Foaling Story!

February 19, all night Don't was pretty restless. It had been a couple days since Don't laid down and really slept. Her udder was (finally) full, and dripping white milk and had been for a couple days. The PH of her milk insisted she should have already foaled, and by this time the PH had dropped to 6.0. The test strips don't go any lower than that! Mom and I took our usual shifts, and we had nothing to report. The same stuff... Biting her belly, kicking her belly, pacing, stomping, flehmen, yawning, rubbing her teeth, pressing her butt to the wall, soft poop, holding her tail high, swishing her tail everywhere... The SAME THINGS she had been doing for a MONTH.

However, she started doing those things a bit extra the night of the 19th/morning of the 20th.  I kept saying, "She's going into labor between 4-5pm and she'll deliver around 7." I'd been saying that for at least a week, though, so I think everyone was ignoring me by then.

On the 20th (Thursday, I think... Day 355 of her pregnancy) I refused to go to sleep. All day I watched. By then we'd already scheduled a vet appointment for the following morning because maybe it was time to worry... Not because she was "overdue" because 355 days is perfectly normal, but because she'd shown so many signs of labor for so long and we still didn't have a foal.  I spent the day feeling sick to my stomach with worry. I didn't update Facebook on all of her activity because I was tired of disappointing people, but I told a couple people via private message, "I think this is early labor. I'm not convinced she's not actually starting something" and "She's going into labor between 4 and 5 tonight." (Back me up on this, Karen and Pam! lol)

I stayed awake all day (with Mom offering every couple hours to let me sleep) researching all the things that could be WRONG. Maybe the baby was in the wrong position, and that's why she wasn't going into labor. Had the baby died? No, she would've aborted already. I made myself sick with worry. Also, I was really, really grumpy.

So I stayed awake until 5. Nothing had changed. She was still antsy, but nothing more than she'd been doing all day. I wasn't tired, but I knew it could be a long night. Plus, mom was watching a dog for a friend and he'd be there soon to pick him up... That meant a forbidden DISTURBANCE in the barn, so I may as well get some sleep. I laid in bed from 5-6... MAD and unable to sleep. I got up at 6 and Mom, Jessie, and Brian were all back in the house and I angrily used the restroom, glared at the monitor once, and tried again to sleep. Then Mom came in... (I had no idea how much time had passed because I did fall asleep, but it had been about 45-50 minutes). "You should probably get up now."

I jumped up, grabbed my glasses and got into the dining room, where I could see on the monitor that Don't was laying down, pushing. I put on my coat and boots, still asleep and I vaguely heard Mom on the phone with the vet. "She's down and pushing." "She should have a baby within 30 minutes."

Mom told me to go to the barn and cover up the dog's kennels with blankets, and I was on my way out. Apparently Don't continued with the same things she'd been doing all day... Until she finally laid down. Mom said she rolled about five times and stood up, and when she stood up Mom could see that her belly was pointed. That quickly. Mom yelled for me, but I didn't hear over the fan I had on high for white noise. Don't immediately laid back down, and that's when Mom came and got me.

That's why there was no warning on Facebook. Don't progressed from doing the SAME THINGS she'd been doing for 24 hours at that point (the same things she'd been doing with less frequency for a MONTH) to "Let's lay down and have a baby!"

In the barn, I finished covering up the dogs, still half asleep, grabbed the camera, and headed in to Don't. I updated Facebook... short and sweet. "Don't is down and pushing" or something along those lines, and proceeded to simultaneously take pictures with my phone and video with the camera. Mom came in at some point and opened the stall door so I could get a better video and we moved into the stall with Don't. Maybe she was there before I went onto the horse side of the barn. I really have no idea!

Don't was absolutely DRENCHED in sweat. In the hundreds of videos I've watched, that's the one thing I wasn't expecting. Everything I read said she might sweat, but none of the videos showed just how badly she'd sweat. She was soaked from head to hoof.

Mom said she saw feet, but when we looked closer, we could only see the bag. Thankfully Mom remembered all of the things we'd discussed and she noticed that Don't was really close to the wall. She urged Don't to get up and move... She rocked her and smacked her and got her on her feet (something I could have NEVER done... Yet another reason I'm grateful that Mom was home!). Upon closer examination, I could see one full leg inside the sac, and the foal's entire head... But I could NOT see the other leg.

When a foal comes out, one leg should start coming out, followed by the other leg a few inches behind, and the head should rest approximately on both knees. I told Mom what I saw (or didn't see) and she said to call Dr. Heidi. As I lifted my phone, I suggested she go look, too... To make sure I hadn't missed anything. (I didn't get too close, as I was trying to give Don't room, and I HOPED I missed it.) I held Dont's halter and prayed she'd stay on her feet (if the baby needed repositioned, it was important that Don't stayed UP!) and Mom went to look. Thankfully, she said she saw it... She saw both feet! The baby was positioned perfectly.

