We have our first peeker! The little pink collared female is peeking out at me this morning. I imagine by this evening, there will be more eyes looking back at me. They continue to gain weight in leaps and bounds and every one of them is walking well now. The female with the dark blue collar is today the heftiest, weighing in at 2' 6 oz. Her sibling with the orange collar comes in second at 2' 5 oz. They both started into the world at 12 oz each and today's weight shows they have tripled their birth weight in just 12 days. I find all this quite amazing and never get tired of pouring over their stats. Don't get me wrong, cuddling with them is much more fun and lowers the blood pressure very well but I do enjoy statistics.

No peeking yet but they'll all doing pretty good at motoring around with their tummies off the bedding and holding their heads up. Several of them hold their heads up and hold them real steady for a few seconds as if they were actually looking for something or at something. Four of the five boys are over 2 pounds now and the girls range in weights from 1' 11 oz to 1' 15 oz. My brother asked me last night whether or not there was a runt in the litter and I laughed and told him not really. There are two that have been the smallest of the litter but they're always within a few ounces of the bigger buns.

Day 11. Our last holdout has hit the doubled mark. There are three that hit 2' today. The weight range is 1 1/2 to 2 pounds and they're all just as roly poly as they can be. I noticed this morning that when I held them and spoke to them, they relaxed. I don't know that they're hearing particularly yet, it's probably too soon for that, but the vibration of my voice they recognize. Watching them jockeying for position at the milk bar, Bunny is going to be soooooo glad when they're really to start on solid food. There may be enough spigots but that doesn't mean there's sufficient shoulder room! Heaven help the bun that drops off for a second; that spigot doesn't get cold!

Day 10. Well, nine have now doubled their birth weight; the last hold out is still the little green collared female. They're all making faces now; grimaces, raised eyebrows, yawns, mouth twitches. I swear it sounded like one was barking this morning. I hope you all enjoyed the pictures I sent out last night. They're getting more photogenic now.

Day 9. Well, eight of the ten buns have now doubled their birth weight and man can they move! Next time I weigh them, I may have to rig up some kind of container on the scale to keep them on the scale at all! The two who haven't yet doubled are both within 2 oz of doing so. They should open their eyes sometime this week and I am really looking forward to looking into their eyes.

Correction, this is day 8.

Day 7. Sorry today's installation is late; I overslept and barely had time to do puppy pen cleanup and weigh ins before rushing off to make church on time. As expected, everyone looks great! Weights range from 1' 3 oz to 1' 9 oz. We have two pups that have now doubled their birth weights They all got new collars today as their birthday clothes were getting too snug and I couldn't get the knots untied to simply loosen them. Tonya came by to visit and took some new pictures and if she sends me any, I'll pass them along.

Okay, here's the stats for those interested. Two pups are a pound and a half. One pup each at 1' 7oz, 1' 6 oz, 1' 5 oz. Two pups each at 1'4 oz and 1' 3 oz. The the littlest one broke the pound mark today going from 14 oz to 1' 1 oz. The next milestone is to see who doubles their birth weight first. The pup closest to doing so now is one of the ones who started into the world at 12 oz., he being the male with the light blue collar. He is one pound away from that mark but there are three that are two pounds away. I love doing this kind of thing. I should have been a statistician!

Day 7. One week old now. They have already changed so very much it is just incredible. We haven't had our weigh in session yet this morning as I am still recuperating from their birthday and actually slept in until 7:15 this morning! :) I'll get them weighed in shortly and report how they're doing back here.

Day 6. All the buns are weighing in over 1 pound now, except one and she is going to be there by Sunday probably. I am eager to see which pup doubles it's birth weight first and on what day. They are really crawling around with speed now; they're funny to watch. I thought the littlest one actually had her body hefted off the floor just a mite this morning but I couldn't be sure. I know I said I'd hoped to have pictures last night but I ran out of time to do so. I'll get some this weekend for sure though.

Day 5. Our package of buns is doing quite well. Getting so plump and roly poly. I will try and take some more pictures to send out this evening. By this time next week, they should be starting to peek out at their world.

Day 4. We now have five pups that are a pound or better. The smallest pup is the scrappiest. The biggest female is laid back. It's cool that they're beginning to be individuals already; I can't wait to look into their eyes. I go back to work today and I'm really going to miss them.

Day 3. They are all getting so big! It is fascinating to watch them developing preferences and just being so precious. I don't get tired of sitting and watching them.

Good morning. I guess we start now, calling this Day 2. This is the second day of their lives. All 10 are doing well; Bunny is just being a super mom. She came and checked in with me for a few seconds this morning but then ran right back down to be with her babies.

As I think you all know by know, we have welcomed Bunny's 10 little buns into the world between 12:39 am today and 6:12 am today. Bunny had four attendants besides myself, none of which I could have done without! There are 2 yellow males, 3 black males & 5 black females, all healthy and doing great so far. There were two at 11 oz, six at 12 oz, one at 13 oz & one at 14 oz. Bunny was such a trooper and handled things much better than I did! By the third puppy, she had it all figured out. Except for one that got a mite stuck, she delivered them all without a fuss and without help. I am very, very proud of her. And now, for some more much needed sleep! zzzzzz..............

