A boy is born
| Day 1
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Well into the night of Wednesday on Thursday Cameo was ready to pop out the offspring she had carried around for 9 weeks and a day. After a very short time though my inner feeling told me something just wasn't right in there. A visit to the vet was organized and not long after that we are preparing Cameo for a c-section. And while Cameo's mind goes blank in my hands I tell her I love her and hope she will be back with me in a few mins... meanwhile also hoping that this c-section is well in time for the pup as well.
A little while later the pup is placed in front of me without any clear sign of life. I start rubbing and while Cameo is stitched up again, the pup slowly comes to life. Cameo comes out of the narcose without trouble, a big relieve.
In a state of complete thankfulness I drive back home and place my precious girl and her son in their warm box. Things seem to be going ok between them and the thought of being able to sleep an hour after being awake for over 36 hours make my eyes almost shut automatically. |
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However, soon after Cameo is fully awake and won't except her pup. Milkproduction is almost nil meaning there's work for me to do. I find the boy a teddybear to crowl under and a fleece blanket and give him some milk. He seems happy and soon he's fast asleep.
The first day this is pretty much what I do. Feed the kid, clean him up, make sure he peed and pooped and let him sleep again. Then it's time to spend some time playing with the other dogs or get some sleep myself. Just a little while for time goes so fast today and pup needs another feeding.
It's now waiting for the day that the boy will start gaining some weight. Till then I won't look too far into the future.
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A boy needs his mommy
| Day 2
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It's not that I don't want to feed the kid every 2 hours, it's that I believe he needs his mom. After making sure Cameo is all ok I take her with me on the couch, pretending we will take a nap there like we have done for days before. Cameo soon
settles herself under the blanket and I gently place the pup near her belly. I start telling story after story and pet Cameo everywhere I can. She still won't accept the pup near her but I have this goal I want to reach so I will just try.
The pup quickly attaches himself to a nipple and starts drinking.
This is repeated several times during the day in the hope that milkproduction will kick in and mom will get this 'Oh I have a kid to look after' sensation. The first thing slowly is starting to improve, the second thing would probably take a miracle. |
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With this wound in her belly and no painkiller to control the pain it must be rough for my little girl and I make sure she is still up for the job everytime I place the kid near to her. Also making sure he won't touch the wound with his nails making Cameo annoyed again, not an easy job I can tell.
I enjoy the happy sounds the little boy makes when I touch him. He climbs onto my hand and starts looking for his milk. Then everything goes fast... he will not wait with peeing until I found something to collect it, he wants his milk and wants it fast and I also have to make sure the little one is still warm enough.
For now things are not going too bad and allready I have this feeling I get the hang of certain things. And the boy... he's fast asleep again with his bear that is really a moose without a nose and a big hole in his neck that I still need to repare. Desi one day got to it and it only took her a few seconds to make a mess of the moose.
The interest she shows today for the nice cosey litterbag is not for the pup at all as I originally thought :) |
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Doing better every day
| Day 3
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After again a reasonable restless night for me, Solo finally stopped loosing weight and is getting stronger now. Mom has completely no milk anymore so today I gave her half a painkiller. What a difference that made, a happy Cammy again! I will watch out for sudden changes in the interest she shows in the pup, if she wants she may take care of him. But I doubt it will get that far.
I placed Mindy in the box with Solo this afternoon for she always has been a great mom and it sure was worth a try. Mindy responded well while Solo wiggled around her feet and soon she placed herself in her most favorite position... on her back. Untill Solo tried to suck the milk out from under her townails it all went fine. Mindy stood up and gently placed herself in a different position but didn't jump out of the box. Not too bad I thought, not too bad at all! I thank Mindy for her time and patience and get the boy something to eat. |
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Later today I will give it another try. Mindy would make such a splendid heater and companion dog!
Gollum the cat had a run for the job as Nanny as well this evening, silly boy!
It's not the pup he's interested in, nor is it the moose. No, knowing my cat it is the fleece blanket in combination with the heatpad underneath.
Solo has been fed again, relieved from certain things and found his place under Moose again with a cute puppy belly. We're ready for another night of a few hours sleep and some moments of caretaking and I'm looking forward to day 4 with my very cute little baby. Sleep well Solo! |
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Tables are turning
| Day 4
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Today started with a little gain in weight after a good night sleep and some good meals. Not that much but enough to make me happy and Solo silently dreaming.
