Buns In The Oven

Annabelle has been bred and it’s a very exciting and busy time here in the Rosewood household. Lots of preparations to be made, supplies to replenish, calls and emails to answer, along with the usual daily obligations of work and family.

Through it all, we’re watching Annabelle go through some familiar changes: Almost immediately after breeding, she became extra snuggly. Never one to be still for very long, she now loves to cuddle up with my husband while he watches television. She rests quite a bit more between bouts of play and doesn’t pester to go outside and chase squirrels nearly as much as she used to. Now, at Day 45 of her pregnancy, she has completely lost her tiny waist. She’s gained a whopping 8 pounds over the past six weeks and looks like a speckled beach ball.

To get her accustomed to her whelping area (aka my office), we set the box up early so she could rest in it while I work. Right now she could take it or leave it, preferring to get into mischief, stealing papers from the trash instead (some puppies never grow up)! But occasionally she’ll go in and “nest” in the blankets. I want her to be very comfortable with her arrangements since she’ll be spending a lot of time in there.

I can’t help but wonder how pregnancy and motherhood will affect Annabelle’s relationship with Fiona. The two have been bosom buddies almost since Day One. Annabelle has always enjoyed playing chase and tug and wrestle games with Fiona. She can hold her own even though Fiona outweighs her, but with precious cargo on board, we’ve had to limit their playtime together, which means they’ve had to be kept separated. Fiona isn’t very happy about that but I think Annabelle actually appreciates it.

The two girls are like big sister and little sister, with the little sister always following the older one around. Fiona won’t be able to follow Annabelle everywhere she goes when Annabelle has newborns to take care of. Once the puppies are here, Annabelle will be spending most of her time, and every night, in the whelping room. This will put an end to the girls’ nightly mad-dash up the stairs to see who can get to their bedtime crate first.