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Bailey, Day 54 (pre-parturition)


 
Baily with 9 days to go!

As we head into the home stretch with only 9 days to go, our Bailey is losing her figure and the look on her face tells us she knows it! She is slowing down only slightly and prefers to lounge by the warm fire while chewing a bone. Bailey’s abdomen has expanded and is no approximately 34 inches or 86.3 cm.

The puppies are growing rapidly now so we are feeding Bailey smaller, more frequent meals. She downs her food in about 4 seconds flat, so no morning sickness for this girl!

This weekend, we will set up the whelping box for her to get familiar with once again. Bailey will begin to search for a den outside to have her pups in. This is instinctive so we do monitor her trips outside.  With all the snow we have, she will have to build an igloo for her pups!

We are just trying to make these last eight days as comfortable and stress free as possible for Bailey. She will continue to have light activity and of course get belly rubs and lounge by the fireplace whenever she wants to.

National Geographic Image of a Golden Retriever pup fetus.

 Thanks to National Geographic, the above photo can give you some idea of how the puppies look around this time.  They have now fully developed their puppy features – however they continue to grow and are on the final stages of prenatal development.   We can easily feel the puppies moving when Bailey is lounging on her back and we’re sure it’s starting to get quite crowded in there.

We are so looking forward to the big event with great excitement and will be praying for a safe and easy delivery of Bailey’s little babies!


Stay tuned….
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