Lulu Bell and the Pyjama Party
Page 3
There was another pause. ‘I think you had better bring her straight in. She may need a caesarean. I’ll meet you at the vet hospital. See you soon.’
Dad tiptoed through the lounge room.
‘Dad?’ whispered Lulu sleepily. ‘Is Maisie all right?’
Dad stopped. ‘She’s having trouble delivering her puppies. I need to take a look at her. You go back to sleep.’
Lulu tried to sleep. But now she was worried about Maisie and her puppies. At last, Lulu climbed out of her sleeping bag. She pulled on her bunny slippers and padded towards the vet hospital.
She pushed open the green door. In the vet hospital, all the lights were burning brightly. Lulu blinked in the sudden light. The vet hospital seemed strangely quiet at night-time.
Lulu checked each room. Dad was not in the waiting room or the consulting rooms. She heard a low murmur of voices coming from the operating theatre. Lulu peeked her head around the door.
Dad was there, in the sterile green gown and cap that he wore during operations. He had thin plastic gloves on his hands and a surgical mask over his mouth. There were strong, warm lights shining down.
Maisie was lying on the operating table. She was unconscious and had a breathing tube in her mouth. Her stomach had been shaved and painted with antiseptic.
Lauren and her mum were standing by, looking anxious. Like Lulu, Lauren was wearing her pyjamas.
‘Perfect timing, Lulu,’ said Dad. Lulu could hear the smile in his voice. ‘Can you please scrub up, then fetch me a pile of sterile towels?’
Lulu washed her hands carefully, using the anti-bacterial soap at the sink. She fetched a pile of sterile towels from a cupboard and placed them on the benchtop. A moment later, Molly popped her head around the door.
‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t sleep either so I followed Lulu.’
‘Come in, Molly,’ invited Dad. ‘We’ll need all of you to help in a moment. I want to deliver the puppies as quickly as I can. Lulu will show you all what to do. She’s done it before.’
Dad clamped a sterile cloth over Maisie’s tummy. Beside the operating table was a trolley. On top, medical instruments were laid out neatly.
Dad explained to Molly and Lauren. ‘This operation is called a caesarean,’ he said. ‘I make a small cut in Maisie’s tummy so I can pull out the puppies. We need to do it quickly so that the puppies are not affected too much by the anaesthetic.’
Dad turned to Lulu. ‘Are you ready to take delivery of the first pup?’
Lulu picked up a clean towel and held it out flat. Dad pulled a slippery puppy from Maisie’s belly. He cleared away the sac and membranes, and cut the cord to detach it from its mother. Dad passed Lulu the first puppy. It was plump and black and lying perfectly still.
‘This one’s a fattie,’ said Dad. ‘A beautiful, healthy pup.’
‘Hello, baby,’ whispered Lulu.
Lulu’s job was to rub the puppy with the towel to dry it and help it to breathe. She had to wipe the mucus from around its nose and mouth. It was important to work fast to get the puppy breathing as quickly as possible.
Dad passed another wrinkly puppy to Lauren, and then one to her mum Kyra.
Lulu rubbed her puppy. It lay unmoving and quiet in the towel. Lulu rubbed some more.
‘Come on, little puppy,’ whispered Lulu. ‘Breathe. You have to breathe.’
Lulu rubbed a little harder. There was a tiny squeak. The puppy sucked in air. Lulu rubbed again. The puppy cried loudly, its eyes firmly shut.
‘It’s breathing,’ squealed Lulu. Soon the pup was wriggling and squirming, its paws scrabbling in the air.
‘Good work, Lulu,’ said Dad. ‘Pop it in the warming box. I have another one ready to go.’
Lulu laid the puppy in a special box under a heat lamp to keep it warm.
Dad passed her another puppy to rub. This one was smaller and a pale gold colour. The others were also working hard to revive their puppies.
‘Mine’s not breathing,’ said Lauren. She sounded like she might cry.
‘Just rub a little bit harder,’ suggested Lulu. Lulu showed Lauren what to do, and the puppy took a sharp breath.
Soon the operating theatre was filled with the sound of squeaks and cries as the Labrador puppies began to breathe on their own.
‘Eleven puppies,’ said Dad. ‘No wonder Maisie was looking so big.’
Dad started work on sewing up the cut in Maisie’s tummy. Lulu worked on her third puppy. Soon that pup was breathing too.
Lulu gazed down at the warming box. There were eleven fat puppies lying side by side. Seven were golden Labradors like their father and four were black like Maisie. They mewled and whined, searching for their mother.
Lauren, Molly and Lulu grinned at each other with delight.
‘Look at them,’ said Lulu. ‘Aren’t they gorgeous? I’m sooooo glad the puppies were born in the middle of our pyjama party.’
Chapter 9
Midnight Feast
Maisie was still in a deep sleep.
‘Poor Maisie,’ said Lauren, her forehead crinkled. ‘Will she be all right?’
Dad pulled off his surgical gloves, cap and mask. He beamed at the girls.
‘She’ll be fine, I promise you,’ said Dad. ‘It will just take a little while for her to wake up.’
