Father’s Day was going to be busy. Not only did we still have horribly hot temperatures, but I was still checking my last three girls left to have kids. On top of that, I was supposed to join my family for Father’s Day lunch at my dad’s house and then go to a baby shower for an honorary niece. That means that just as I was getting ready to leave for my dad’s house, Cookie got down to business.
Cookie and Jimmy P
I put her up north with Sidney and Harley, and she kept working, but didn’t seem to make progress. I finally decided her sagging stomach muscles (she’s retiring this year) meant she couldn’t get the baby pushed out, so I pulled him. He really didn’t want to come out. I pulled and pulled and pulled and finally sat on the ground and pulled, and he finally came out and landed in my lap. So much for the shower I had just taken. Meet Jimmy P. I figure if I show up for lunch forty-five minutes late, the least I can do is name the kid after my dad.
Then my sister and her boyfriend and my nephew came back out to the farm, and we caught Tony. On Saturday he was open-mouth breathing, and I was going to put him into the garage where it is air conditioned, but he ran when I went to catch him, and I didn’t think that would help with the heat.
Since I had help, we caught him; although, Maybeline and Buster talking to him was more help than anything else. We led him into the garage, and he is in there until this horrible heat and humidity breaks.
Then we went to the baby shower and got to see all kinds of adorable pink things for the baby, who is going to be named Freya. Can you guess where this is going? I stayed as long as I could, but I just had to come check everyone. I was surprised to find that Victoria had come back up from pasture and had given birth.
She has a beautiful baby girl. Since I was at a baby shower for Freya (a norse mythology name), I thought I should name the kid in honor of the baby. So meet Freya.
Finally, I checked Tony, and he seemed to have settled down happily munching hay.
He was watching kids in the other garage stall, where I have my kid daycare. Seriously, I need less livestock in the garage.
Dolly’s boys have names! Pluto and Anubis
Eve, Enkidu, and Horus
Then I was off to the Back Forty to check Zinnia. I found her far along in having her kid.
There was no going back to the barnyard at this point. That stuff hanging looked like the individual baby bag, which means he needed to be out soon.
I called my mom and had her get my nephew and said to bring me a collar and the Ranger. Zinnia tried pushing while we waited.
She also went down to under this particular tree which I call the summer barn.
(From this point on, we’ll have a gap in pictures; although it would be amusing to see). My mom and nephew finally arrived, and I caught Zinnia and felt for feet. They were there and big. The bag was broken, so I knew I needed to get him out as soon as possible. My nephew held Zinnia for me. I worked to finish opening her up (new moms) and getting both feet in position. When she pushed, she moved the head down and I lost one hoof. I got both feet and the head in position and realized I forgot to request a towel. If you’ve ever tried pulling a kid without a towel or something, it’s not easy if it is not an easy pull. They are slimy and your hands just slide off. I whipped off my tank top and used it to hold on to feet. I pulled, and then I worked to open her up and pulled and kept working. Finally, the face was out, and I just had to get that new mom skin pulled over his head, and out he came! He was none too lively, so it’s a good thing we got him out when we did.
I checked, and there were no more kids. We let her rest a few minutes, and then we loaded her onto the Ranger, in front of the seat with me in the middle holding her horns; my mom was in the passenger seat with the baby; and my nephew was driving. Yes, I was still shirtless because it was totally covered in slime and blood, and my mom had wrapped it around the baby like a towel. We slowly drove through the pasture and around the corn field and out onto the road. As we pulled into my driveway, I waved to the neighbor on his riding mower. What else can you do? Then we got Zinnia settled into the north paddock.
They are both doing well.
I still need to find one last mythological name. And I am doing kidding for 2018!
