First signs of Labor!

            I was awoken this morning at 2:30 am by a scratching noise on the main floor.  I knew right away what it was, and nervously jumped out of bed and ran downstairs and into the front office room.  Just as I thought, Dixie was in the closet, scratching vigorously at the carpet floor.  You can imagine how vigorously she was scratching, since it woke me up in the room above her.
           I called her out of the closet and she came over to me and plopped down on her side, breathing heavily.  I stroked her belly for several minutes as she lay there.  I noticed a discharge that had come out around her vulva.  "Oh great", I thought, "it looks like Dixie is going to have puppies earlier than I had expected!"
          With past litters, Dixie has gone through this for several days before birth.  She walks behind chairs and under beds and scratches at the rug.  This is called, 'nesting' and it is what Mama dogs do to get ready for their puppies.  It is also a sign of early contractions.  She starts nesting most vigorously the stronger the contractions.  I have not seen her nesting up to this point, so it seems she has just started to feel the contractions.  I am more concerned about the discharge.  If that is what it is, then I can expect pups in 24 hrs...and that is little warning for me!
          Today is the day I had set aside from my busy life to get all the supplies together.  My hubby went out of town a few days ago, and as he left he said, "I think Dixie's having her puppies this weekend!"  I just thought, "She better not."  In my mind I had this coming Wednesday pegged as the day.  My hubby would be back from his trip, and things would be less chaotic. I am actually the kind of person that has all my ducks in a row pretty early.   But with my husband going out of town this last week I was counting on Dixie following her normal schedule for delivery.
         So anyway, it is now 3:30 am and I am still up...Dixie is sound asleep on her bed in the office room, and I am making my list of supplies to get first thing in the morning.
         This is what I will do, I will get up this morning and clean and disinfect the plastic kiddy pool.  Bring that into the office room, throw one of our older sheets in there, with an old blanket, and leave instructions with my older son while I run out the door to buy items on my list.

Here's my list of to do's
1) Putting the plastic baby pool in the office.  We use that for a whelping box.  I don't plan to whelp in the front office, but Dixie needs to have it with her when I am away...just in case.
2) Then I have to visit Goodwill and see if I can obtain a stack of old linens. (I had got a large stack ready six months ago, but they disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle of the storage room.
3) Go to Pet store and pick up puppy formula....just in case a puppy has trouble nursing.
4) go to Pharmacy, and pick up the following:From drug store:
  -- bulb syringe for removing fluid from nose and throat of newborns
 ---latex gloves, Ky jelly, hand towels, paper towels,
---nail polish for toenails to identify pups
--safety scissors (for umbilical cord) and dental floss for tieing it off

5) Get my stack of Newspapers together.  Newspaper is very absorbent and I go through a ton of it during whelping, since I keep Dixie's bedding dry in between each birth.
6) Collect the doggie blankets
7) Take out the Heating pad to keep newborns warm.

Allright!  I have my plan for tomorrow.  I am STILL hoping that Dixie has more than 24 hours!   But I will plan for pups to come at any time.  Now I have to get some more sleep!