Yesterday morning, Ellen the doggie doula from Homeward Trails came by and evaluated Poppy to see how far along she was and to try and determine when she might deliver her puppies. After a short visit, she proclaimed that things were progressing, but that Poppy was still a couple of days out from delivering. After her visit, she announced her assessment to our text thread of Beagle mama fosters and Homeward Trails doulas, prompting someone to say, “famous last words.”
About 6pm, Dwight (my husband) was sitting next to Poppy on the couch, and she just couldn’t get comfortable. She kept adjusting herself this way and that. Earlier in the day, like in the wee hours of the morning, she had started to become really restless and grumping at our three dogs. Well, while she was sitting next to Dwight on the couch, he noticed that the spot where she was sitting suddenly became wet. He quickly picked her up and took her upstairs to the area we had set up for her to deliver her puppies. By the time, he got her up there, the first puppy was already halfway out! So much for a couple of days! 😂 We quickly contacted Ellen who had just had time to run a few errands and barely get turned around good from her original visit to our house before heading back over to help Poppy birth her puppies.
Over the next four hours, Poppy delivered four girls and three boys, which we named after Stranger Things characters. First came Hopper, then El, then Will, then Max, then Joyce, then Robin, then Mike. Our oldest son, Benjamin, who was just returning from work and grocery shopping, was very helpful by sticking a pizza in the oven and bringing food and water up to everyone during all the excitement.
Sadly, an eighth puppy was born that didn’t make it, which we are very sad about and have decided to name Dustin. Dwight is using his woodworking skills to make a little box for him to be buried in the backyard of another one of the Homeward Trails doulas. As sad as this is, it gives us great joy to watch Poppy blossom as a new mom and love on her seven puppies. We can’t wait to watch them grow and get ready to go to their forever homes!
