Kidding Chaos

We survived......barely. After having 10 moms kid in 9 days, life is slowly getting back to normal. I thought I'd share a few of the highlights and lowlights of this year's kiddings.

Dottie and her Dippin Dots

Big old Dottie gave us quite the scare before she kidded. A bum leg and a slight case of pregnancy toxemia made her one miserable momma to be. I'll admit that I was a little worried about her kidding. During her delivery in 2015, it took her awhile to bounce back to her old self after her kids were born. That meant bottle babies galore. That wasn't the case this year. Since we caught the pregnancy toxemia early enough, we had that under control. Her delivery was textbook. It was the perfect way to start the kidding season. 4 beautiful, healthy babies......she was one proud momma.

Belle

In the past, Belle has always had triplets and never had any problems kidding. She felt like doing things differently this year. Her one big baby girl decided to present herself with one front leg forward and the other locked back. After doing everything I could to get the second leg forward and to get the kid pulled, we ended up having to make an emergency trip to the vet. That 25 minute drive is the worst when you're worried. Belle was very calm and actually laid down on the side of me in the back of the truck. The vet was ready when we got there and worked his magic to get little Winnie out successfully. Thank goatness for vets!!! We got everyone cleaned up and headed back home. We kept a close eye on Belle, to make sure she didn't have any internal injuries after all of that tugging and pulling, but she was just fine and loving her baby girl. Winnie is this year's class clown. There's always an ornery one in the bunch, but it's always been a boy in the past. Winnie broke that gender stereotype and is causing chaos everywhere she goes. But we love her just the way she is.

Rosie

Rosie was a rockstar....absolutely no problems during her kidding. She's a first freshener, so you never know what to expect. She's an excellent mom. Her little boy looks just like her, and Ruby, whom we're retaining, looks just like her grandma, Violet.

Molly

It was the year of kids having one front leg tucked back. Both of Molly's boys presented themselves with one of their front legs back, but luckily, she had no problems pushing them out. I had been worried about Molly because her last 2 kiddings, she had single giant bucklings. They made for 2 very hard deliveries. I remember having to pull Bruce in 2015. I honestly thought he was never going to come out. It took all of my strength to get him out. This year was much better, though. 2 smaller boys that came out with no problems.

Mocha

Mocha was another first freshener, so we didn't know what to expect. After staying up with her all night long, her water finally broke at about 5:00 am. After absolutely no progress, I decided it was time to intervene. Sure enough, the kid had both front legs locked backwards and wasn't able to come out. After a lot of work, I was finally able to get one of the legs forward and get the little doeling pulled. And boy, was she beautiful. Mocha is a wonderful mom who loves her little girl.

Alba

Alba made having triplets look like it was nothing. She needed absolutely no assistance and pushed all 3 baby girls out with no problems. She could've had her kids a little earlier than ten o'clock at night, but beggars can't be choosers, right???

Dusk

We were a little worried about Dusk becoming a mother. We didn't know how she'd be as a mom, but only time would tell. At about 1:15 in the morning, her water broke. She was having contractions, but was hardly pushing at all. Almost like she wasn't even trying. After an hour, I decided it was time to jump in and give her a hand. Sure enough, the first kid was breach, but with my help, we got him out. I laid her first little boy in front of her and waited to see what she would do. She just kinda glanced at him and looked away. I'm thinking, uh oh......maybe motherhood is not for her. But after a minute or so, she started in with her super adorable baby talk and started cleaning him up. Phew!!! We got him cleaned up and nursing, and I sent Josh in to go to bed since he had to work in the morning. It had been an hour and fifteen minutes since she kidded, so we figured she was done. WRONG! All of a sudden, she started pushing again, and her second little boy came along, and no assistance was needed. Oh yeah.....I almost forgot!!! Dusk isn't a people goat, so I had to stay outside of her pen the whole time she was in labor(up until the point when I assisted). All of the other moms appreciated the attention and company. Dusk preferred to be alone. It's hard for me not to be involved.

CeCe

CeCe was the only mom to actually deliver on her due date and had absolutely no problems with her delivery. I could've used 9 more of her. She made it look easy. She ended up with a little mini-me doeling and a white as snow "Dirty White Boy". She's a great mom and loves her kids to pieces.

Shortie Baby

I thought this goat was gonna give me a heart attack. I hadn't slept for 3 days straight and was finally trying to take a nap when Josh came in and said she was in early labor. You all know I was worried about her delivery since her mom had passed away after delivering Miracle, and I was also worried because I didn't know how she'd be as a mom. She's not your typical goat. Shortie Baby was due on the 18th. The 18th was the day that Shortcake, her mom, had passed away 2 years prior. This weighed on me heavily. Thankfully, SB held out and decided to go into labor the following day. She was in the early stages of labor for quite awhile when her water finally broke at around 6. After an hour of absolutely no progress, it was time to intervene. I went in and found the kid stuck clear back in the birth canal. It took my dad and Josh holding SB still for me to be able to pull her big buckling out. It took all of our strength, and all I could think about was Shortcake's kidding complications. It was pretty much the same scenario. SB immediately took to her little boy and started cleaning him up, and all I could do was cry. There were so many emotions, I couldn't take it. I was so worried, so happy, so scared, so overwhelmed, so thankful.....and the list went on. I just sat there and bawled while she bonded with her new baby. We got everyone and everything cleaned up, got the heat barrel set up and were getting ready to call it a night when she started pushing again! "Oh no....Here we go again!!!" A couple good pushes, and out came this tiny lifeless body. I immediately started cleaning out her nasal passages and throat and was doing anything I could to get her breathing. She was gasping for air, but I wasn't gonna give up. After working on her for I don't know how long, her breaths were much stronger, but she was shaking like crazy and not able to stand on her own. We decided it was best to get her inside, warmed up, and on a bottle. We put a heating pad on a towel in a box for her and got a little bit of colostrum in her belly. That started to perk her up, and after a couple hours, she was standing on her own. That first night was scary, but I'd take her out to mom every couple hours, so she could bond with her and also nurse on her. Shortie Baby was very accepting of her every time I brought her out. The next day, it was warm enough that she could be outside with mom. When I weighed her the next day, she weighed in at 1 pound, and that's how we came up with the name Poundcake. Pound, since she weighed 1 pound. And Cake, after her late grandma. Her big brother, Rigatoni, weighed in at 4 pounds.

Fluff Head

After the Shortie Baby fiasco, all I wanted to do was go inside and go to bed, but Fluff was in the early stages of labor. Josh went to bed and took Poundcake with him, and I stayed on Fluff watch. It was another long night. Fluff was in no hurry to get those kids out, so we just hung out and ate animal crackers most of the evening. Finally, after begging her to get busy, her water finally broke. And big surprise, after making no progress, I had to go in and assist AGAIN. Another kid with the one leg locked backwards. No worries, though. We got little Reese out in no time, and his little sister wasn't too far behind. Fluff Head gave us 2 beautiful blue eyed babies.

Onto the Fun Part

I am always thankful when everyone has kidded and everyone is healthy and happy. We can now finally enjoy ourselves a little bit. There is nothing better than getting to know each individual kid and getting to bond with them all. I never grow tired of goat snuggles and goat kisses, so if I have a spare minute, you bet I'm in there with those kids. Those bouncing babies learning how to jump and climb are the highlight of my year. All of the hard work is always worth it.