So, after three successful (wink) drives with Mirage 'visiting' Argos, I'm now waiting until the fateful day when we find out if she's going to have a litter of puppies in the days immediately preceding Christmas. IF we got everything right, and mother nature does her job, we're hopefully expecting a litter between Dec 21 and Dec 26, which times out perfectly with the absolute lack of chaos we'd otherwise planned at our home this year.
But, the waiting is hard. Really hard. And making it harder is looking at every little minute change in her behavior or body as "a sign". Is she getting heavier? or is she just looking more fluffy as it gets colder? Is she eating twice her normal? Or is she just back to eating after taking her heat cycle to be picky (as she normally does)? What about her nipples, have they always been that prominent or am I just peering a lot more closely now? All these and her sudden desire to be inside my skin all the time make me wonder, although I double-check myself by reminding me that maybe she's just that snuggly because we spent several days together one-on-one driving back and forth to visit the stud. Maybe, or maybe not. If she turns her nose up at a morsel of food, I wonder if she's got morning sickness. If she polishes off her normal portion and begs another entire portion out of me right away, I think THAT is for SURE a sign she's growing puppies. Sigh. So much for her body to be doing in such a relatively-short time, compared to my own pregnancies. And yet, so many not-pregnant explanations for her behaviors as well. Yes, I am well on my way to making myself nuts. I'll see you there.
Note: we do have an ultrasound appointment scheduled for the 22 of November so I will butcher a turkey, run her to the vet, and come back to start prepping the other parts of the meal later that week. If she's not pregnant, we will have some hard choices to make but if she is, we'll have some fun.