Oh dear--  it has been an absolutely HORRIFIC 2 days!!!!  Oh really terrible--   first of all-- the birth was TERRIBLE!!     This was our 5th goat to kid and the first 4 went with out a hitch at ALL-- they were born QUICKLY (while we were doing school work) mostly.... and it was a treat to go out and find a kid or two nursing off his mother.  ("his"  because out of the 7 kids 6 have been MALE).    Anyway yesterday around 9am we saw Precious was definitly in labor-- and we were EXCITED to actually see her give birth...as she is our baby-- and how neat!  Well time went by and by-- and she contracted and contracted--  up and down-- made me smile sometimes because it was very much like a human-- trying to get comfortable...

Well around 1pm-- I realized something was not right-- she really should've had that baby by now.. so I came in and looked around on my favorite goat sites.  The sites really mentioned that the kid should've been born with in 2 hours of "hard labor".  But in the back of my mind I was wondering what was "hard labor"?   I mean she was contracting (I could tell by her tail and back) but she was not at all making noise or seeming to be in TERRIBLE pain....so dh and I decided to let it ride and ride and ride--  and 9pm that night-- still nothing....  I was now getting a bit worried....... but what to do?  Assist?  Really???  oh no-- I couldn't do that....and dh was really not wanting to do that either... so he went to work and I tossed and turned all night!!   (after being outside LITERALLY from 9am till 9pm with the exception of 3 quick inside breaks).

We had a storm that took out our eletricity at some point so my alarm did not go off-- which was good because I needed  a bit more sleep.  However as soon as 8am rolled around I called our Vet-- and told her the situation....  her advice:  "That goat should've kidded within 2 hours-- you have a dead kid in there-- you MUST get it out or the mom will turn septic!"       Oh no I said-- I can't do that-- she said "you must"   Oh no-- really I can't!!!  She said glove up and go get that kid!!   

So I waited till Jason got home and told him our news-- he was not thrilled---- but what were we to do-- the vet had to do some pressing things at the army depot and couldn't come till evening-- and by that time the mamma would be dead or very close!!!

Oh dear-- I won't go into detail-- but I am ready to move to our new home-- I am ready to be done with this--  I am really done---  it was all TOOOOOOOO much for me--  WAY TO MUCH!!  I was not good--  physically , emotinally or mentally-- it was a terrible terrible terrible experience and I hope to NEVER EVER EVER do that again!!

The outcome:   (it gets worse)   Jason helped me at the end to PULL the kid out-------  and when we had it out and laid on the goat stand----- its heart was beating-- (fast)!!!!!!     Oh my-- and again-- I was in pieces now-- i don't know why-- should've been happy-- but I was really really  out of control.   I felt like I had just given birth-- my knees were weak, my arms felt like 100lbs...it was really too much for me!!

Bottom line-- mamma wants nothing to do with baby-- (she is in bad shape still)    baby is breathing, crying, looking and moving around-- not standing but okay for now, I guess??  I did milk mamma to get him some colostrum.

Mamma-  is very very very very very sore-- (as she should be after all that).... we got her some antibiotics and some pain medicine to help-- 3 days worth-- I gave her first dose at 3pm-- I really hope she feels better soon-- she is in a LOT of pain-- moaning... it is heart breaking....... 

Oh my-- how many days till we move????   I know that sounds heartless-- but after reading the comment Karrie made on my post earlier: 

"What are you going to do without all those sweet goats when you move? Well, I guess it will give you more time with the kiddos (the human variety)! :)  "

It almost brought me to tears-- yes-- that is what I will have MORE TIME with MY kids.  I wont even tell you how much attention or short temper my kids have seen in me the last 48 hours....    When we bought the goats and were planning all these neat things-- I had 2 kids (Zachary was 6, Joshua was 5) and it was all pretty do-able then.   Now I have 4 (soon to be 5) and I find I need to give MUCH more attention to them-- and with all this animal drama (snakes, chicken issues, goat issues, fox issues, squirrel issues, etc) I am really not at my best. 

So-- what else can we study in Science? How about astronomy (no offense but astronomy bores me to tears)... but we'll find something else.  I know our local co-op is going to be doing Contenders / Keepers of the Faith this fall-- so I got out the book and I think we are going to do a few badges on our own-- that will hopefully open some new doors of opportunity for the boys.

Whewwww--  I really must go-- bought some frozen pizzas and soda (and chips, and cookies) while out getting the meds for Precious-- for an easy dinner.   No DVD, or Tape player works-- so that has made it even more interesting-- usually in high stress times I get some educational library DVD's for the boys-- but not this time.

Hope this post wasn't too much for any of you-- I needed to get it out--- Thanks for listening... and dear friend-- when I call you and complain about the neighbors in our new house-- remind me of this post-- okay??????