[maggiesmom_2007]

Paula,
I had only Maggie at the time when she had her first litter so I didn't know when she was ready either but like you i asked alot of questions and did alot of research. This time I am way more prepared and I won't have to ask lots of questions. I kept 2 males from her first litter but had them fixed because I was in no way going to have any accidents. But they knew when she was in heat and even now they know she is going through something. i looked at the charts I had of her temperature from her first litter and she fluctuated from 99 in the morning 100. in the afternoon and about 98 in the evenings. And even got as low as 97.9 but that was 3 days before she was due. So me personally I won't be doing the temp thing this time. 2 days before she was due she lost her mucus plug and then shortly before midnight the day before she was due she started having contractions. It's an awesome feeling, the only way I can describe it is like seeing a wave crash to shore or ripples when something is dropped in the water. I think the only thing that made me nervous was when the 2nd pup came out 9 minutes after the first one. She had the 1st pup at 12:12am and the last one at 1:57am. Just goes to show you that no matter how much you read or get advice from others it seems like there is always some surprise or heartbreak involved.
Iknow this may not have helped but sometimes I get sentimental and tend to ramble.