Sunday- November 3: I got up and began making eggs for my daughter and I. I looked at Athena, my pocket bully, and she was panting real hard- I knew that instant she was in labor. We ate and got everything ready for the arrival of puppies. The first puppy was born shortly after 3:00 pm. I had to tear the sac for her because she panicked and didn’t know what to do. Puppy was trying to breathe and couldn’t. Once I broke the sac Athena took over. Puppies arrived about every thirty minutes and the last one born was around 6:30pm. Momma Athena gave birth to 7 beautiful puppies! 4 boys and 3 girls!
Wednesday: Baby girl Shiloh passes away. I do not want to go into detail about this. Picking up a cold, dead puppy was traumatizing for me. My family didn’t take it well either. It was not good.
Thursday: Its storming- pouring rain- I decided to take mom and all remaining 6 puppies to the vet to make sure everyone is doing well. Walking into the vet, the water is deep and covers my feet- of which are in sandals. Thankfully, my husband was able to go with me because I’m not sure how I would’ve carried a box of puppies and Athena. Everyone checked out well.
My husband and daughter both are getting sick. I made some bomb chicken carnitas and they barely ate!
Friday: I decided to cook chicken tortilla soup since everyone is getting sick. I run to the store for a few things and when I get back I let Athena out to potty. I shut the door for two seconds while I put the last bag down and go back out to play with her. It’s in the low 50s and raining- she NEVER goes far from the driveway. I call for her, shake the treat box- NOTHING. We have 1.5 acres completely fenced in- she can’t be gone. I walk the wet ground, freezing. I call for her over and over again- checking he fence line for holes, still nothing. I checked the blue barrels that are behind our barn, in the barn, under the chicken coop- panic sets in. The tears start to fill my eyes and I call my daughter, then my husband. He didn’t answer so I called Damon and he called me right back. I was full on sobbing at this point- trying to explain what happened. He told me he would relay the message to my husband and we hung up. I try to look under our house but it’s hard to see. Our house is on beams. But there is lattice around it so it makes it hard to see. Before too long my phone rings and it’s my husband- he told me to keep looking and he would call me back in a few. Still in panic mode- I call my mother in law- she mentions under the house just as I had thought. Then I remember there’s a gap on the sides of the front steps! She could totally fit there. I lay on the cold and damp concrete. It’s so hard to see but I think I see a lump, could it be her? I hang up and call my daughter again- I grab the treat box and make my way back out to the front steps. I call her over and over again until finally I see her walking toward me! I start crying again, in relief this time, making deals with the four legged little jerk, and she comes out. I sit down, rain falling on us, the mud covered her nose, feet and belly. I hugged her as I cried and explained how I didn’t appreciate the emotional roller coaster she had just sent me on. She licked my face and did not seem to care. At some point in this madness I had called the vet to make sure she was okay, weird now that I think I about it because they aren’t there? How would they know? Haha- oh boy, of course she needed a bath… that was fun. (Eye roll here.) I think she needed a break from the puppies. Maybe her nipples hurt and the cold mud helped? I’m not sure. Either way- my heart broke when I thought she was gone, exhaustion set in.
Saturday: 3:30 am his alarm clock starts… as it does every day.
“Ain’t no rest for the wicked…” it sings loudly. It’s not long before alarm two and three go off… plus the other three on his work phone. It’s impossible not to get up.
I blindly walk into the kitchen to check on momma Athena and the newborn puppies. Everyone is alive and well.
I drink a hot cup of tea and lay back down. Around 9:00 am I get back up and have coffee and a snack. I decide to shower and bathe my stinky dog. I have an 8 month old Goldendoodle- Ollie- who will not stop peeing in his crate. I’ve had him since 8 weeks and he just does not care! So- I bathe him in apple cider vinegar, shampoo twice and conditioner. He finally smells like a dog and NOT pee. When brushing him I realize his fur on his belly and nose is horribly matted. I’m not sure how- but this requires a shave and a hair trim elsewhere. Y’all! This took me 3 HOURS. Between the bath and hair cut- 3 HOURS. My daughter cried at HOW CUTE she thinks he looks with his face shaved! Haha!! I then have a giant mess of dog hair and water all over my bathroom floor to clean up. After this is done, we go to see my husband at work, with Ollie. He does so well in the car. As we pull on our road Ollie vomits all over the floor in the back seat. Great. Just f-n great. I tie Ollie to the grill while I clean that. My husband pulls in as I’m cleaning vomit, I ask him to dig the hole for baby Shiloh so we can bury her. I couldn’t bring myself to throw her away. He starts digging… my daughter goes to let the chickens out and our duck is laying on her side and then gets up only to fall out of the coop. My daughter yells and starts crying with her hands on her knees. You see- we had three other ducks who all died. One was attacked by something and died along side our rooster and the other two were ducklings who died after a few weeks. This duck has been with us since May. She’s awesome. We really don’t want anymore dead ducks- dogs- or chickens. (We’ve lost many chickens in the baby phase- one time a baby chick jumped and somehow split its head open- blood and brains came out- some were trampled by others- the rooster was attacked- it’s been real.) My daughter has a huge heart for animals. The duck fights to keep going. She makes her way to the food and water and eats and drinks. My daughter made a corral for her on the back deck with a heat lamp, food and water. We thought it would be better for her to die peacefully than in the coop with the crazies. I would’ve taken her to the vet but I tried this last time a duck acted this way and the duck died in my daughters hands and I then did CPR WHILE DRIVING and got his heart beating again and to breathe! He ended up dying anyways. Neither of us wanted this again. I scrubbed Ollie’s crate, the floor where his crate goes, hand washed dishes and ran a clean cycle on the dishwasher. Vacuumed the floors, mopped. Time to start dinner. New recipe tonight- spicy chicken and zucchini patties. I mix everything together and start frying them. Gotta feed the dogs, get the dogs fed. Feed my humans. Take the dogs out on a leash to pee so they don’t go after the duck. Also so my Athena doesn’t disappear again. I come back in, wash some more dishes and realize my silicone wedding band is gone. I have back ups, no biggie. I go to straighten up the bed- knock my tea over- put laundry away and in all of this I managed to eat one tiny chicken patty while cooking. I am so hungry. I just wanted a minute to sit down and relax. My husband went to bed early since he is sick so I sat down to breathe, eat an avocado and watch one show.
Bedtime.
Sunday: It is Sunday. Our duck is still alive. I’m not sure how honestly, all of the dogs are alive and well, I’ve been up since 3:30- it’s 6:30- I am going back to sleep.
P.R. Brooks 