Hannah, Day 56 days (pre-parturition)

Embarrassed Hannah due to her expanding waistline.

Where did my figure go? Our precious Hannah is growing and she knows it. This girl seems preoccupied with her waistline!

There isn’t much room for food these days as the puppies have grown so much that we are feeding Hannah smaller meals throughout the day. We are just trying to make these last 9 days as comfortable and stress-free as possible for her. She will continue to have light activity, afternoon walks and we’re certain that she will eventually discover the catacombs other pregnant girls have dug under our spruce tree.

Hannah’s abdomen has expanded to 32 inches or 81 cm. Heading into her final week of pregnancy, she is just as sweet and loving as ever, however there is definitely a waddle in her walk.

National Geographic image of a Golden Retriever fetus.

At this stage, the puppies have a full coat of hair and can be felt moving around in her tummy. The coat is one of the last organs to develop along with the intestinal tract. The majority of a puppy’s growth in size takes place in the last couple weeks of gestation.

Hannah is shedding the hair on her belly in preparation for the birth. She loves her belly rubbed so it is easy to detect movement of the little ones. It seems like they are anxious to get out into the world and meet their forever families!

Stay tuned!

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