk to make sure that we aren't missing anything.  I don't feel that we are safely out of the woods quite yet. 

Will keep you all posted.