Daisy's Long Ordeal (And My Stressful Day)

Ever had one of those days where you wonder where your sanity went? Or if you ever had any in the first place? Okay, well yesterday was one of those days. Nothing big, just one thing after the other, ya know?!

So - yesterday morning at about 8:45, I realize Daisy is going to be a mama today. Great news! Thinking she would soon go into labor, I rush into the house and grab my two birthing must-haves: about a dozen towels and many pairs of arm-length OB gloves. Perfect.

Mom and I sat out with Daisy for about and hour and half, waiting, watching, and urging her to get moving!! All she did was pace around and act restless. Around noon, Mom gave up and went inside to feed the little boys lunch. Then 1:00 came around...still nothing. I finally let Daisy loose so she could eat and drink, and I headed inside to do the same!

It was around 3:30 in the afternoon when I started to worry. I have never had a goat birth drag on for so long. Daisy still hadn't even had many contractions yet, but I was still wondering what on earth was taking so long. So I called a friend of mine who has an abundance of goat wisdom (thanks Sarah!), and after assessing the situation she suggested just waiting it out. Within 10 minutes of putting down the phone, I headed out to check again on my poor pregnant elephant, and was shocked to see that she was actually giving birth!! Finally!

The situation here was less than ideal. Jonathan was gone at work. David was gone as well. Courtney was on a walk. And Mom was inside with the little boys. She told me to call her when birth was in progress because she really wanted to see it; but sorry, wasn't going to happen this time! Our goat pen is quite a ways from the house, so I had to just stay put and start working. Daisy already had one baby partially born, so I pulled that one out and laid it in front of her. The second one.....wasn't so easy. Here came a head, and a hoof, but the second front hoof was no where to be seen. Daisy was doing such a great job of pushing that the head was already out as well as one hoof. All the books I've read always say to "gently ease the baby back inside the doe and pull the other hoof forward." Yeah, right!! There was no pushing this baby back inside!! (And believe me, I tried.)

So here I am sitting in the dirt with a bellowing goat who has a head sticking out of her back end and me absolutely clueless. One minute later? A screaming goat with a head sticking out and my arm half inside her. Bad, bad deal. This was nasty!! Here was one of those moment where I looked up and begged God to help me deliver this super-stuck baby!!! I decided to totally extend the hoof I had already out to give her a little more room, and then just pull. And what do you know, that baby came sliding out. Daisy was ready to put me in prison by this point.

Crisis behind me, I ran to the house as fast as I could and told Mom if she wanted to see the last one being born she had better come now. However, she couldn't leave the little boys in the house alone, so 20 seconds later saw both of us pushing strollers at about 30 miles an hour to the goat shelter. By this time Daisy had already had her third baby, but the poor thing was still stuck in it's sack!! I raced over, tore the sack off, and then wiped her nose so she could breath. The poor thing had a rough start - she was barely breathing and was actually gurgling because there was so much fluid in her lungs.

So, there we were, sitting in the dirt, me swinging a baby by it's hind legs to get the excess fluid out, Mom in shock that Daisy had THREE, and both boys getting a lesson in goat anatomy at ages 3 and 4. It was a pre-curser to the lesson about birds and the bees.....Isaac kept saying "eww! oh no!"

We have two boys and a girl - the boys are fairly strong but the girl is a little weak. She's the biggest of them all, but doesn't seem to know how to hold her head up very well. (That's her above.) This, of course, makes nursing a challenge. She nurses fine as long as someone holds her head up there. She's doing a bit better today, but still a little weak. So, we'll see what happens with her.

Names? Wasn't even considered yesterday. I was just trying to survive through the whole thing. So the polls are open - what do YOU think? I'm open to name suggestions!

One the whole, it was one of the more stressful goat births I've ever had to deal with. But I'm thankful that God brought me through it and that everyone (so far) is doing well!