Ahhh... this morning we woke up to the sweet pitter patter of spring rain on the roof. I was surprised to go out and find that the rain barrels were already filled and overflowing. The cool wetness made for a lazy start to the day, and when I finally got outside to feed the big goats in preparation for milking I found that Guava was dripping mucus.
She was getting ready to give birth. In fact her water broke while I was scraping the barn floor. So I stepped up the morning events and called my Mom to come up and help. I plopped Miekka into the Bumbo seat in the milkhouse and started gathering goats. In between every goat or two, I'd dutifully check on Guava, but progress was slow.
Halfway through milking, my Mom arrived and took over kidcare while I finished up. I was surprised that Guava didn't finish before I did. Finally, after much watching and waiting, some feet poked out... hind feet they were- I could tell because they were upside down. She'd push the feet out almost up to the hocks, and then after awhile they'd slip back in again.
Guava's sister (Mango and her yearling daughter (Ava) never left her side. The daddy buck (Sasquatch) was there for the whole thing as 0well. Taslyn and I made alot of trips out to check on her, but not much was happening. Contractions seemed to be a long ways apart and not that productive.
After a couple hours of it, I gave a tentative tug on the feet. She was in there pretty snug. A few more tugs while Guava was pushing and the baby started to move. Guava seemed appreciative of the assistance and worked with me. And before we knew it, a baby was on the ground.
Since she came breech- and very quickly at the end, she didn't get squeezed enough and had mucus in her airway. Massage, positioning and homeopathics got her the help she needed to pull through. And 5 hours later she is nursing like a champ, with a dearly attentive mama. All's well on the mountain...welcome Rainy!
