Mellow Heidi – 43 days (pre-parturition)

Heidi is our happy-go-lucky girl. She has not experienced any morning sickness this pregnancy which is wonderful! Heidi is still enjoying her meals and is always looking for more. She is being fed 3 times daily now and that will most likely increase to 4 or 5 times daily as the puppies grow and there is less room for her tummy to expand.

Her routine has not changed much either as she continues her daily walks with the pack. Over the next week we expect she will begin to slow down as she heads into the final few weeks of her pregnancy.

It was difficult to tell Heidi was even pregnant as she didn’t really show much until day 37, when all of a sudden her waistline expanded to 31.5 inches (80 cm).
 

Above is an amazing photo by National Geographic of an embryo at 25 days.

By day 30, digestive and respiratory glands, muscles, bone, the puppy's circulatory, genital and urinary systems, the skin and hair, the nervous system and all of the puppy's sensory organs--including the eyes, inner ear and peripheral nerves have formed. During weeks four to six of pregnancy, the puppy's organs, bones, eyes and spinal cord begin to fully develop. The fetus starts to actually look like a dog, with whisker buds showing on its developing face, and claws and toes differentiating on the feet. By week six, the puppy’s skin pigment is formed and you can hear a heartbeat. At this point in their development, the puppies have all their features. From here on they will grow rapidly until they are born.

Stay tuned….