Birthing Story

You ask for it so here it is and as usual it was a adventure! Diva had contractions off and on Sunday night. Being the over anxious mom I am I took my blanket and pillow and spent the night with Diva. I rubbed her back and hummed to her and she slept a little bit but not much. About 6am Monday Diva was starting to hurt! I cleaned up her stall, put away my blanket and put down clean straw. Gave Diva a bucket of water laced with molasses to give her energy and got the birthing bag. We were ready to get this over with! Diva would lay with her head in my lap for a little while and I would rub her head and sing to her (poor girl cause I can't carry a tune) then she would turn around and lay with her back to me and I would rub her back. It even seemed like she would encourage me to lift her tail and check. She didn't seem to happy when I would shake my head and tell her not yet. About noontime I knew she was really hurting and stressing so I gave her Owe-eze. Its a herbal mixture I purchased from http://fiascofarm.com/herbs/formulas.htm#owese and it seemed to help her. 12:30 she is pushing and crying but nothing is happening. I told Diva I was going to scrub up and check her out. She looked at me like hurry up and do something. Scrubbing my hands with betadine and then using more OB lube than anyone should ever need I tried to find the problem. The babies were still way down the birthing canal so told Diva it was up to her to push them on their way. I had been up all night and to give myself a shot of caffeine since I don't drink coffee I grabbed a can of mountain dew. I had a couple of swallows and sat it down and forgot about it. Diva leaned over and started licking the top of the can about 1pm so I poured some out for her and she ended up drinking the rest of the can! This seemed to give her that extra spurt of energy she needed cause she started pushing hard! The sack the first kid was in hadn't burst yet and each time she pushed the "bubble" would come partway out and when she stopped pushing it went back in. This went on for 10 minutes when I decided to pop the sack next time it came out. Once it was popped the kid starting trying to come out. One hoof was coming out but the other was bent back. I reached in and straightened its foot and Brown Robyn started making his appearance. His head was big so I helped pull as Diva pushed and out he came. I wiped his mouth and he started crying right away. I cleaned him a little andplaced him on his pad in front of Diva as there was another "bubble" coming. I just went ahead and popped it as I didn't want to have to wait any longer. Once I popped it out came the hoofs then another big head was trying hard so I pulled when she pushed and out flew Frosty Dan! I wiped his mouth and he started crying while Brown Robyn was already trying to stand up while Diva was licking him clean. I cleaned up Frosty Dan, changed the pad Brown Robyn was on and laid the both of them in front of Diva. She was so happy! She actually looked like she was smiling at me. I cleaned up Diva and the mess I had made and went and got Diva some warm water with molasses. She drank every bit of it and part of another bucket. I gave her some feed with molasses and she ate all of that. Finished cleaning up the boys and changed their pad for a clean one and started working on getting them to nurse. Frosty Dan took to it right away. Brown Robyn though he weighed the least he is the tallest so it was harder for him. Diva's bag was so full it was hanging low to the ground. Frosty Dan got down on his knees to suck while Brown Robyn just kept bumping Diva's bag and crying. I would help him get started nursing but he didn't want to stay on his knees and would lose the teat and start crying. Being me I just reached in my birthing bag and brought out a bottle, milked Diva alittle and filled the bottle. Brown Robyn sat in my lap and drank that bottle dry in a matter of seconds. Diva's bag is much better today and the boys are nursing good but I still get some of her milk and give the boys a bottle just so I can bond with them too. Diva doesn't seem to mind at all. She is licking my face while I am feeding them. I must tell you that while Diva was crying and pushing (and that is a painful loud cry by the way) Nitro was in the next stall snoring! He actually slept thru the whole thing! Sammi was laying out in the sunshine but would come and peek in once in a while. She was kind and smart enough to know what was going on. Diva was crying, Nitro was snoring and I was getting mad. How dare he lay over there and snore! I promised William I would take pictures since he couldn't be here. It was easy during the early labor part but when things started happening it was hard! I was pulling with one hand and taking pictures with the other. My batteries died and thank goodness my headset was still hanging in the stall ( I had been listening to books on tape the night before) cause I grabbed it (one handed) and took the batteries and put in the camera. (one handed) Some of the photos are a little blurry but if you want to see the boys birth here they are. If you don't like graphic photos then you might want to stop right here. Diva and sons are fine today and have even been on a walk around the pen enjoying the sunshine. I will take some photos later. They already look like they have grown inches!

The above photo shows the tent like hump goats get on their backside when they go into labor. Diva would get a small one several times the last few weeks but this was how hers looked Sunday night.
This is Sammi coming to check on Diva and if you look close you can see Nitro in the background sleeping. This was early Monday morning.
The above photo is right before lunch Monday. Diva is pushing out with her hind legs. When she started pushing with front and hind into my legs and stomach I knew we were close!
This is the start of the "bubble" pushing out. The string of goo hanging is on the outside of the bubble. The bubble is actually the sack of fluid the kid is in but needs to burst before the kid comes out. And yes there is a little poop. I am surprised as hard as she was pushing there wasn't alot more.

One hoof out and me finding the other.
Here comes Brown Robyn!
Diva checking out her baby. The green stuff on his lips is electrolyte paste. Its a energy boost I gave them till they got to nurse.
Here comes Frosty Dan!
Here are the boys getting cleaned up by mom while I clean her up. I also inserted Diva with a antibiotic so she wouldn't get a infection from my hand even though I had scrubbed really well. I just wanted to make sure she will be okay.

And just a few minutes after birth Frosty Dan is down on his knees with his butt in the air nursing. Brown Robyn said he was too tired to stay on his knees and just laid down.

I have never had any experience with goats kidding. I assumed it would be like the dairy cows we had. You walk out one morning and there is a calf. Sometimes but rarely we had to help a cow deliver. I sure got my experience the hard way! I am sure there are things I should have done but didn't and things I did I shouldn't. The most important thing is Diva and I worked well together and did the best we could to make her deliver as easy as possible. To make sure she and the boys were healthy with as little stress as possible. I am so very very thankful for Molly and her husband at Fias Farm Site! http://fiascofarm.com/goats/index.htm They not only give you step by step information. They have photos to show you each step of labor and delivery. Without them I would have been a basket case and not known what to do. I am so happy its over and Diva and sons are fine but I am so also so blessed things went fairly well yesterday. I can no longer say: I don't know nothing about birthing no kids!