I've got some gross pics, but I will only share a clean and dry one right now! lol!
I'll get some more later...
Here are the gorey details. We came home from dinner, and I checked on Pepper and noticed she was getting stronger and longer contractions. I really thought it was time... we put the kids to bed so she wouldn't hear them in the hall, and dimmed the lights and got her in her little nest. She wanted ME... more than anything she wanted me with her, so I told DH to go to bed, I would sit with her. I actually brought a pillow and blanket in and laid down next to her bed. As the contractions got more intense, she would get up, circle around, and then nuzzle up to me wanting comfort. She was literally throwing herself on my neck as I laid there.... I eventually drifted off to sleep, only to be woke up by her fretting... she lost her mucous plug.
From there, she got a little frantic. She would get really scared during her contractions and at one point hid in the litterbox (laid down) so I had to take the cover off the litterbox, and I coaxed her back to her bed... again, she nuzzled up to me for comfort. When I finally saw the purple sack protruding, I called DH in, and then got on the phone with my mother (it was like 1 a.m.) to get her to get on the net and make sure everything was going right. Since it was taking so long, we were debating whether or not I should break that sack since baby wasn't coming and some sites said to do that. I got grossed out, and decided I would wait longer to intervene. DH had made me a pot of coffee and laid back down on the guest bed watching... I happened to look over at him and he is laying there with this little plastic dental pick in his hand ... he had heard me debating with my mother - how do I pop this thing? should I pop this thing? With what, my fingers? no way... we were like total idiots debating on that.... We all started laughign so hard because here DH sits in total silence holding up a sharp object like "here, you can pop it with this"... what a bunch of idiots we are! lol!...I had a flashlight to help me see in the dim light and when I finally saw her struggling and only two little feet were protruding in that sack, I grabbed it with a dry towel and waited for contractions, and helped it along gently.
When the baby was out, Pepper didn't know what it was. I broke the sack off of the baby's face and wiped the mouth/nose area and it began to squeak. As soon as she heard the squeak, she came RUNNING and frantically cleaned up every last bit of everything... as she chewed the placenta, I looked at DH and the look on his face was PRICELESS. He said, "And you wonder why they even bother with tuna or liver flavor treats...." bwwhahhahhahahaaa... I would hand the phone over to him and he and my mother were having fun talking and him making her laugh... but DH says to her that he couldn't believe I jumped right in and started working on making sure the baby was okay. That first little one was the grey one...
The second baby came head first and wasn't any problem...that was the larger black one... the third was the biggest tabby (the largest of all) and was feet first again. She was crying when it got stuck, so I had to gently help that one out. The placenta never came with that one. She broke the cord but the placenta didn't come.
Fourth baby came, she was so busy with the others that I had to break the sack off the face again and wipe its face up to get it to breathe... another brown tabby!
She settled in with the babies... and it was just so cute. She literally would hug them up to her neck... she just LOVED them immediately. She purred and purred during the entire experience...
I could still feel a fifth and she started to push and passed that missing placenta. She was too busy with the babies so I scooped it up myself and disposed of it after my morbid side examined it and was seriously grossed out. She finally had the fifth and last baby (smaller black one)... I kinda knew it was over... so I waited another hour... saw no more contractions, and decided I had to get her off of that wet bed... she was shivering because she was so wet and so was the blanket. I made up the nesting box and started to pick up the babies. I put three in the box, and they cried, and she jumped up to take care of them, but then the other two still on the blanket cried... she was literally panicking back and forth between the two groups, didn't know which to tend to... I quickly got the others in the box, and she has been with them ever since in there... she just keeps hugging and loving on them... rubs her face up against them... as they fight for food... that little grey one seriously has a bullying problem... probably from being firstborn! lol!
I left her alone with them and cleaned up and went to bed... I dreamt for the past four hours that she was having 12 total! lol!!!!
When I woke up this morning, I showed the kids. Pepper was so happy to see all of us, and she was soooo proud of her babies, it was like she was telling us all about them.... she just LOVES them so much. I love it when one squeaks, she jumps up and checks them out wanting to know which one is upset and why.
My kids love them... they don't want to leave the room... she lets the kids pet the babies, and she is just so proud... (my kids are monitored though - they are great kids, but I just want her to know I am going to always be there to make sure everything is okay...)
Here's a quick snapshot of her this morning... worn out... I will take some more photos later... their faces are too cute!!!!
