CONCEPTION:THE DATE.



MEET THE COUPLE:
Emma and Baker.

On April 21st 2001, at the age of 8 months, my Emma met Baker, a very sweet Grey male belonging to Gretchen Smith, whom I had gotten Emma from. The date was on and for the longest time Gretchen and I watched while Baker, only half of Emma's size, tried his best to "woo" Miss Emma with his beautiful squeaks and love songs. Miss Emma was having none of it though, but didn't seem to mind his presence too terribly much as no fighting ever occurred. After we decided they would be safe spending the night together, we left them to their own devices. A few days later it was evident that Baker had accomplished the task at hand as Emma began gaining weight on a regular basis. Her appetite became increasingly bigger and bigger, she began to fill out around the waist of course and her nipples began to pop out. Now the excitement begins to mount as I prepare for my little girl to have her first litter of babies! :)

WEIGHT GAIN:


The following is a weight-gain chart for Emma, who is currently as of the date of this writing (May 17th, 2001) into her 4th week of pregnancy. Keep in mind, each pregnancy is different, but this will give you a rough guideline of what to expect of a pregnant hedgehogs weight gain. It is very important to have a good, reliable scale on hand (see photo below) so you can track your hedgies weight.



Starting Weight:

4/24/01 510 grams
4/26/01 520 grams
4/28/01 528 grams
4/30/01 542 grams
5/02/01 548 grams
5/04/01 560 grams
5/07/01 580 grams
5/10/01 604 grams
5/13/01 610 grams
5/17/01 626 grams
5/21/01 630 grams
5/22/01 634 grams
5/27/01 646 grams
5/29/01 642 grams
5/31/01 648 grams
6/05/01 640 grams
6/08/01 646 grams


May 2nd: Emma's appetite has gotten increasingly large, and presently she is out at all times of the day to find something to snack on. I have been giving her extra portions of food with her dinner every night, with emphasis on additional protein in the form of extra chicken and insects. During the day she gets Innova and additional insects.

May 17th: Right now Emma looks like a little beach ball waddling around and her demeanor is as sweet as can be. Emma loves to be picked up and petted and snuggled with at this stage of her pregnancy. She is also starting the "nesting" behavior in her cage by pulling anything and everything she can into her bed. With just 9 days or so of pregnancy to go, I will be removing her running wheel soon, just as a precaution. She will not get it back until her babies are close to being weaned. I have heard of too many injuries occurring from mama hedgehogs carrying their babies in their mouths as they run on their wheels and the babies get dragged.

May 18th: Emma had her ultrasound today and we can clearly see 2 babies, a third is a possibility, judging from the pictures. I have to say the ultrasound stressed her out a bit more then I had expected, and given the chance to do it over again, I'd probably opt not to have this procedure done, unless it was deemed medically necessary.

May 20th: Got quite a scare yesterday morning when I discovered blood in Emma's litter pan. I checked her, and her bed and saw no indication she'd had her babies, and found no more blood. After speaking with numerous other breeders, I felt somewhat more calm as I realized this does not necessarily mean anything is wrong, or that her babies will be born too soon.
Emma has been quite aggitated the last two days since her ultrasound, she seems quite upset with me and does not want to be touched.

May 21st: Well, it is monday, and so far no babies yet (thankfully). Her due date is not until another 5 days. I have seen no more blood or discharge. Emma was quite sweet last night, but I noticed this morning she had only eaten about half of her food, which is totally abnormal for my little girl. I was told that this too, can be a common occurence for hedgies close to their delivery date. Whew, so much to worry about!

May 22nd: Emma didn't eat much of her dinner last night, but ate for me this morning. I noticed more spotting in her litter pan again, but it was just a very small amount of blood. She has put on another 4 grams of weight since yesterday. As her time draws closer, I am getting more and more excited and nervous. I hope everything goes alright.

May 27th: Well, it is now 1 day past Emma's due date, and still no babies yet. She continues to gain weight, is eating well, and her attitude one minute is sweet and huffy the next. She has spotted very small amounts of blood off and on this past week. I am so anxious for her to have her babies!!

May 31st: Still no babies!! Emma continues to still maintain her weight....but she is giving me complete fits waiting for them to be born! I have spoken to several breeders who have told me stories of their hedgies going up to 2 weeks past the standard 35-day pregnancy. Emma is now 40 days pregnant.

June 6th: No babies yet, but saw something unusual today, compared to every other day so far. When I went to check on Emma, she was sprawled out in her bed looking absolutely ENORMOUS, sides bulging in a sort of lumpy fashion. She got up and went to eat and I saw her feet were filthy from last nights wheeling activities so I gave her a quick foot bath and she made this squating motion, unlike when she is going potty. Her back end on either side of her tail looked huge, like they could pop so I quickly got her out of the bath, dried off and back into her comfy warm bed. Emma is 46 days pregnant....I hope it won't be much longer!

June 8th: Emma is up a few grams more, eating fine, acting fine. Spoke to my Vet yesterday and he wants to x-ray her on monday if she hasn't had her babies to see if perhaps they died inside her and are being re-absorbed or if something else is wrong. A few friends are encouraging me to give her at least a couple more days past next monday, unless she is in obvious distress. This is driving me crazy!

June 21st Emma had her x-rays today and it showed no babies whatsoever inside of her. We now believe she aborted them during that week of spotting following the ultrasound procedure. I would have to advise folks in light of this to please think hard about ultrasounding your pregnant hedgehog unless it is deemed medically necessary. The stress of this procedure is probably what caused her to loose her babies. Why Emma continued to gain weight even after she aborted her young was probably due to the extra food I was providing her, and the lack of having a wheel to burn off the calories.

PICTURES OF EMMA AS SHE'S GROWN:


Top view of Emma in early pregnancy.


Top view of Emma appx 4 weeks pregnant.

EMMA'S ULTRASOUND:

Photos of our Vet, Greg Stoner and one of his techs getting ready to perform Emma's ultrasound. Emma was 26 days pregnant at the time of this procedure:







This didn't come out quite as clear as we'd hoped. Emma didn't want to hold still, and her belly wasn't shaved. As near as we can see, she is carrying 2 babies. The top middle dark area is her bladder while just below it shows an enlarged uterus. To the right, you can make out 2 distinctive dark circles and a third one below them that is barely discernable. Could she be carrying 3? I guess I will just have to wait and be surprised!! :)

PICTURES OF EMMA:


Emma at 6 weeks of age with her mother, Shallot.



"Got any more of those mealies, mom?"