Well, within 10 minutes of starting to push, Juniper had a beautiful buckling! I am in awe of how strong she was. On the third push there was a big gush of water, then a huge bubble popped out. I could see the kid, and saw that his head and one foot were presenting. I worried a bit about the other foot being back, so I broke the bubble to see if it would be a problem, and she shot him right out into my hands.
He's a big dark buckskin boy, very long-legged. And he is so lively! He was trying to stand within minutes of birth, and with 45 minutes she had him dried off, standing and nursing. I did have to clear her waxy plugs though, they were really in there! He even peed in that 45 minutes! She has already passed the placenta in one (huge) piece. I had no idea they were so large!
He's nursed 3 times now, and Juniper is a very attentive Mama. She needed a little encouragement to get him nursing, but once he did, she did the most unbelievable thing. I was right next to her, helping, and as soon as he latched on, she sighed and rested her head on my shoulder and left it there for like 5 minutes. I tell ya, tears were streaming down my cheeks. She is just an extraordinary creature.
Well, I need a shower and some food, but I wanted to let y'all know that all went extremely well. I will have some pictures up tomorrow. Thank you ALL so much for the support, it meant so much to me and Juniper. Much love!
Replies
Great tip Deborah, what would I do without your brain? LOL
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
Thank you Glenna! That's so interesting that raspberry leaves help with stress, too. I don't have access to the fresh bushes either, it's all wild blackberry in my neck of the woods. I'll have to check out Mare Magic, thanks for the tip.
Yes, it is supposed to be that easy! Congratulations - what a wonderful first experience all the way around.
Also, I use raspberry leaves after I learned about them. With few bushes, I buy Mare Magic. I don't know that it has helped but it certainly has not hurt with the bonus being they love them. I also feed them prior to the 4th of July to help with the stress of fireworks.
It gradually changes over to mature milk over the course of 3-4 days, so you can freeze it and label it with the age of the colostrum. For example, I'd write, "36 hour colostrum" or "48 hour colostrum."
Mama has SO much milk! One kid can't possibly keep up with it. I had to milk her out yesterday because she was getting uncomfortable. Then like an idiot I didn't save the colostrum because I was so distracted. I wonder how long they have colostrum, because I could easily milk her again at any time. I'll have to look that info up.
Old Haunt Farm said:
Oh, SO cool to know this, Julieanne! Thank you for the tip. We have a huge raspberry patch, now with an extra use for it!
How's that mama & baby of yours??
Charity,
You absolutely can use raspberry leaves right off the vine. That's actually the best way to do it. I've done a lot of research, and I know the supplement industry is unregulated, so you rarely know exactly what you're getting. It's most desirable (although less and less possible with today's food systems) to get nutrients from food. Here's a link to what I used,
http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Mama-Angel-Baby-Trimester/dp/B005P0JQQE...
I just sprinkled it on her evening feed and she ate it right up. I've now started my other doe on it, even though I'm not sure she's pregnant. Can't hurt!
What a gorgeous little dude!! And yes, I could do anything with Maple's udder for the first week after birth. Now she gets a little mad at me. ;-) Nice that you get to milk so soon with your single. I'm pretty sure Maple's triplets are sucking her will to live, and I may never see milk of my own. LOL
Nice tip about the red raspberry. Would it work to dry leaves off of our raspberry plants for this, or is that not the same thing?
I'm so glad we met here, and that we can support each other! It's great to learn from both of you!
Enjoy that baby!!!
Charity
Julieanne Cook said:
Oops, just realized I posted two of the same picture. Oh well. Mama and son are doing fine this morning, he's nursing well although he appears to be a leftie. Guess I'll be milking out the right side sooner than I thought. It's so funny, when she was pregnant, Juniper hated it when I tried to touch her bag, well really anything below the shoulders. Now she just stands there while I feel it and make sure the milk is flowing. Ah, the magic of oxytocin! LOL
I wanted to share one thing, and take this for what it's worth to you. For the last month of her pregnancy, I gave Juni dried red raspberry leaves, about 2 teaspoons a day. Back when I bred dogs I used this supplement and never had any problems with a sluggish uterus. I don't know if that made the difference here, but red raspberry is often recommended as a pregnancy tonic. I usually take a very pragmatic approach to supplements, but this one has always worked well for me.
Again, thanks to Deborah, Julia and Old Haunt for all the support. Armed with all that knowledge, I could stay calm and be there for my Juniper. Not that she gave me much time for worry once she got started. I still can't get over how smoothly it all went.
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