18/09/2024
Four years ago today, Harper's water broke at 8:55am and the 2020 Litter started to be born...
Before I go into more details, this was truly a miracle litter. Not only through the miracle of science and technology (Harper was artificially inseminated by TCI with frozen-preserved semen from my Guinness, who had passed in 2016), but because it was given a less than 1% chance of taking when we did it, due to her progesterone levels not rising like they should. I told the vet at the time 1% is still a chance and I was fine with even just 1 puppy ...for Jessica. That's a whole 'nother story, but I wanted to ease her heartache and this would be Harper's 2nd and last breeding anyway, as I had my Argos from the first AI (yes, another miracle TCI artificial insemination litter with the same 2 dogs).
But, miracle upon miracle, 10 fertilized embryos. 7 would survive. Little did I know that Hazmat would be one of them and weave her way into my soul as well.
This litter theme was: 2020 (as in: how would one describe it). I make notes of as much as I can when pups are being born, from basic characteristics and sigalment, to anything even behavioral or unique. Going over my notes that evening and next morning, scared and anxious, I wanted every puppy to be named BEFORE Harper headed into surgery to remove the final stuck (and deceased) puppy. This labor went overall normally and well, but was a little harder on Harper. 3 pups were not meant to be, but one of them would tragically become stuck.
A superstition of mine perhaps (everyone gets a name; no one ever dies and remains nameless; names bring hope and help bind souls to the living world), but nonetheless... as I cross-referenced notes to my pre-planned names and completed my decisions, I started crying with anxiety. I hugged her at the vet office, both of us so very tired and hadn't slept in over 24hrs now... and told her how much I loved her and would see her in recovery, that she could do this, was in the very best of care, etc...and then she started contracting! In the last puppy's info is the whole story of how we then didn't need a c-section. (And no, I don't think I was squeezing her that hard, haha)
So, to honor their arrival, in order of appearance back in 2020, including those lost far too soon, the 2020 litter begins with :
1) 9:17am on September 18th, 2020, brought us: Riot (now Raven the Riot), a huge black/rust female, weighing 24oz, sporting the purple rickrack, arrived breech, needed my help to get wiggled out into this bright new world, but came out hollerin' with a tantrum and has been just a riot to continue to watch and listen to already!
2) 10:25am brought us: Timeless (now Timeless Ranger), a huge black/rust male, weighing 22oz, sporting the tan rickrack, arrived like a normal puppy, but also came out bellowing hangrily...but he didn't earn his name until that afternoon, when he, like his older brother Argos and his father, Guinness did before him, crawled over his siblings and then his Mother to come comfort me while I intermittently was crying while we sat on the floor at Veterinary Village, when we thought Harper would need a c-section to remove his brother, who had passed on, but was refusing to come out. His 2020 legacy being Timeless.
3) 10:30am was a sad moment because it brought us a stillborn puppy: Apocalypse, a tiny black/rust female, weighing only 8oz. She arrived breech and I hope she knew how much she was loved before she passed, never having to truly know this lately dark, sometimes almost-apocalyptical outside world. May she fly free with the others gone before her as she flies with her Poppa and sisters, Killian and Freyja from the 2019 litter.
4) 12:14pm brought us: Hindsight (now Luci Fur Hindsight), a normal sized black/rust female, weighing 18oz, sporting the light blue rickrack arrived with normal presentation, but as she was already a good circler, she always seems to be looking back for more milk, it seemed fitting! Hindsight is always 2020!
5) 12:21pm was another heart-wrenching moment when it brought us: Conspiracy, another teeny girl, red/rust, also weighing only 8oz. She arrived with a very abnormal presentation and had died within the last several days with an unknown cause, likely a placental cord wrap being the conspiracy. I hope she also knew all the love we gave her while she was on the inside. May she also fly free ahead as she meets her Poppa, siblings, and all of the others gone far too soon.
6) 12:23pm brought much better news two minutes later, however, when it brought us: Hazmat, a normal sized black/rust female, weighing 16oz, sporting the white rickrack (her current hazmat suit!!) arrived normally and was a quieter, calmer girl who just went with the flow and caused no trouble, coming out to be cleaned and dried and settling in to nurse like shed been doing it forever. Just did her thing independently...and still does quite a bit...but a little more zealously these days, lol.
7) 1:25pm raged forward with the swift arrival of: Inferno (now Scarlett Inferno!), an average sized, but our only surviving red/rust female, weighing 17oz, sporting the lime rickrack, arriving normally, but was scrambling around and raging about food from the getgo. I suspect this ginger baby will burn bright and be an active girl!
8) 1:55pm then brought forth: Instinct(now Dahyla Instinct), another averaged size black/rust female, weighing in at 17oz, sporting the pink rickrack, arriving normally, but was honed in on Momma and her milk bar from the get go before she was even all the way out of her sac and cleaned off by Momma! Great food drive and Instinct from the start!
9) 2:36pm brought the arrival of: Mayhem (now Lucy Mayhem!), another average sized black/rust female, weighing 16oz, sporting the orange rickrack collar, also arriving with normal presentation, but somehow had been the messiest chaos of the bunch. She had squirmed out of her rickrack collar - TWICE - and kept getting covered in puppy p**p, the goo from Harper(normal discharge after whelping) or just whatever was around, including trying to explore the depths under blankets or over obstacles, like, heated water bottles! She just keeps creating... MAYHEM!
And then our #10) Our final puppy actually arrived 09/19/2020, the original predicted 63day due date, around 1:30pm: Phenomenon, a MASSIVE red/rust male, weighing 24.2oz, died in utero as well, likely from having his sac break open during traumatic pushing because he, at some point, was likely stuck and Harper was exhausted and her contractions were not strong enough to move him along. The previous night at the ER, there was no heartbeat (we ultrasounded) and so now we were going in to do a c-section to remove his body and thus save Harper's life, when, a miracle of miracles, she passed him with hard contractions.
Having to wait for them to complete a more emergent surgery before us (Harper was NOT in distress), the doctor tried a last ditch effort giving IV NaCl with Dextrose - something I specifically asked the ER doctor and tech about the night before ironically, and was met with "Why? Never heard of that helping; we only do..." There is a reason for specialty medicines and no one knows everything, however, one has to wonder sometimes why owners (like ones with some background) aren't taken more seriously with suggestions. Anyway! After over an hour of nothing happening with Harper, they took her puppies to the warming incubator and right before they came back for her to induce anesthesia - 12min prior to the 1:30pm plan - and only moments after I started crying and hugging her, telling her I loved her, knew she could do this, and I would see her when she was recovering...she started pushing ... HARD...even grunting and groaning and so, with the doctor's guidance, out he came! It was absolutely a Phenomenal effort and such a relief to NOT have her require surgery. Another miracle. He also flies free with the family at The Bridge. I have the ashes of all the pups lost next to Guinness's, so they can be protected by their Poppa in the Heavens.
Whatever you think, I believe the soul lives on...even if it wasn't meant to stay here as long as we'd like.
We are all a bunch of molecules held together by bonds and floating on a rock in space...
So... please help me in wishing them all a wonderful 4th Birthday with many more to come!
