Happy News!

I'm a Grammy again!  Well, sort of.  My goatie girl, Faith,  delivered triplets last night. I'll spare you the labor shots.  Here are a few shots of the little darlings.


Little Fiona, brand new and slippery.

I got the call from the farm at about 6:30 PM.  I'm fighting a stomach virus, so I had to get dressed before we could hurry to the farm. When we arrived, this little girl had already arrived.  Faith's #1 baby this year: Fiona. Shortly after we arrived, Faith began to deliver #2, who was presenting exactly like the little white doeling we lost last year: head turned back, to the side.  You see, kids are normally born like little divers: you see two little feet first, then a nose follows, and next thing you know, you have a wet kid in your hands.  This baby wasn't cooperating; Faith couldn't pass her unassisted, so Kathy stepped in and helped. At one point I had given up on the baby and was mainly concerned with Faith, but Kathy never gave up on either of them.  She pulled that little girl out with three of us holding Faith, and breathed life back into her.  She was significantly smaller than the first kid, which (combined with Kathy's heroic efforts), probably saved her life.  Last year's doeling wasn't so lucky, though her male twin, born after her, did survive.  That's him (the surviving white twin from last year), on my blog banner.  He lives with Cory (holding him) now.

#2, Faun, needed some time to revive.  You'll see her later. 

Fiona and her younger brother, Franklin (it's an "F" year)

As Faith was recovering from her ordeal with #2, and we were drying off and stimulating little Faun, she began to push again.  We thought it must be the placenta, but after the second push, we were rewarded with a great big newborn buck.  Faith looked as surprised as we were!  Peter was SURE she was done, but when I caught the baby, cleared out his mouth and gave him a little breath, he let out a yell that woke the chickens.  That's no placenta, baby.  That's Franklin! He's a rough and tumble buckling, and will be kept on the farm as a new addition to the bloodline.
 

Find the triplets.  Student volunteers helping warm up the new arrivals.



It was in the low 20's last night, so we took special care to bundle up the babies as they arrived. 

Faun and Fiona, "sistas"




Faun gets a colostrum boost.



Little Fiona, all dry and fluffy.



All dry and beautiful.

The triplets: Faun, Fiona, and Frankie 



In birth order: Fiona, Faun, and Frankie

Faun's tiny size may have saved her life.

Faith's Nubian triplet (Fiona) next to Rosie's half-Toggenberg twin (Baby Huey, in MY book...though that doesn't start with an "F")

In the same stall, just moments before Faith delivered Fiona, Rosie delivered twins.  I'm not sure of Rosie's breed (Heinz 57?), but the babies look a lot like George, and he's a Togg. Look how big they are compared to our mini-princess, Fiona!  And there are still so many more to come!

Farming and animal midwifery, unlike other walks of life, don't stop if you're under the weather.  Life is insistent, and urgent, and you rally your forces and pitch in.  You forget your own bodily concerns and save little lives; you have to.  And you're rewarded in kind; it's an excellent way to live in the moment, to "Be Here Now", as Ram Dass taught us in the 70's. There is a dynamic interplay of hope, faith, and hard work...it's powerful and oh, so satisfying.  He said it this way:

"The game is not about becoming somebody, it's about becoming nobody".  

Being nobody is pretty awesome when the world unfolds right before your eyes. You're in it, and of it, and one with it. And it's beautiful.

Happy Birthday, babies!