From Tucker and Winnie's first mating, I calculated 9 weeks and the earliest potential due date that I could figure was October 21st. Our family is ripe with autumn birthdays and this highly anticipated arrival of new life sure added extra excitement to an already full calendar of celebration!
On Friday, October 21st Winnie began rooting around in her "birthing pool" (being a home birth advocate I found it hilarious to refer to the whelping area -a kiddie pool- as such. So literal. Her breathing became shallow and quick and she rested in her birthing pool all day, with the occasional break to eat, drink and go outside. Something was definitely different.
By late afternoon she began panting and around dinnertime I noticed her belly tightening and she let out a soft whimper. Sure sign that things were progressing. This being my first litter, it was a bit baffling reading so much contradictory information online regarding the length of stage one labor. Some said eight hours, others said sixteen. Twelve hours after her first signs of early labor, she began pushing.
Her first baby arrived at 8:46pm with me and my oldest daughter, 12, at her side in the dim lamplight and quietness that reigns in our home when a good movie is showing downstairs. A little girl! Within 30 minutes, another little girl arrived. Then two boys, a girl. Slowly our five kids came up in ones and twos to see the wonder of birth and adore the tiny babies.
Two more boys arrived, followed by a girl, boy and two girls. Eleven puppies! We all had bets on how many she would have and Tennyson, 8, won guessing 10. No one ever imagined she'd have 11! By 12:17am Winnie had birthed them all.
Paladin, our youngest, fell asleep next to the birthing pool and Tucker, the Papa Dog, snuggled next to him. I think he was waiting to light his cigar.
As a first time Mama, she had looked bewildered several times as puppies crawled all over her trying to find their first meal, her belly still heaving with instinctual pushes. But she settled into motherhood so effortlessly and with such care, it was a miracle to witness. And gave me a whole new perspective on intuitive birth. I'm due with our sixth child this Spring and plan on delivering at home, as I've done with 3 of our 5. Winnie's grace during birth was an inspiration that I will take with me as I welcome our newest family member surrounded by my most precious people, hopefully with as much peace and serenity as Winnie exhibited during this beautiful birth.
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