Thank God.  Then Don't laid back down, and while she had moved further from the wall, she was still pretty close. When Don't pushed, Mom saw her hips lift and the baby was aimed right at the wall. (I couldn't see this from my angle, so when Mom decided at that point to pull, I thought she was doing it because she was worried about Don't, and you can hear me go, "Mom, you don't have to pull yet!" and Mom shushes me... as only a mom can... and I shut up because Mom knows something I don't.)

Don't pushes, and Mom gently pulls the foal, and the baby is OUT. It was all that quick. The foal immediately started moving and I somehow managed to not sob out of happiness. Brian or Jessie got us the towels out of the foaling kit and we started drying the foal off.

Mom looked at the baby and announced it was a filly. (I thought I saw her feeling boy parts, and I heard "Billy" and was laughing, thinking she was messing with us... and then I thought she had said "Willy!" as in... "He's got a willy!"... But no, it was a filly.)

She complained, "It has to be a colt!" So we both looked on that foal's belly. Nope. No boy parts. This is definitely a filly! Mom announced that she was officially "Countess."

Mom worked on drying miss Countess more, and I took a towel to Don't and dried off her neck gently while she rested. She probably just wanted me to get the heck away from her, but I told myself she appreciated the attention.

Mom pulled Countess closer to Don't, and the new, beautiful, sweaty mom met her baby for the first time. She obviously immediately loved her. She failed, however, to let us know that Countess was actually a colt!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l_wubLf-vU

Thank you for following!

I know I've really neglected this blog, but I had my reasons. The biggest reason was that I was tired... Not just physically, but mentally tired. For over four weeks, Don't teased us with signs of labor. Twice she apparently went into labor and then STOPPED. She was making us look bad! We know our (mom's) animals, and she managed to confuse us over and over again!

Another reason was because I started this blog so that I could stop posting about Don't so much on Facebook. I figured I was driving a lot of my Facebook friends nuts. However, as soon as I started the blog, I started getting demands for updates; people messaged me or posted on my wall, "You haven't updated since this morning! What is she doing now?!" Friends of friends (and their friends) friended me on Facebook, wanting to follow along. I started the blog because I wanted to update the select few people who I knew wanted updates, and as time went on I realized that a lot more people wanted to be included.

Five followers became twenty... Twenty became fifty... Fifty became a hundred. I'm not exaggerating. So many people wanted to know what Don't was doing, even if she wasn't doing anything new that day. So I went back to Facebook, where it was easier to update everyone and have them comment and ask questions. Mom and I spent sleepless nights laughing at the comments and questions we received, and were amazed at how many people were interested in this foaling story.

I'm going to type up the events of February 20th soon, but I wanted to first say, "Thank you!" to all of the people who took such an interest in this whole process. (And it WAS a process!) It was awesome to know that so many other people were as excited as we were (are). To everyone who lost sleep, woke up five times to check Facebook for updates, and freaked out at my seemingly out-of-nowhere "Don't is down and pushing!" update, thank you!

You all kept us laughing when we wanted to punch a horse, and for that, we thank you!

Foal watch night 12 or 13 or something

In the past few days, Dont's belly has dropped a lot. Her udder continues to fill, and she's started rubbing her butt a lot and biting her belly more. Last night, I went to bed shortly after 1, and at 3:30 Mom woke me up. I didn't know if she was tired and going to bed or if Don't was in labor. I walked into the dining room, looked at the monitor and look a Mom. Mom looks at the monitor, looks at me, and goes, "She lay down!" 

We both lost it laughing because Don't was just laying there. Apparently, Mom woke me up because Don't was laying down, flinging her tail everywhere and "doing weird things with her legs, like convulsions or something." When I got in there, she was just laying down, though. 

She was clearly not comfortable, an got up after about 5 minutes, but proceeded to do nothing for the rest of the night, until this morning when she started really biting her belly a lot. 

The point of this story is that Mom and I have completely lost our minds. We laugh hysterically at any given moment, and periodically curse at the monitor, saying things like, "That's right! Paw at the ground! Now lay down, b!tc* and have the baby!"  This has become perfectly normal and acceptable in the dining room, which has become our official Mare Stare/Foal Watch office. 

Mom will be home early from work tonight, and she's called in for tomorrow due to the snow heading our way so she doesn't have to worry about getting stuck plowing until 5am and not being able to get home if Don't does something. Plus, if she's not here from 1pm-5am, that's a long time for me to go with only a few hours of sleep in the morning. 

Anyway, a baby tonight would be just fantastic.