Well ..... I haven't gotten any sleep the past two nights.  I've been up laying with Kiki.   She started nesting the night before last and then started contractions ...... nothing happened .... then all day Friday she laid by herself in the back washroom in a pile of clothes.  She came out a couple times to pee and to see Grandma and Grandpa briefly.  She stayed there all day and all night.  I thought her contractions had stopped so I just left her alone so she could sleep.  I took her back into her room Friday night around 9:00pm .... she was in labor again .... yowling .... and pushing ...really hard.    Still nothing coming out.   I told Russ Saturday morning that something was wrong ...... the last three times she had puppies, she didn't have to try this hard.  So at 7:30am we called Rich (our vet).     He was there all by himself but told us to pack her up and come in.    

He looked at her and said the first puppy was turned around and was coming out backwards ...... that's probably why she couldn't push him out.  He tried and tried to grab him and pull him out so she could have the rest but he couldn't grab hold of him.   By 9:30 he decided that Kiki probably wasn't going to be able to have the puppies herself.     SO ...... since Rich was all alone Russ and I needed to be his nurses ...... he was going to do a c-section to get them all out.     WHAT A MORNING THAT WAS!!!  

 Rich told us that he would bring us the puppies one at a time and we were to give them a couple drops of the 'revive' stuff and then start stimulating them to make them breathe ..... no problem!   Piece of cake!!   Right? .... WRONG!!!        Rich went into the back room and cut Kiki open.  He came out with the first little puppy still in the sac.      Russ ripped open the sac and got all the gook off of the puppy with a paper towel.... I pried it's little mouth open and gave it 2 drops of the revive stuff under it's little tongue .... then I started rubbing it all over to try to make it breathe.  Ok ... nothing happened ....so Russ started rubbing .... nothing happened...... then Rich brought another one out.  Hey!  We haven't got the last one to start breathing yet .... wait a minute!!!     Well, apparently it doesn't work that way.  He doesn't stop .... there's no waiting.   So now we had two little puppies we were working on.    Neither one was breathing.   I gave the second puppy two drops of the stuff ..... and then Rich brought out another one ....so now I was rubbing two puppies and Russ was ripping the sack off the third puppy ....then he brought out ANOTHER one ---- HEY!!! WAIT!!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!!   So now Russ had two and I had two and I was giving them more drops of the 'revive' stuff ......  and we were both using both hands rubbing their little bellies and backs and throats trying to get them to breathe ---- none of them would breathe.   Ok ... this isn't quite as easy as we thought ....We were panicking!!!    Then FINALLY one gasped for air and opened his little mouth ..... then Rich brought out another one --- SIX now .... then finally another one gasped for breathe .... then Rich brought out ANOTHER ONE ... SEVEN LITTLE PUPPIES TOTAL!!!!!   We had both hands going rubbing and rubbing and rubbing like crazy .... now I know why Kiki licks them so hard and beats the crap out of them when they come out  .... she's trying to get them to breathe.  Then you'd think after they gasped they'd start breathing .... oh no .... you had to keep rubbing them cuz they'd stop breathing again.     At one point we had 7 little, tiny black baby wet rats with all their afterbirth and bags attached to them all laying there NOT BREATHING ...... Rich came out from the back where Kiki was and gave me another syringe of different revive stuff to use .... then FINALLY we got one of the little suckers to start breathing all on his own and he started whining ... and whining and whining..... then finally another one ... and another one ..... till all seven were breathing on their own.  There were a couple that were hit and miss ..... they went a long time without gasping for air.   Then Rich showed us how to clamp the umbilical cord and cut off the blood flow to the afterbirth bags ..... I clamped and Russ cut till all the little puppies were laying in a pile squirming around and whining.    All were ok!!     SEVEN PUPPIES!!!!  WOW!   Then Rich finished stiching up Kiki and brought her out.  He brought her out of the sedative and she was real groggy.  I showed her all her puppies but she just stared at them in a daze ....... she didn't know they were her puppies.  SO .... we had to work with her and try to get her to accept the seven little puppies.  She didn't want to lick them or be by them.    Finally she figured it out and she started licking them and loving them.      Then we packed up all the puppies in a little box with a towel in it ..... wrapped Kiki in a blanket and went home.       SEVEN PUPPIES!!!    

     SO ... Russ got home and took some medicine .... he got a terrible migraine delivering puppies and he said he NEVER wants to do that again.    I guess he's not cut out to be a vet ..... I loved it!!   This was the best morning!!!!     I hope all seven make it through the next 2 weeks .......  Stay tuned for more pics as they grow older!!