03/24/18 Pupdate

     Today’s scent is Banana, courtesy of Cindi.
        Lots of twitching going on in the whelping pool today.  I’ve heard that means they are growing and they are distinctly larger than they were a week ago.  I can’t tell much difference in their eyes yet but their ears are doing funny little ‘working on opening’ positions.
        Their Uncle James Bond had another fun day in Reno, NV today with his humama Chris running agility at the National Agility Championships.  Cousin Quinn is there, too cheering him on.
Go Chris and Uncel James!
I made the mistake of trying to give them their probiotic paste after we did the ‘try to potty before you eat’ thing. The MaterGator and Nanny McPhoebe get involved whenever I do the attempted potty (or whenever the pupsters fuss) so they were NOT so cooperative about waiting to get to the bar.
The MSU did puppywatch a few times today so I could bathe, wash my hair AND my face and apply lotion -ALLYN the same day ;-).   I FINALLY used up the last of the wipes I made with the badly cut version of Bounty so I cleaned up the paper towel snow for the last time (it’s much more fun when PWDs make the paper towels into confetti). I’ve never been so happy to use the last of a roll of paper towels in my life.
Caly has developed quite the appetite in the last few days.  It’s a good thing because she needs a lot of calories now and more in the coming weeks.  She’s been eating a lot and often but she’s been somewhat selective about it.  (One day, I had to tear her chicken apart for her to eat it and I had to mix the yogurt in with chicken breast like a doggie chicken salad.) This evening, she ate some kibble (I was just offering it as a reward).  We are switching her to include some small breed puppy formula to keep her nutrtition up.  9 puppies are going to be quite a load.  Her being willing to eat kibble will also make the 2 am feeding easier for me.
I’m wondering whether these puppies are going to wait for their eyes to open before they go over the wall of the pool.  I have the things for the pen version on standby for whenever the first one goes over the wall.  At least for a while, we’ll be able to contain them with the ferret ex pens so its easier for the rest of us to reach them.  I’m excited about their possibilities.  (Now I have a childhood song about being a promise and a possibility going through my head.  I may have to find it on the internet to hear the whole thing again when I have a few minutes.  I need to hire someone to sleep for me - I dont want to give up the time with the puppies.)
  I find the puppies arranged into a line almost as often as in a clump these days.  The lone brown girl doesn’t segregrate herself like they seem to do when there are more than one brown puppy (they do it before their eyes open, too)
This evening, they were lined up 5 on one side and 4 on the other with a gap in the center.  I’m not certain what was going on there but since we know who was in which horn of the uterus, I know it wasn’t based on that.  Maybe someone told them they weren’t doing the scrum just right so they are trying other options.
I haven’t been up as much in the middle of the night the last couple of nights but last night I woke up as the MaterGator was rearranging in the pool. I was feeling around to make sure I could find 9 unsquished puppies and I apparently offended her so much that she go out and settled down beside the pool using the side as a pillow.  She got back in again later and they seemed sated while she was out so I’m not going to worry (much, I worry about EVERYTHING but if you’ve ever read this, you already know that)
Every morning, while I take care of the puppies linens, etc.  Caly faithfully watches to be sure I don’t lose anyone, then when I have it all situated and she has everyone fed; she goes and remakes all of her ‘alternate’ sites for a puppy nest should this one become somehow untenable.  She carries her Alligator ‘puppy’ around with her.  I was a little concerned that she and Phoebe were going to have an issue about that alligator baby so I snuck it out of the nest and put it up on a shelf while they were outside pottying.  It didn’t take vey long before she was sniffing around, trying to reach it.  She doesn’t normally climb up on things like that so LeAnne wondered what she was after.  She’s been very happy to have it back and they still haven’t been snarky about it so I guess I’ll just let it go.  I wonder if the real babies will shred it when they get their real teeth and it remains defenseless.
I think I’m going to give weighing a trial when they drift off to sleep and see if I can get enough information to reassure myself that they are growing, growing, growing.  I can tell they are, I just like quantifiable sufficient competent evidentiary matter on which to base my opinion ;-). After that and after I finish yet another chorus or 2 of “I am a promise,” I’ll sing them the 3 songs and have a last sniff of puppy breath for tonight. And then we’ll say Nighty, nighty, nighty...