Its almost the end of March and this was taken two weeks ago. We went for a hike at the Eno and the kids decided to go swimming in the river. More of a dunk and run, actually. But an insanely festive and hardy and fun way to welcome spring!

Maddie had her quincienra. The Gori family came to dinner. And Blackie labored all day with undiagnosed dystocia. FINALLY, at 11:30 on a Saturday night during March Maddness, I got my head out of my own butt and called the vet. THE VET WAS STUPENDOUSLY TALENTED AND GOOD. She pulled 3 kids. First: breach. Second: dead breach---actually transverse in utero. Third: normal presentation, a doe.

Alls well that ends well. But poor Blackie. All day my intuition said something was not right. That was correct. Something was not right. She never could have delivered them. I never could have sorted them out, in utero, by myself. WE NEEDED the vet.

Whew!

Henry brought me a poem:


When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer

WHEN I heard the learn’d astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick; 5
Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

~Walt Whitman (1819–1892). Leaves of Grass

 The three babies are thriving in their new home and have been named: Sparkle, Nighttime, Dux.

Brownie kidded within two hours of my post about the signs of labor. Riley helped with the delivery and said, "Well, there's something you don't get in school." She also wished a friend of hers had been here to see how easy the process was for Brownie. Witnessing livestock birth takes away the mystery for women who haven't given birth themselves. Animals have no drama or fear, they just get down to business. Which gives humans a chance to cut through all the rhetoric and acculturation:

Birth Works. Resist Nothing. Give In To Love.

In order of appearance: a chamois doe,  a chamois buckling, and a black doe:

 

 Good Job Mama!

I think its possible our girl might kid today or tomorrow. Soon, in any case.

Her udder is filling. It can get fuller, but that could happen in labor.

 This morning at breakfast she kept pausing to look back at her sides. That's a sign.

 Babies on the right side, rumen on the left.

See the slope of her rump? Notice how her tail head seems to be rising. That's her pin bones falling to the side and down. Her ligaments have softened to allow for stretching and delivery.

 Very exciting times! We can hardly wait. Good luck, Mama. We are with you.

H went through Put On The Breaks yesterday. Can't say enough good things about the program. Several hours of driving time skidding, sliding, slamming on breaks, and general safety skilz on a professional course. R will do it too, next year.