Galena had her ultrasound last night to confirm her pregnancy. At five weeks’ gestation (out of nine) she is beginning to show signs of pregnancy – picky eating, tummy filling out a tad. The pups are still very small – a bit less than an inch long – but in the next 3-4 weeks they will grow like crazy.
At this stage in their development, the embryos have fully formed nervous systems, eyes covered by eyelids, other facial features, lengthening leg buds with the beginnings of toes, and sexual characteristics. (So if we could see really well on the ultrasound we might be able to tell how many females vs. males, but it’s too fuzzy and the characteristics are not as obvious as on humans. It’s more a question of “Is the little bump closer to the navel (male) or to the tail (girl)?” than “what does it look like?”) Over the course of the next two weeks they will complete their skeletal development, gain pigmentation (fur and skin colour), and form fully developed limbs and heads. After that it will just be a matter of gaining size so they are real for the real world out there!
So how many are there? Well, we counted 8 puppy blobs (maybe 7). Which means that – provided we didn’t miss one on the ultrasound and and none of them is lost between now and then – the finalists in the “Guess How Many Puppies Contest” has been narrowed down to Tristan or possibly Amélie or Suzanne (or me - but I wouldn`t actually give myself a prize). We’ll need to wait for whelping to see who has guessed the closest time and date for a final winner. And, of course, whether the ultrasound was accurate or it’s actually those who guessed Y or Z puppies who are the finalists!!
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