Yet in the afternoon it seemed that the bottles weren't working that well anymore. After a feeding I got the feeling Solo didn't get that much milk in at all but plenty of air. He was not a happy puppy and it took a while to recover from the one thing he so desperately needs these days, his bottles.
I went into town to buy us a new bottle in the hope it would do well for Solo and later did a search on the net for even better solutions. This is where Cameo enters the picture again with some wining sounds and a belly that looked so different than the day before.
I place Cameo in my lap and she turns on her back. Low and behold, there's milk pooring out!
I think the feeling I had right that moment is like the one you'll have when winning the lotery! |
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Making sure she's fine and capable I place her on the softest pillow I can find and the fleeceblanket she loves so much. I take Solo out of his bag and like he has never done otherwise he fills himself with the real good stuff!
A perfect round filled puppybelly is laying there in the bag, no sound is heard, Solo is sleeping so peacefully! And allthough mom still doesn't have that motherly intent of cleaning up after a meal I'm the happiest person on the planet today!
I treat mom with another very good meal and an endless flow of sweet talk. Tonight she may sleep next to me again, under her fleece blanket and hopefully 3 hours at the time. |
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A most perfect sight
| Day 5
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Throughout the night Solo climbed out of his comfy bag and woke me up for another feeding with mom. He crawls onto my left hand to be lifted up and my right hand dugs deep under the fleece blankets on my other side to find his mother. Not sure she would appreciate this nightly bar time I still have to be present. Which ain't easy after only sleeping for 2 hours but I struggle hard to stay awake and spend an hour watching the boy drink.
Cameo is doing reasonable but still not paying that much positive attention to the boy. This scenario is repeated another 2 times and by the time I wake up in the morning I'm pretty much exhausted.
I take the big dogs outside but Cameo refused to follow. She is waiting in front of the litterbox to be let in. Cool! I let her in with the kid and she starts to lick Solo's belly. Way to go Cameo, now we're getting somewhere! It took another hour to see even more progression but for now mom and child are in the box together for allready a couple of hours. Where in the beginning mom was still a bit annoyed when Solo went on his hunt for milk, she now has been quiet for over an hour.
Well, that ain't completely true... a few mins ago I heard her talking in her sleep. The best sound ever!
Of course it was Socks who again voluntered for the nanny job when mom isn't around. It didn't take him long though to find out this young child is a load full of work and he resigned again soon after this picture was taken:) |
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Mother and child reunion
| Day 6
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Today has been the best day in Solo's short existence. The entire day he spend in the company of his mother who is not trying to escape from him anymore every time he tries to locate one of the few working nipples. I had to downsize the litterbox in order to get that started but hey, it worked.
Cameo is now cleaning the kid as well and lets him crowl all over her. This afternoon I found Solo fast asleep in his mothers neck, it made me a very happy person. I became even happier when I suddenly heard some noises from the box that very much sounded like a puppybark kinda sound. Solo was marching through the box, it looked like he had so much fun in there:)
For now I still see it day by day where today was a very good one. Now if tomorrow is a good one as well ... I could stop feeling worried sooner that I thought!
Noticed the nose changing color? I might be biased but I think Solo is the cutest! Hairy but cute:) |
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All the world's a sunny day
| Day 7
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I got a Nikon camera and I love to take a photograph. Specially of happy occasions. And one of those happy oc's happened here in my very own livingroom. A moment that lasted throughout the night so I could finally get something that feels like sleep;)
Mom and son had eachother in the litterbox and everything went ok. Somewhere around 3 I woke up, took one look into the box, noticed the kid drinking and that's about all I remember.
Happy sounds now fill the room every so many hours, I think Solo is having a blast in his cosey environment. As mom doesn't allow other dogs to even take a peek into the litterbox anymore his only companion is mom and me. But for a small little fellow like him that is probably all it takes. |
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Throughout the day nothing much out of the ordinary happend. Mom is still looking after the kid like it should be and the kid is slowly starting to look like a little whale. A hairy little whale that is but I won't hold that against him.
Looking back over the past 7 days I consider myself very lucky. I still remember the thoughts I had like 'it won't get any better', 'Solo won't have a real mom at all' and 'will I ever sleep again'. And all of these thoughts where unnecessary so it seems.
If only I would have known that during the past days:)
It's now time for me to step back a little and enjoy the most precious sight of mom and son who both are happy and healthy. As for this story... I have no idea when it will turn in 'just another
page filled with pictures for there ain't so much to tell' but it will be sooner than I could have wished for! |
