She's pregnant!

Rylee and I took another trip out to her reproduction vet in Ohio today for her ultrasound at day 26 and we saw puppies! Yay! The vet counted at least 4 but said there could be a few more hiding in there.  We shall see later on, closer to her due date.  Rylee is moving on to puppy food now, good for her while she and the puppies are growing.  She still looks nice and svelte right now but she should start showing some changes within the next week or two. 

 Here is Rylee in the waiting room, admiring the fish tank. 

Here you can see two puppies

 One puppy

One puppy. 

Sorry the ultrasound pics aren't the best but I had to take a picture of them with my camera and the flash kept making them impossible to see so this was the best I could do after probably 20 attempts! I meant to take more pictures of Rylee in the room but I was so excited I forgot.  There was just an ultrasound machine and they put some gel on Rylee's belly and then put the little wand on her belly.  The puppies right now are pretty close to her bladder so at first that is all you see but then there was a puppy, and another and another.  It was so cool.  You could also

see their little heartbeats fluttering on the monitor.  Very exciting :)

On to three weeks

If Ry is pregnant, by this time, placental development is evident including the fetus and its umbilical cord.  Rylee most likely ovulated on April 3rd, which would make today, day 23 of gestation.  Rylee is now on to moderate jogging and enjoying the exercise.  She is not a slow walking type of gal.  She is still not exhibiting any physical changes but it is not expected until the forth or fifth week.  I have included some pictures of baby Rylee. 

Two weeks later

It's been two weeks today since breeding number one.  By this time the little embryos have settled into the uterine horns and are now implanted or attached to the walls.  During implantation, their placentas begin to develop and they are now known as fetuses. 
Rylee is doing well.  She is still acting like her old self but loves to be near us a little more than usual.  We are letting her go easy on walks for this last week and then she can start back up with jogging.  It's important to keep the dam in good shape, it makes the delivery easier on them.  I am counting down the days until the ultrasound on May 2.

Miss Rylee flying in between her brother Ramsay and sister Neila

Miss Rylee

Breeding took place on April 5th and 6th so it has been a little over a week since "mating."  If Rylee is pregnant, at this time fertilization has already taken place and the result is a zygote.  The zygote then begins to divide resulting in an embryo.  The embryos continue to divide and grow and head toward the horns of the uterus.  By the second week after "mating," the embryos have settled into their places in the uterine horns and are attached to the walls of the uterus.  Rylee is a little before implantation of the embryos but she is pretty close to that point.  This doesn't indicate that Rylee is pregnant because it is still too early to tell, this is more just for information about what is hopefully going on at this point.  Rylee is still taking it easy, no ridgeback play with her housemate Dexter, just nice long strolls through the neighborhood. 

Post breeding

Rylee is taking it easy for the next few days, per doctors orders.  She is lounging around, chewing some bully sticks, taking nice leisurely strolls with me and napping like a pro.  She was such a good girl during the insemination procedures that she got rewarded with steak dinner and gourmet dog cookie.  She loves being spoiled :)

Breeding two complete

Second breeding went well today.  Rylee knew what was up and got onto the table and stood pretty still for the 10 min procedure.  We should know in about 24 days if there are puppies. 

A little article on insemination written by Dr. Hutchinson, whose facilty I went to for Rylee's breedings.

If both breeding participants are present, fertile and ovulation timed ready, a natural breeding is performed. If for some reason a natural cannot be achieved, then a vaginal artificial insemination is used to breed the bitch. The technique requires specific procedures be performed.
The male's semen is collected. This is achieved by manual stimulation. The collector needs to obtain the second fraction of the ejaculate (the milky, sperm rich portion) stopping the collection when the third fraction starts (watery in appearance) which consists of prostatic fluid.

The bitch should have her rear end elevated for the artificial insemination procedure. This positioning facilitates the semen's deposition and flow to the cervical opening, a necessary for the semen being in position to be "pumped" into the uterus. The inseminator should digitally stoke the roof of the vaginal tract (also called "feathering") for 1-2 minutes after insemination. This technique simulates the tie of a natural breeding. The bitch's rear should be elevated for 2-3 minutes post-insemination.
The necessity to bypass the cervix and place the semen into the uterine lumen is beneficial in improving the conception rates in numerous situations. These include the use of frozen semen, fresh cooled semen, poor semen quality and in situations where examination of the bitch's uterus is desired.
Two methods are used to achieve the intrauterine deposition of semen, the transcervical insemination and the surgical insemination. These techniques each have their own usage guidelines and one does not replace the other as has been mistakenly represented to dog breeders.

The transcervical insemination (TCI) is performed with the bitch in a standing position. No sedation nor anesthesia is required. A fiber optic cystourethoscope is used vaginally to visualize the opening to the cervix. A flexible catheter is maneuvered through the cervix into the uterus. It is important that the breeder realize that the veterinarian is not visualizing the inside of the uterus and this technique does not allow for evaluation of the uterus.
The TCI procedure is visualized on a television monitor and does allow for examination of the vaginal tract, however. The semen is gently pushed through the catheter from a syringe. The veterinarian can visualize that the semen flows easily into the uterus and does not flow back into the vaginal tract.

Breeding one done

Today the first transcervical insemination was done around 1:30pm.  The vet was quite pleased with her progesterone levels and with the quality of the semen.  He said that timing looked great and today was a great day for our AI.  Tomorrow will be the second one and it will basically be icing on the cake.  Rylee stood like a champ for most of the procedure.  She started to get a little uncomfortable at the end, but who wouldn't? She stood on a raised table while the doctor inserted a camera to locate the cervix and once that was done, he inserted a flexible plastic catheter and inserted the semen directly into the uterus.  Rylee was such a brave girl.  Here she is below waiting in the room across the hall from where the AI took place.

One more time tomorrow and then we wait for a little less than a month to see if there are babies!

It's go time!

We have ovulation! Yay.  I took her into our regular vet on Saturday and those results, which are on a different scale from our repro vet, were a 2.4.  They have ovulation at 4.  So basically we are assuming that she did not ovulate Sat.  Her progesterone results today at the repro vet were 12.4 so we are thinking that Sunday was the day.  Once ovulation has taken place, it takes 2-3 days for the eggs to ripen and then they live an additional 2 days.  She is being bred tomorrow and Wednesday via transcervial insemination.  Between the lifespan of her eggs and the lifespan of fresh chilled semen, we should have good coverage.  Keep your fingers and toes crossed for a successful AI tomorrow. 

Stalling

There wasn't much of a difference in Rylee's levels.  She rose slightly to a 3.5.  The vet said that she is stalling out.  They want me to bring her back to the office on Monday.  Just for my own piece of mind, I am taking her to my regular veterinarian tomorrow but probably won't have those results back until Monday.  It will help to better pinpoint her day of ovulation if it happens over the weekend.  Breeding is looking like it will happen next week. 

Rylee sure knows how to keep me on my toes!