Saturday, April 27, 2019
Birth day for Hedy
I had a feeling that Hedy would be giving birth this weekend.
She was never a fan of my manipulating her belly to feel for movement or any problems so I just had to keep trying and see what I could feel. About two weeks ago I felt a good bit of movement which generally indicates that you have about two weeks. I was expecting Saturday, but I wasn't ruling out Friday.
We had to run to the store and I went to check on her before we left and she seemed just fine, not in labor, happy to eat, no problems. We got back several hours later at 10:30ish and I went to check on her again. She brought me to her food bowl and I offered her a little food. She ate some of it and laid down and I stuck my hand on her belly just hoping to catch a bit of movement and felt a contraction.
I tried to get Hedy into the birthing basket and she said: "No thank you, I will be doing this on your brand new couch, thankyouverymuch!"
So I pulled out the waterproof backed pee pad (see the bright pad with lots of circles above) and got her on it and ended up rounding up the sides a little hoping to catch all of the mess (and surprisingly I did)
She had contractions, she started panting, she was uncomfortable and I'm pretty sure she blamed me for the whole hands on her belly thing. I assured her the first one was the hardest, and twenty minutes later or so we had a kitten. A little tiger. A few minutes after that she delivered a solid black kitten.
Hedy is young, not even a year old, and considering what happened after she gave birth initially, I am quite certain if I hadn't been sitting there we would have lost a couple of these kittens.
Two different ultrasounds of her abdomen said we were looking at three kittens, so I knew we weren't done with two. Like a real trooper, she popped them out.
Number three was orange, number four initially looked black and I started wondering how I would tell the two apart but it turned out to be a dark silvery color. The longer I am around them the more I am inclined to believe the kitty is just gray. I thought we might be done at four, but when I felt her belly I felt movement and a skull. Hedy was tired and she took her time delivering the fifth, a little gray tabby kitty.
I felt again and thought I felt another nugget in there but there was no movement. Hedy relaxed and tended the kittens. It was three AM at this point so I decided to take a little nap on the other couch, thinking I would check on her in about an hour and see what was going on. When I woke up she was still relaxed and still not acting like there was anything left to do (I have been fooled before) so I thought I was safe to go to bed. I tried to put her in the basket and she was having none of it.
I put the kittens in. She looked over the edge of the couch and then back at me as if to say "PUT THEM BACK!" I put her back in the basket again, and again she jumped back on the couch, on to the wet cold mess that she created and wanted them back up there with her. The third time was the charm and she settled down and let them nurse. I removed the pad and covered the couch with another towel just in case and went off to bed. I checked the webcam (see link at the top of the page if you want to watch them) a couple of times to make sure she was still with them and all seemed okay so I went to sleep.
At this point, they aren't even 24 hours old and they are doing well. They are hefty for their size and are all nursing well. I don't think I'll feel comfortable for a few days praying every few minutes they don't come down with URI.
I have determined their gender, but it was a super quick peek because Hedy is still not completely comfortable with what is going on. Her instincts are kicking in, which is helpful.
Now if you remember, I gave away naming rights to my next set of kittens so names will be coming when I get them. (I've lost your email though- so if you could reach out to me I can let you know what you need to know)
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Congratulations, Hedy! You are gonna be a good mama.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to watching these pipsqueaks grow!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the world, Kittens!
ReplyDeleteThey are in good hands and paws
ReplyDeleteA new batch has arrived! It will be so sweet watching them grow.
ReplyDeleteOh the itty bitties are here. Must be incredible to help her give birth.
ReplyDeleteEmma and Buster
They are precious and I pray they remain healthy. Hedy is such a good mommy.
ReplyDeleteConcatulations, Hedy ! You're young, but we're sure you'll be a good mom for your cute little kittens ! Purrs
ReplyDeletePaws up, Hedy! And I'm so glad you have a new family to foster.
ReplyDeleteOh they are so sweet! Well done Ms. Hedy, we're happy to hear your mother instincts have kicked in. Purrs to you all.
ReplyDeleteHooray! Well done, Hedy! What a great mommy you'll be!
ReplyDeleteWow new kittens, they are so cute, looking at the gray one the name 50 shades came to mind
ReplyDeleteOh, how completely dear. New kittens...a momma who is taking care of them..and a human mama who is taking care of everyone. Thank you for your kindness.
ReplyDeletehappee birth day two ewe wee onez.....we wizh each oh ewe N mom two, yeerz oh happee, healthee N for everz for ever homez....stay sassee ...we will sneek over ta de web cam now ~ ♥♥☺☺♥♥☺☺
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