It’s a little past midnight on January 12th, 2011. It’s cold, very cold, and snowing. Neenee (pronounced Nay Nay) our 4-year-old English Bulldog is laboring with her third litter of pups
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| Do I still have back legs? |
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| OMG.....I can't breath!! |
She had been able to naturally whelp her other two litters, which is unusual of English Bulldogs who typically require a C-section.
However, something is not right! It’s not progressing like it should. Bobby is checking her progress over and over, while Eric tries to reassure and comfort her. The first puppy is breech and must be pulled out by its tiny feet. Neenee seems better after the first puppy is out; however, something still seems wrong!
We decided it was time to load her in the truck and make the 45-minute trip to the emergency vet clinic. Bobby is in the back of the truck with her and Eric is driving like a mad man in the snow. She starts having some significant bleeding about half way there, but he doesn’t tell Eric.
Upon our arrival, the vet recognizes the seriousness of the situation and wants to proceed with an emergent c-section. She asks if it comes down to saving momma dog or the puppies, what would we want her to do? “Save the mother” we both say simultaneously and without hesitation.
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| How could you not love this face?? |
Bobby happens to also be on call for the NICU and gets a call while talking to the vet. She realizes what his day job is and insists that we both come back to help resuscitate the puppies, IF they make it.
We are each handed a lifeless puppy to dry, stimulate, and cord clamp. It’s not looking good at first but then one begins to breathe and move. Then the other starts as well!! Puppy after puppy are handed to us, all of which we are able to get breathing and moving on their own. All told five puppies make it!
Neenee must recover from her anesthesia, so we are setting in the waiting room with five bulldog puppies lying on a heating pad in a box. Five hours later, as the sun begins to show it’s self, we load Neenee and her new puppies in to the truck and head home. It’s been a long night and we both still have to be at work in a few short hours.
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| Just an hour old! |
Unfortunately, Bobby is at work at feeding time. Eric calls and says he can’t get her to eat. Bobby relents and agrees to try to talk to her on the speakerphone. So in the NNP office of the NICU, there stands Bobby talking baby talk into the phone with a half dozen people watching on. At first, Neenee doesn’t buy it but after a few tries, Eric reports, much to his chagrin, that she is eating. A sigh of relief overcomes the office; after all we ARE in the baby business.
Neenee picks a favorite puppy in the very beginning…bringing her up against her face and putting her front legs around her. Eric is quite smitten with her too! He dubbed her the beauty queen!
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| That's Sophie snuggled up between her front legs! |
Bobby falls in love with the littlest puppy.
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| It should be against the law to be this cute!!! |
About six weeks into it, while having some puppy time in the floor and discussing which one to keep; we both look at each other and say “are we crazy?”. Realizing that we are probably going to keep both puppies, Neenee’s (Eric's) favorite and Bobby's, too!!!!! The other three puppies are placed in very nice homes and we do occasionally get updates on their status.
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| Sophie being frisky! |
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| The puppies at play time! |
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| Bulldogs apparently love noses! |
Neenee and Eric’s favorite is now known as Sophie. Sophie is a big girl like her mother and has the stubborn attitude to match.
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| Like mother.....like daughter! |
She has very selective hearing….only responding at meal time, usually. She loves to chase the deer in the field and frequently goes to the edge of the property to bark at the neighbor’s horses. They ignore her of course.
Bobby's favorite now goes by Sadie, she is of a slighter build like her father. She has quite a quirky personality.
She is at times very skittish and jumps at the least little sound. However, she is far more adventurous than her sister.
She tends to go off by herself and explore. She loves the wooded area next to the creek and is definitely the apple of Bobby’s eye.
As for Neenee, she has made a complete recovery of course. She loves the recliner that she barely fits in.
When we moved to the farm this past July, she grieved for 2 months because her favorite recliner wouldn’t fit in the family room. To this day, if she doesn’t come when called, we know to look in the den, because sure enough there she is in her recliner, fast asleep and happy as can be. We should also mention Neenee is the only dog that sleeps in the bed with us. OK, perhaps we spoil her just a bit.
Thanks for stopping by..... more about our canine friends coming soon.
~Bobby & Eric~
