BirthDay, Tax-Day, Labor Day

So our April 15th was busy, first of all it was Dave's 44th birthday, he often thinks that at all of his birthdays he is turning 42 so I have to clear that up in case he told you otherwise :) We got him a massaging chair for his van, it attaches to his seat and plugs into the cigarette lighter so he can relax between appointments. So far he loves it! Tax day for us was no big deal because it was done months ago, although for some people (Jake) it was a big deal! April 15th was also Kady's due date. Of course it's not that simple and there is much more to the story so here goes:
It started on Wednesday morning when Suzy was acting strangely, panting, shaking and being sort of neurotic. We left her in the house when we went to work and Dave checked on her throughout the day. Wednesday evening she was totally fine, ate and went outside, no big deal. Thursday morning it was the same thing, panting and shaking and sticking to me like glue. So we left her in again, and at this time Kady was totally fine, no signs of labor. Dave again checked on her throughout the day and she was always the same-in our room, panting and shaking. Hailey got home and was worried about her because she was acting so strangely. I left work early, called the vet on my way home and arranged to bring her right in. She did not look pregnant at all and had no bag so we were concerned that something was not right. The vet examined her then decided to x-ray her, they found 2 puppies on the same side of her uterus, they ultra-sounded her and they were both alive and although bigger than they would have been had there been more, not to big to be delivered normally. So we took her home and waited. By the time I got home Kady was panting and shaking, apparently in labor as well. So this is how the entire night went: Kady and Suzy in side by side beds panting and shaking. I dozed off and on throughout the night when I could. Kady had her first puppy at 10:42, second puppy at 1:30, and the third puppy at 4:15. Suzy worked at it and pushed frequently but never produced anything. Kady's puppies were all born with a condition I learned about from my friend Jennifer as Red Bag. The way I understand it is the placenta is inside out and attached to the uterus wall. Each puppy came out without a sac or without their placenta, covered in blood. It was very strange and really messy. She has never had a delivery like this. The puppies were all very small and looked like little weiner dogs. Friday morning at 7:30 we called the vet and arranged to bring Suzy in at 8:30 for a C-section. We didn't have high hopes that the puppies would be alive but they needed to come out one way or another. I left her there and headed into work, I had some stuff that absolutely had to be done, I was loopy from lack of sleep and looked like hell but what are you gonna do?
The vet called me about 12:00, said mom and two boy puppies were all fine and healthy, phew! Big relief.
I left work early again to go pick her and the puppies up because she was very uncomfortable being there and would not pay any attention to her puppies. Big shocker I know-anyone who knows Suzy is not surprised by this.
I got home and got Suzy and pups situated in Madi's room and went to check on Kady.
First of all there were four puppies instead of three and two of them were dead. They had apparently not nursed at all. Kady's bag was huge and full of milk. I took the two remaining puppies of Kady's and moved them with Suzy on the heating pad. I then took Suzy's two big healthy, nursing puppies and put them on Kady to help releive her. It worked great, they were happy and anxious to be nursing and today Kady looks much more comfortable and normal.
The bad news-apparently one of the problems with the Red-Bag is that the puppies are born oxygen deprived which is probably one reason they werent nursing. I tried bottle feeding the two living puppies but the little male was just not into it at all, he wouldnt suck or really swallow. The little girl seemed to be stronger and got better and better at it. I finally moved her in with Kady to let her nurse. She latches on really well and seems to be a pretty good sucker, but gets knocked off easily by the bigger puppies. I got up every two hours to help her get attached and make sure she nursed. I don't know if she is going to make it or not it's hard to say right now. The other little boy did not make it, we knew he woulnd't but we had to try anyway. Right now all 3 puppies are with Kady as she has a lot of milk and is doing a good job taking care of them. Suzy wants the puppies but has no interest in nursing them or cleaning them which is a problem. I know she is sore and uncomfortable and on pain medication so we just decided to have one combined litter and give it to Kady.
For now we have 3 puppies, 2 boys and 1 girl. The all look the same a brown color like Maxx with a little white on the chest. We will keep you posted and what a way to spend April 15th.