Day 62. It is looking more like the second breeding likely took which would techinally make this day 60. Bunny is acting very odd this morning. Her temperature is down to 98.2 yet she is panting heavily. She is also staying off to herself which is very unlike her. She has put herself back to bed three times this morning. I am glad Wendy is coming to hold her paw while I go in to work this morning. I told Bunny if she started having puppies before I got home, after being at home with her for the last three days, I would shoot her when I got here. :) Everybody keep your fingers crossed!!!

Day 61 and on we drag. Yesterday, I tried to ignore Bunny and go through the day as I normally would on a day off from work. My hope was in the phrase "a watched pot never boils" but it didn't help. Between 10:45 and midnight last night, I was sure she was going into labor but apparently she was just having trouble finding a comfortable position to lay in. By 1:00, she was snoring in competition with Bob. Oh well. It will happen when it happens and there's nothing I can do about it. Maybe I shouldn't have taken the time off from work; but then I would have fretted about her all day long and used extra gas going home to check on her at lunch.

Day 60. Bunny slept most of the day yesterday, deep sleep. She is getting extra rest and I am getting less, watching her every move. I guess her body is storing up her reserves for the eminent task. Kathy put in a request that Bunny wait until tonight to have these babies and I have to wonder if Bunny is honoring that request!

Day 59. Bunny had a good night's sleep last night, apparently, as I did too. I woke up abruptly at 3:00 this morning realizing I could not hear her breathing and I was sure she had gone downstairs. I was mentally searching for my shoes and socks as I laid there straining to hear her before I got up and went to her upstairs bed. But, no, there she was sleeping peacefully, until I wakened her that is. Oh well. We both went back to sleep all right.
Bunny has no appetite. Monday and yesterday she was quite reluctant to eat but finally did; this morning, she turned down her breakfast and her good girl cookie when she came in from her morning constitutional. I'm not to concerned about it because I read that this is normal for some dogs.

Day 58. Well, this is it. The end stretch. The nth hour. I thought the waiting seemed interminable before, now it is almost unbearable! I dreamed about puppies last night, numerous dreams, all good. Bunny's weight has shifted now to where her back bone is palpable and I know that is normal. It will be nice to find my svelte, fit and lean girl again. Not nearly as much as she will be glad to be that way again, I'm sure. She wants to chase the toys but the interest is cut by the cumbersome bulk. Once labor actually starts, I won't be able to email, most likely, until it is over. I will be quite busy. But rest assured, I will be burning up the airways as soon as I can.

Got home from work this evening to find that Bunny had thoroughly nested the brand new inches thick layers of newspapers I oh so carefully spread out in her whelping box yesterday afternoon. Oh well, I can't very well fuss at her for following her instincts.

Day 57. We kept the ceiling fan going in our bedroom last night and Bunny was a bit more comfortable. I wake up whenever she is stirring so because she slept a little better last night, so did I. I am going to run a progesterone test at work today and see where her levels are. When the progesterone level drops to a certain point, birth is eminent. I plan to run it today and tomorrow but then I am off for the next week (maternity leave?) so it won't much matter if I know when the level drop. That's all assuming that the level won't indicate the eminence is near today or tomorrow. I layered newspapers in her whelping box yesterday afternoon then went out for a couple of hours. When I got back, the papers were all messed up but I don't know if Bunny did that or the cat, Pepe. I can't wait to see his reaction to the puppies.
Apparently there are some athletes in this litter if their activity in utero are any indication. They have been very active these last few days, kicking and jumping.

Day 56. Last night was especially rough for Bunny. She COULD NOT get comfortable and she was hot most of the night. I hope these last few days go by quickly for her sake.

Day 55. At least two of the puppies were having a high time last night! While I sat and knitted in front of a movie, I did more watching of Bunn'ys belly than watching what I was doing or watching the movie. I watched two distinctly separate spots of activity and I tell you, they were positively doing gymnastics in there! :) It was quite amusing. Bunny seemed oblivious; she seems to be sleeping harder this past week or so.

Day 54. All is well (and big!) in puppy land. Bunny must be feeling like a bug under a glass by now; we are watching her so closely but she just loves the attention and doesn't mind people laughing at how big she has gotten. I just have a sneaking suspicion that the puppies will come on Wednesday. I don't know why and Lord knows, I have no experience behind me to guide me on this; just a gut feeling. I've probably said this before but, after 25 years of working in an animal hospital, this will be the first natural birth (other than the births of my two children) that I've ever experienced. I've assisted in many, many a C-section mind you just never before a natural birth. Once things get started, I won't be so antsy about it; it's just the waiting and wondering when and how many and how long and, and, and..... You know, all the factors I have no control over. So keep your fingers crossed folks! And pray that all goes smoothly for our little girl in her endeavours.

She is scarfing down food now even more zealously than before so I have upped her slightly to 2 cups twice daily with a half can added each time. She loves that canned food! Course, she is a lab after all and most labs love anything edible (and somethings that are not!).

Day 53. More of the same. Nights are apparently long and hot for Bunny. I feel for her. But it won't be long now.