Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Surprise #2! by, Emily :)




Well, as you all know Jane surprised us with twins last month. Frosty and Snowflake are doing great, and they're getting really big! I have spent a lot of time with them, so they are very tame and friendly. So cute!


Well, we all figured we would be in for more "surprises" this winter, so I was checking the ewes regularly, as we didn't want any "lambcicles". :) Sue's udder was getting fuller and fuller by the day and she was showing other signs of being close. I began checking every couple hours as her udder continued to "grow".


Last Saturday (the 16th) me and Dad went out at around 10:30pm to check on her. She was acting very strangely. She stood silently in the corner of her pen to which we had moved her with her head lowered. It was really weird!


The next morning Dad woke me up to milk with "Sue's sides are sunk in and I think the babies are moving into the birth canal." Sunken sides are another sign of babies on the way! I didn't have any trouble getting up that morning! :) Getting the milk pail and soapy water, I headed out to the barn. Sue's sides were very sunk in. I quickly milked Millie and Belle, took care of the other animals, then stood quietly watching Sue.


After seeing two fairly big contractions, I was convinced that today was the day! :) I drove quickly up the house, and asked Dad, "Can you strain the milk for me? Sue's having contractions!" He said he would, so I grabbed Mom's cell phone and headed back out. It was Sunday morning, so the rest of the family went to Church and I stayed home to sheep-sit, as well as be Sue's midwife. :)


For two hours Sue labored without anything "coming out" except a little fluid. Finally a water bag came out, but it was still about a half hour before I even saw the hooves of baby #1. It was about 10:30am. Sue was having a lot of trouble and just couldn't seem to get out the head. Finally she did, but then there was a head literally hanging out the back of her for about ten minutes. By this time I was thoroughly worried, and convinced that the baby was going to suffocate. Well, just then Mom came walking in. She had come home to check on me, because they couldn't get a hold of me on her phone...there wasn't any signal. No matter how hard Sue pushed, she just couldn't get it out. Mom instructed me to gently pull when Sue had a contraction. Taking a deep breath, I pushed up my sleeves and grabbed the lambs head. Sue pushed, and I pulled gently. The baby came out more, then in one more push and pull, it was out! Whew!


Mom then left to go back to church, while I took care of the first lamb, which turned out to be a girl. She was so cute! Well, in about a half hour, Sue successfully pushed out baby #2. Another girl. This one was quite a bit bigger, but she had no problem getting it out. I weighed them both, and the first one was eight pounds and the second was eleven!!! Big baby!


I named the first one Snowball, and the second Snowhite. :) They're doing great, and are SOOO cute! And Dad informed me that I am now a qualified midwife. :)

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