Dad carefully lifted Maisie off the operating table. He gently put her in a large wooden box. It was lined with towels and newspaper. Maisie whimpered in her sleep.
One by one, the girls lifted the puppies and carefully placed them in the box beside Maisie. The pups snuggled up beside their mother. Some of them began to suckle. Dad turned on a heat lamp to keep Maisie and the puppies warm.
At that moment, Mum came in to check how things were going. She leaned over the puppy box and admired the babies.
‘Puppies all delivered safe and well,’ said Dad. ‘But we need to stay here for a while and keep a close watch on Maisie. It will take an hour or so before she really wakes up.’
Mum looked at the girls in their pyjamas. She checked her watch.
‘I think you and Molly had better go to bed, Lulu,’ said Mum. ‘It’s the middle of the night.’
‘Aw, Mum, no,’ complained Lulu. ‘Just a little bit longer. We want to help watch over the puppies.’
Molly and Lulu looked at Mum pleadingly. Lauren looked from Lulu’s mum to her own mother.
‘I suppose it wouldn’t be a pyjama party without a midnight feast,’ said Mum. Her eyes twinkled. ‘I’ll make some snacks to keep everyone going. How’s that for an idea?’
‘Great plan,’ said Dad. ‘I’m starving.’
‘Yes, please,’ said Lulu and Molly. Kyra laughed.
‘Midnight feast, then bed – okay? Kyra and Lauren, would you like to join us?’ Mum asked. They both nodded.
Mum came back a few minutes later, carrying a heavy tray. She was accompanied by a sleepy-looking Sam.
‘Look who woke up,’ said Mum. ‘Sam didn’t want to miss out on the puppies.’
Sam smiled at Lulu and Molly, then at the puppies.
Mum had made mugs of foaming hot chocolate with a sprinkle of shaved chocolate on top. She had also brought a plate of home-made lemon cupcakes.
Everyone sat on chairs in the operating theatre. They sipped hot chocolate and nibbled on crumbly cupcakes.
Maisie started to stir slowly. The eleven puppies were happily suckling, their eyes closed.
‘What a wonderful weekend,’ said Lulu. ‘The pyjama party, looking after Mika and eleven new puppies. What do you think, Sam? Didn’t I tell you we’d have fun?’
Sam gave a super-big grin. He had a chocolate foam moustache on his top lip.
‘I had the best weekend ever,’ said Sam. ‘Maybe Molly, Ebony and I can come for a pyjama party again soon?’
‘Absolutely, Sam,’ said Lulu. ‘Pyjama parties are the best!’
Lulu Bell and the Tiger Cub
Year Three are going on an excursion to the zoo. Luckil
y the zoo vet is one of Dad’s best friends, so Lulu and Molly and their friends get special treatment!
When a tiger cub gets into trouble and hurts its leg, the zookeepers have to take it to the hospital. The zoo vet sets to work with Lulu and Molly looking on. Will the tiger cub be okay?
Out now
Read all the Lulu Bell books
Lulu Bell and the Birthday Unicorn
Lulu Bell and the Fairy Penguin
Lulu Bell and the Cubby Fort
Lulu Bell and the Moon Dragon
Lulu Bell and the Circus Pup
Lulu Bell and the Sea Turtle
Lulu Bell and the Tiger Cub
Lulu Bell and the Pyjama Party
Lulu Bell and the Christmas Elf
November 2014
About the Author
Belinda Murrell grew up in a vet hospital and Lulu Bell is based on some of the adventures she shared with her own animals. After studying Literature at Macquarie University, Belinda worked as a travel journalist, editor and technical writer. A few years ago, she began to write stories for her own three children – Nick, Emily and Lachlan. Belinda’s books include the Sun Sword fantasy trilogy, timeslip tales The Locket of Dreams, The Ruby Talisman and The Ivory Rose, and Australian historical tales The Forgotten Pearl, The River Charm and The Sequin Star. Belinda is also an ambassador for Room to Read and Books in Homes.
www.belindamurrell.com.au
About the Illustrator
Serena Geddes spent six years working with a fabulously mad group of talented artists at Walt Disney Studios in Sydney before embarking on the path of picture book illustration in 2009. She works both traditionally and digitally and has illustrated eighteen books, ranging from picture books to board books to junior novels.
www.serenageddes.com.au
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Lulu Bell and the Pyjama Party
9780857983046
Copyright © Belinda Murrell 2014
Illustrations copyright © Serena Geddes 2014
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted.
A Random House Australia book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
www.randomhouse.com.au
Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at www.randomhouse.com.au/offices
First published by Random House Australia in 2014
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Author: Murrell, Belinda
Title: Lulu Bell and the pyjama party/Belinda Murrell; illustrated by Serena Geddes
ISBN: 978 0 85798 304 6 (ebook)
Series: Murrell, Belinda. Lulu Bell; 8
Target audience: For primary school age
Subjects: Children’s parties – Juvenile fiction
Sleepovers – Juvenile fiction
Dogs – Juvenile fiction
Other authors/contributors: Geddes, Serena, illustrator
Dewey number: A823.4
Cover design by Christabella Designs
Internal design and typesetting by Anna Warren, Warren Ventures
eBook production by First Source
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