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I rolled my eyes and grabbed my boots and coat by the door. “Okay. First, Millie, take deep breaths. It’s all going to be fine. Do you have a whelping box?”
“A what-a-box?” Millie asked.
“The box for her to deliver in. Some pads and blankets in it?” I grabbed my purse from the closet.
“Oh, yes, she’s in one right now. And she’s been digging at the blankets and licking herself, and mom said she’s seen this before and that it’s time. Debbie didn’t eat any breakfast or dinner last night. She’s just not herself.”
“She must be starving,” Tuck said from behind us as we made our way to the car.
I batted my hand, waving him off. “No, it’s okay. This happens a lot. Don’t listen to him. Now, I remember from the last x-ray that we are expecting about six puppies, so it might be a long night. I’ll meet you at Green Gables.”
Millie nodded and got into her car, heading back to the Inn. I turned to Tuck. “You don’t have to come. It will probably be close to six hours before they are all delivered.”
He shook his head and sat down in the passenger seat of my car. “No way. I’m not missing an opportunity to see you work. I want to see this YouTube degree in action.”
SIXTY-EIGHT
TUCK
When we arrivedat Green Gables, Millie and Bev were already in the back mudroom with Debbie. The dog was circling around a pen, panting as the two of them hovered over her.
Lettie went right to work. She was still wearing her pajamas with beavers all over them, and she laid her bag on the floor. I placed her scale next to it. She got into the pen with Debbie and began delegating instructions. I enjoyed the sight of her commanding the room and taking charge.
“Bev, can you grab towels? Puppies are messy, so we will definitely need as many as you can get. Millie, you need a piece of paper and a pen. I’m going to have you write down the times of births and markings of each puppy. Do you see this?” Lettie was petting Debbie’s stomach that appeared to be tightening. “This is a contraction.” She turned to the dog. “Good job, Debbie.” Lettie looked up at Millie. “She’s doing great. I think we’ll have our first puppy within the hour, and from the looks of it, Little Debbie is going to know exactly what to do when it comes.”
“How do you know?” Millie asked, and I was glad she had because I didn’t know either.
“Because she is doing a great job of cleaning the fluid that’s coming out. It’s a good indicator that she’ll know how to care for the babies.”
Gross.Maybe I’d been okaynotknowing.
An hour passed, and we all sat there, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first puppy. The room quiet except for the occasional praise from Lettie to Debbie.
“Good job, Mama.”
“Great, you’re doing great.”
“We’re almost there.”
Then, after Lettie explained that Debbie’s water broke, she waved us all over. “The first puppy is coming. I see the head. Come here!”
We gathered around, and out popped the tiniest puppy I had ever seen. It plopped onto the floor, covered in a mixture of liquid and blood, and I felt my stomach roll with nausea. Lettie, however, was unphased. She was gazing in awe at Debbie and the way she was cleaning the puppy, Lettie’s eyes misting with tears.
“See what she’s doing now? She’s chewing the umbilical cord just like she should. And I’m just going to clamp it here with my fingers so she doesn’t pull or get too rough.”
“It looks like a lot of blood. Is that too much blood?” Millie asked, concerned.
“Nope,” Lettie said calmly. “It’s perfectly normal. It’s part of the placenta. This one, Millie, is a little boy. Looks like he was born at 12:32 am. We’ll let Mama clean him up, and after she’s done, we can weigh him.”
Another twenty minutes went by, and Debbie delivered her second puppy. “Wow, another one already. But this one is breech,” Lettie said. “I’m going to help her along just a little and help her get into this sac.” She tore something open, and Debbie began licking. The puppy made a gurgling sound as though he were having trouble breathing.
“Is he okay? He doesn’t sound okay!” Millie cried out.
Lettie picked up the puppy and held it in a towel. She grabbed a blue bulb syringe that was lying next to her and began suctioning the puppy’s nose and mouth. “Well, it’s a she, but yes, she’s fine.” The puppy made a little growl, and Lettie laughed. “You’re a spunky one.”
I watched in awe. Lettie had such a gentleness in the way she took care of Debbie and each of the puppies. I thought back to that girl who had told me her dream on a blanket at Hidden Hollow. The girl who had come from a world where she hadn’t needed to lift a finger for anything but who had willingly walked into a pet clinic and asked to volunteer.
I thought of her dreaming of owning her own practice.
