Violet is truly our little miracle! I am so thankful to be sharing her story. So this litter is Evie’s retirement litter. She had 3 previous litters with 8 puppies every time. Naturally, that is what I expected to happen this time as well.
The first sign that something was off was at the ultrasound appointment which takes place about halfway through the pregnancy. Our amazing repro vet only saw one puppy, but ultrasounds are just used to confirm pregnancy and not to get an accurate count on the number of puppies. We both hoped that there were a couple hiding somewhere, because one puppy usually doesn’t produce enough hormones to trigger labor in the mom and a c-section is necessary.
Exactly one week before Evie’s due date, we went back for an x-ray which does give a pretty accurate puppy count. I was surprised that the x-ray confirmed that there really was only one puppy. But then the news got worse. The puppy was abnormally small and just didn’t look right. It was pretty clear that the puppy was probably not going to be viable.
This news was devastating. I was worried for Evie and what this would mean for her. She lives with the sweetest guardian family and it was difficult to share the news with them. Most likely, the puppy would pass in utero. When that happens, it triggers labor and Evie would deliver a stillborn. So the plan was to just wait and see if anything happened over the next week until her due date.
Nothing did happen and I found myself not even sure of what to pray for. I couldn’t bring myself to pray that the puppy would pass even though that would have been the easiest way for this to end. All I could do was trust God’s plan. It was extremely stressful and so sad waiting and watching.
The day after her due date, we went in for another ultrasound to check on the puppy. Her heartbeat was still strong so we decided to try and induce labor with oxytocin. This does have risks if you are expecting a healthy puppy but sadly, we were not. I still had a tiny bit of hope that Evie would deliver a live puppy and it would just be small and in need of some extra support but that was highly unlikely. A total of 4 doses were given over the course of the day and still no sign of labor. The vet thought she might progress once I got her home and she was more comfortable. So I waited and watched and prayed. Still nothing.
We went in for another ultrasound 5 days after her due date. At this point, it is highly unlikely that the puppy is still alive. The placenta only supports the puppy for a couple days past the due date and she was 5 days overdue. Everyone in the room was shocked when the puppy’s heartbeat still looked strong on the ultrasound.
The vet wanted to take another look at the puppy on x-ray. We never expected the outcome. I still can’t even believe it but the puppy looked great! She was perfectly normal size somehow! God had granted us a miracle! We even went back and compared both x-rays and there was no other explanation.
Violet was born later that day via c-section and was absolutely perfect! Both Evie and Violet are doing amazing! Evie is the best little mama and didn’t have any issues at all healing from her c-section and Violet is a chunky little monkey at 2 weeks old! We are so thankful and blessed!
