Post by Shelley (whistlingtrain) on Mar 5, 2010 17:39:27 GMT -5
First of all, I'd like to debunk all the myths about first-time heifers having heifers. My first-time heifer went into labor 8 days past her due date, and had a heifer calf! I thought heifers were born early, and bulls late. It's always been opposite around here. Bulls early, heifers late, and what the heck is a due date, anyway?
Next, I'd like to say thank you to Joelle for the push to stay home from work this afternoon. Thank you to the school district for letting me off the work hook after I committed for the day. And, thank you to the heavens for making everything turn out perfectly during the day so I could take pictures with my phone.
At 10:30 I came home from work to find Juniper with a tight udder (the blown-up latex glove look), and stringing a bit of mucus, arching her back and doing strange cow exercises with her tail sticking out.
By 11:30 I was pretty sure something was finally happening and called work (I'm a substitute bus driver) to find out if they really, truly needed me to drive or if they could figure out somebody else on a Friday afternoon. Luckily I've been talking to the dispatcher about the impending birth for about a month, and after about 1/2 an hour called back to tell me they had it figured out and I could stay home.
By 12:00 she was laying down and actually pushing, about 4-5 pushes in a row with about 2 minutes of break in between. Then I knew it was serious.
By 12:30 the amniotic sac was showing and broke. Luckily I got out of the way because it kind of exploded toward me.
I was a little worried because she was only about 2 inches from the wall and there wasn't room for a baby to get out there. I figured we had time to move her if necessary so didn't sweat it. After a few more pushes she got up and wandered around in circles and I rubbed her neck and back. Then did some more pushing, then layed down again.
By 1:00 I could see a foot. After staring at it for about 5 minutes, I looked at Juniper's feet and thought to myself that something was funny. Yes, after looking back and forth about 50 times I figured out that they were BACK feet. Then confirmed that they were belly down. At least a normal birth would be possible. (And thankfully I've been re-reading the whole birth chapter of KFC over and over for the last four weeks!)
After the knees made it out and she got up for more wandering and layed down again, she pushed for another 20-30 minutes. Then I asked my hubby to get some towels and help me pull. I tried by myself first with only hay to dry off the feet and it wasn't working--too slippery. We waited for her to relax (as much as possible) and we each took a towel and a leg. I heard a pop and thought I dislocated the leg in my hand, but everything appears ok. We pulled downward steadily and maintained position with the contractions. She was groaning horribly. It was really loud and I was getting worried that we wouldn't be able to do it. Those hips were big, and Juniper was really hurting. But then the legs kicked us and we hustled. By this point the cord could be pinched off.
Two more big pushes and we had the baby out and cleared the nose and mouth. It was so floppy I thought it wasn't alive, and the baby had a blue tongue (so do Juniper and Beauty, but I didn't remember that at the time.) The baby was trying to flop around and blow its nose, so it was ok. Juniper just laid there for almost 10 minutes, poor girl.
Then, she stood up and anxiously sniffed and licked. I had to leave after I tried to help the baby stand up and Juniper pushed me away.
I'll be going out shortly to take her some molasses water and check on the baby.
Next, I'd like to say thank you to Joelle for the push to stay home from work this afternoon. Thank you to the school district for letting me off the work hook after I committed for the day. And, thank you to the heavens for making everything turn out perfectly during the day so I could take pictures with my phone.
At 10:30 I came home from work to find Juniper with a tight udder (the blown-up latex glove look), and stringing a bit of mucus, arching her back and doing strange cow exercises with her tail sticking out.
By 11:30 I was pretty sure something was finally happening and called work (I'm a substitute bus driver) to find out if they really, truly needed me to drive or if they could figure out somebody else on a Friday afternoon. Luckily I've been talking to the dispatcher about the impending birth for about a month, and after about 1/2 an hour called back to tell me they had it figured out and I could stay home.
By 12:00 she was laying down and actually pushing, about 4-5 pushes in a row with about 2 minutes of break in between. Then I knew it was serious.
By 12:30 the amniotic sac was showing and broke. Luckily I got out of the way because it kind of exploded toward me.
I was a little worried because she was only about 2 inches from the wall and there wasn't room for a baby to get out there. I figured we had time to move her if necessary so didn't sweat it. After a few more pushes she got up and wandered around in circles and I rubbed her neck and back. Then did some more pushing, then layed down again.
By 1:00 I could see a foot. After staring at it for about 5 minutes, I looked at Juniper's feet and thought to myself that something was funny. Yes, after looking back and forth about 50 times I figured out that they were BACK feet. Then confirmed that they were belly down. At least a normal birth would be possible. (And thankfully I've been re-reading the whole birth chapter of KFC over and over for the last four weeks!)
After the knees made it out and she got up for more wandering and layed down again, she pushed for another 20-30 minutes. Then I asked my hubby to get some towels and help me pull. I tried by myself first with only hay to dry off the feet and it wasn't working--too slippery. We waited for her to relax (as much as possible) and we each took a towel and a leg. I heard a pop and thought I dislocated the leg in my hand, but everything appears ok. We pulled downward steadily and maintained position with the contractions. She was groaning horribly. It was really loud and I was getting worried that we wouldn't be able to do it. Those hips were big, and Juniper was really hurting. But then the legs kicked us and we hustled. By this point the cord could be pinched off.
Two more big pushes and we had the baby out and cleared the nose and mouth. It was so floppy I thought it wasn't alive, and the baby had a blue tongue (so do Juniper and Beauty, but I didn't remember that at the time.) The baby was trying to flop around and blow its nose, so it was ok. Juniper just laid there for almost 10 minutes, poor girl.
Then, she stood up and anxiously sniffed and licked. I had to leave after I tried to help the baby stand up and Juniper pushed me away.
I'll be going out shortly to take her some molasses water and check on the baby.