Introduction
Hi, my name is Leonardo (I’m the cute brown guy in the picture), and this is the story of how me and my brother Luigi came to be in the summer of 1997. If Luigi looks a little sleepy it’s because we are only 30 minutes old.
Our Story
My little mom was doing fine throughout most of her pregnancy, taking her daily 6 hour naps, watching Oprah, and eating plenty of pellets fortified with Vitamin C. She only had morning sickness for the first few days, of course when your gestation is only 62-75 days, a couple of days of morning sickness is significant.
When the magic moment came little mom was just too pooped out from all the excitement, so big Mom took us to see Dr. Ridgeway at the Long Beach Animal Hospital. He knew exactly what was going on and started making little mom feel better (which made big Mom feel better also).
Dr. Ridgeway (Dr. R) and Dr. Palazzolo (Dr. P) are very experienced at working with us guinea pigs and teach the next generation how to work with them. In this picture a student from the Externship Program at LBAH is learning how to listen to a guinea pig’s heart under their supervision.
Once little mom was resting comfortably and watching Oprah again, Dr. Ridgeway came in and told big Mom we would have to perform a C-Section because little mom did not have the energy to finish the job. I have to finish the story later because I am getting sleepy from the anesthesia they are giving little mom……
Show and Tell
Once Dr. R and big Mom decided little mom needed a C-Section, Dr. Palazzolo anesthetized little mom. Apparently there is a lot more to anesthetizing a guinea pig than most people realize.
I don’t remember exactly what he said next because I was getting groggy, but it was something to the effect “my god, she is so big she barely fits into the anesthetic mask”.
Tummy clipped and prepped, ready for surgery to begin. As soon as little mom was anesthetized Dr. P went to work.
He made an incision in little moms bulging (she went from a size 5 to a 16!) tummy while me and Luigi were fast asleep. He rapidly cut through little moms tummy muscles and exposed the uterus because me and Luigi might not do to well if we stayed under anesthesia too long.
That’s me and Luigi still in little mom’s uterus. Dr. P made a quick incision in the uterus and next thing I know I am rudely awakened from my sleep and getting my bottom slapped-what an indignity!
Out we come, still “sacked” up!
As soon as Dr. P opens up our sack and we enter the world we are handed off to a nurse to rub us vigorously. This removes all the sack contents from our skin so we can dry out, and also stimulates us to breathe.
Our first look at the world as we take our first breaths
Dr. P made sure little mom was put back together real well, with as rough as me and Luigi play with her, that’s real important. Here he is sewing her muscle layers back together.
Here is little mom’s bikini scar when the surgery is complete. Me and Luigi had dibs over which of little mom’s nipples we would get.
Our first piggy back ride! Now if only Luigi would turn around I could see where we are going.
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