Sorry to ramble... that was an awesome experience. I'm so glad DH stayed up with me... it was neat to experience that with him... he was very impressed with Pepper's mothering!
Here are the gorey details. We came home from dinner, and I checked on Pepper and noticed she was getting stronger and longer contractions. I really thought it was time... we put the kids to bed so she wouldn't hear them in the hall, and dimmed the lights and got her in her little nest. She wanted ME... more than anything she wanted me with her, so I told DH to go to bed, I would sit with her. I actually brought a pillow and blanket in and laid down next to her bed. As the contractions got more intense, she would get up, circle around, and then nuzzle up to me wanting comfort. She was literally throwing herself on my neck as I laid there.... I eventually drifted off to sleep, only to be woke up by her fretting... she lost her mucous plug.
From there, she got a little frantic. She would get really scared during her contractions and at one point hid in the litterbox (laid down) so I had to take the cover off the litterbox, and I coaxed her back to her bed... again, she nuzzled up to me for comfort. When I finally saw the purple sack protruding, I called DH in, and then got on the phone with my mother (it was like 1 a.m.) to get her to get on the net and make sure everything was going right. Since it was taking so long, we were debating whether or not I should break that sack since baby wasn't coming and some sites said to do that. I got grossed out, and decided I would wait longer to intervene. DH had made me a pot of coffee and laid back down on the guest bed watching... I happened to look over at him and he is laying there with this little plastic dental pick in his hand ... he had heard me debating with my mother - how do I pop this thing? should I pop this thing? With what, my fingers? no way... we were like total idiots debating on that.... We all started laughign so hard because here DH sits in total silence holding up a sharp object like "here, you can pop it with this"... what a bunch of idiots we are! lol!...I had a flashlight to help me see in the dim light and when I finally saw her struggling and only two little feet were protruding in that sack, I grabbed it with a dry towel and waited for contractions, and helped it along gently.
When the baby was out, Pepper didn't know what it was. I broke the sack off of the baby's face and wiped the mouth/nose area and it began to squeak. As soon as she heard the squeak, she came RUNNING and frantically cleaned up every last bit of everything... as she chewed the placenta, I looked at DH and the look on his face was PRICELESS. He said, "And you wonder why they even bother with tuna or liver flavor treats...." bwwhahhahhahahaaa... I would hand the phone over to him and he and my mother were having fun talking and him making her laugh... but DH says to her that he couldn't believe I jumped right in and started working on making sure the baby was okay. That first little one was the grey one...
The second baby came head first and wasn't any problem...that was the larger black one... the third was the biggest tabby (the largest of all) and was feet first again. She was crying when it got stuck, so I had to gently help that one out. The placenta never came with that one. She broke the cord but the placenta didn't come.
Fourth baby came, she was so busy with the others that I had to break the sack off the face again and wipe its face up to get it to breathe... another brown tabby!
She settled in with the babies... and it was just so cute. She literally would hug them up to her neck... she just LOVED them immediately. She purred and purred during the entire experience...
I could still feel a fifth and she started to push and passed that missing placenta. She was too busy with the babies so I scooped it up myself and disposed of it after my morbid side examined it and was seriously grossed out. She finally had the fifth and last baby (smaller black one)... I kinda knew it was over... so I waited another hour... saw no more contractions, and decided I had to get her off of that wet bed... she was shivering because she was so wet and so was the blanket. I made up the nesting box and started to pick up the babies. I put three in the box, and they cried, and she jumped up to take care of them, but then the other two still on the blanket cried... she was literally panicking back and forth between the two groups, didn't know which to tend to... I quickly got the others in the box, and she has been with them ever since in there... she just keeps hugging and loving on them... rubs her face up against them... as they fight for food... that little grey one seriously has a bullying problem... probably from being firstborn! lol!
I left her alone with them and cleaned up and went to bed... I dreamt for the past four hours that she was having 12 total! lol!!!!
My kids love them... they don't want to leave the room... she lets the kids pet the babies, and she is just so proud... (my kids are monitored though - they are great kids, but I just want her to know I am going to always be there to make sure everything is okay...)
Here's a quick snapshot of her this morning... worn out... I will take some more photos later... their faces are too cute!!!!
Sorry to ramble... that was an awesome experience. I'm so glad DH stayed up with me... it was neat to experience that with him... he was very impressed with Pepper's mothering!
