We had our bitch scanned at 23 days and the Vet confirmed that there were no pups. She now has all the signs of being in whelp and at five weeks  we took her to the Vet again for advice. On palpitation he again advised that there were no pups but to be sure carried out an X-Ray. This confirmed that there were in fact two pups. We have now been advised that this could be dangerous for the pups and  are very worried since our bitch also lost her last litter with an infection and reabsorption. We are new to this so any advice will be welcome.
Peter & Jan

23 days is very early to confirm pregnancy on an ultrasound ~ which pressumably is why nothing was found.
In my opinion palpation is inconclusive.
The x-ray has now been done, so no point worrying over it now. Personally I wouldn't want to x-ray a bitch to confirm pregnancy as I'd only use ultrasound, although I do know of several bitches that have been x-rayed during pregnancy (for all sorts of reasons) & always been fine. I'm sure your girl will be ok.  :)

I once went to the vet when my bitch was 9 weeks in pup, huge stomach and they wanted to x-ray her. I would not let them. Huge long storey which I wont go into now, why I too my bitch in the first place, anyway I was told afterwards that I knew more about dogs and whelping than the first vet I saw who was just out of med school. Be careful who you see is my advice as some of these young vets dont know squit about dog breeding.
I always like experienced vets that are good with large animals as well as pets. They seem to have good depth of knowledge.
Its done now your x-ray. Nothing you can do about it.
Have you ever tried wheat germ oil in pre-pregnancy and then the first three weeks, its supposed to stop absorption of puppies in the early stages. You have to stop this at 3 weeks though. I get mine on line with a herbal company. It seems to work.  As my one bitch absorped and after using the Wheatgerm oil she carried full term 8 pups.

at five weeks the puppies are still developing so why did your vet recommend an xray, wouldn't it have been better to wait and see. I would only have an xray done on a bitch to confirm she had whelped all the puppies or to confirm well after the due date....some people so need to know if their bitch is pregnant when really time will tell anyway.