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[dianah]

went to check on fluffy this morning, she was in her nesting box (normally does not do that) - i hand fed her breakfast when she came out for a bit. i just checked on her now and she's back in the nesting box, she doesn't seem to have contractions (but then i can't see all of her) but she is checking herself & her mouth moves as though she was chewing gum (which she isn't!)

i'll go sit by her quietly now!

[dianah]

it's been 2.5  hours and not much has happened. she's still not having contractions and i only saw her stretch once. she's eating as normal - i gave her some oats to give her a bit of a boost - and she's keeping at the bottom level of the cage. she keeps checking herself - not very often - and there is a bit of blood on her hands, this is not noticeable but she left a mark on a chew she held.

i've read that once contractions starts, the babies should pop out within 1-2 hours. but her contractions have not started yet as far as i can tell and her water's not broke either. she seems fine, i think she's trying to snooze every so often.

should i be worried?

[ABC Chinchillas]

I would not worry. She won't deliver if you keep bugging her. Give her time and space they all "hunker down" a while before birth

[dianah]

thank you! i will stop bugging her How often could I check on her? Would every hour be too often?

[dianah]

you know, she'd done it once before all by herself but we had no idea she was pregnant then. this time, i know and i'm panicking!  i just want them all to be here and well!

[ABC Chinchillas]

Once an hour should be fine. When I see my girls acting like that I get into the car and run to the store or grab a bite to eat, throw a movie in something to keep me distracted. That way I am not tempted..usually when I am done or back there are kits in the cage.  I find that things are more likely to go wrong if they are distracted or stressed so I walk away.

[dianah]

oh! popcorn! that's what i need!

she's asleep most of the time now though she's eating and moving around as normal. there's no blood anymore - and there really was just a tiny amount which i don't think i would have noticed if she didn't hold that light coloured chew.

the vet said it sounded like she was getting ready but get her checked if she doesn't give birth within 48 hours. there's movement in her tummy as normal so i guess we've just got to wait a little longer.

[dianah]

she was cleaning herself a lot in the morning as well, her sides and tummy - i remember jo ann saying they do that 24-48 hours before birth so hopefully soon!

[ABC Chinchillas]

That is normal for 24-48 hours. Get some sleep tonight maybe you will wake up to kits.

[dianah]

no babies. i checked her a couple of times during the night and she was lying down at the bottom of the cage - she doesn't usually do this. then this morning, she was checking her bits a lot for a bit, then stopped.

i had three dreams about babies yesterday, the first one was that we had 5 but she was too tired to clean up the last one and we found him too late. then she had four - pink white, 2x wilson white and a standard (which is my prediction!) and in the last dream she had 2 wilson whites.

see, i'm going crazy!

[cusunfireguy]

Yep, leave her alone as she knows what to do.  They will usually give birth when it's quiet and nothing going on.  Usually once the contractions get closer and closer, they will make a "squeak". 

[dianah]

the thing that concerns me is that there was some vaginal bleeding, even though it was only a little amount of blood.

also, it is a breedback pregnancy, she went to the vets twice after giving birth the first time - so at the start of this pregnancy - she was handled during the first couple of days after giving birth to treat her mastitis and she lost her mate six weeks ago. quite a lot of stress, compared to the first pregnancy (which we had no idea about as she was supposed to be a boy) when she gave birth to triplets all by herself.

this combined with the bleeding is the reason why i'm worried. 

she shares a cage with her daughter pippi and they've become a lot more affectionate with each other in the past couple of days - they keep grooming faces and pippi is permanently draped over her when they're sleeping. which makes me wonder whether pippi knows the babies are coming so she's giving her support or whether she knows that there's something wrong..

[ABC Chinchillas]

If she isn't straining and producing nothing I would wait. They really truly will "hold on" until they feel comfortable. As they say the watched pot never boils.  Just be careful sometimes we are wrong on the due dates, Gestation is 111-120 days on average. My attitude has always been the babies come when they are ready

[dianah]

thank you. i'm freaking out about the blood. the thing is, if i wasn't there and she didn't hold this light coloured chew, i would have never known.

the only day she could have got pregnant is the 6th of April - that's when the babies were born, we took the dad out as soon as we found them but obviously not soon enough. so she's not actually due until tomorrow - if we count 111 days - and i would have been perfectly relaxed if this bleeding didn't occur yesterday.

[ABC Chinchillas]

People can bleed a bitduring pregnancy. I have had a scare myself sometimes the babies streach and irritate the wall. I believe anything that can happen in people happens in animals if it was just a tiny bit of blood I would not worry just yet remember due dates are an estimation just like people I am due January 27 but if I have the kid Jan 15th or February 3rd it would be ok. Due dates are a guess and you have roughly 111 to 120 days