Piper’s Kids

The Lord works in mysterious ways. His timing can’t be beat. When I was home alone — the kids in California and Jeff also out of town — Piper went into labor. She is the goat who we never saw go into heat. We felt she must be pregnant but we had no idea when she would give birth.

At the evening milking and feeding on Tuesday, I noticed her udder was full. Also, she wasn’t interested in food. A few hours later, when I was locking up the ducks for the night, I found Piper all alone in the barn, backed into a corner, arching her back and looking uncomfortable.

Pipe was doing just what Buttercup did last week, whose labor produced a (stillborn) kid. I recognized Piper in labor because we had been through it before. God had prepared me, I now recognize.

I was nervous about being alone with a birthing kid, yes, but I leaned hard on the Lord. I knew that Piper was a strong goat and should birth easily. I hoped anyway.

I put Piper in the birthing stall with a bed of straw, plenty of alfalfa for munching, and water. I got a lawn chair, my camera, my phone (to call Jeff), a water bottle, and towels, and camped out. The contractions came sporadically, and she labored standing up for the most part. She moaned just softly and was not nearly as vocal as Buttercup had been.

Then she laid down and kept falling asleep. I would see contractions maybe every 10 minutes. It seemed like she was progressing, but it also seemed like it was going to be a long time.

I went to bed and left her sleeping. It was about 11:30 pm. I woke up at 4:30 am, very confused. I couldn’t remember why I was supposed to get up. God reminded me. I got out of bed so fast and went to the barn in my pjs and a sweatshirt…

…to find Piper standing and screaming her head off and two newborn kids on the ground, under the warm heating lamp. One (who I later found out to be a male) was trying to stand up. The other (a female) was probably just barely out of the womb; she wasn’t trying to do anything. I figured I’d help her, as Piper was not interested in her kids yet and the little boy seemed to be doing just fine on his own. Piper was still screaming for her herd or from the drama.

I rubbed the little doeling and wiped some goop from her face so she could breathe freely, and I nudged her to stand. She started working on it. Too cute! The little buckling was up and on his feet by now, though unsteady. I brought Piper to the babies; she didn’t want anything to do with them. I tried putting them to nurse. She brushed them away and moved away every time.

I had no choice; I chained Piper up. I put the hobble on her. I showed the babies where to nurse and they grabbed on. As soon as they did, Piper’s maternal instinct kicked it. I could feel it. She turned her head to them and started licking the buckling. I unchained and unhobbled Piper. When she finished getting to know and cleaning up the buckling, she got to know her daughter. The kids nursed off and on, and she kept licking and loving them. So miraculous!

When I thought things were going well and sat back, I noticed two things. First, the kids were shivering. They were still quite wet and goopy. I dried them more and put towels over them off and on. Our barn is quite breezy. Piper kept licking and cleaning them.

Second, the straw underneath where the buckling was standing was bright red. He was bleeding! His cord was going drip-drip-drip. I applied pressure and it wouldn’t stop.

I came inside to look up on the internet what to do. Suggestions were to tie it off with dental floss. I got some floss, but before I went back, I tweeted @Nika7k for advice. She knows goats. She eased my mind by and confirmed the steps I should take.

Back at the barn, I tied off his umbilical cord. The bleeding slowed, but still the cord dripped for an hour before the blood dried up.

Both kids were pretty wobbly on their feet for the rest of the day, and I felt the buckling took a downturn. He was not as energetic or active as his sister, even though he started the day with more strength than she. I am guessing that he lost enough blood  to zap his strength. They slept alot yesterday.

When Jeff got home yesterday evening, we took stock together. Just like a kid (human), Jeff couldn’t wait to get home to see them. Our visit to the barn left us feeling that they were doing well. Piper is a great mom. They nurse often and well, as far as I can tell.

And the twins love each other!

Now, today, the twins are just over a day old. The buckling has so much more strength today — I am glad! The little doeling is just the cutest thing ever. I can tell she’s mischievous. Stubborn, too; she does not want any help nursing and finding the nipple. And, she’s friendly. She follows me and wants to leave the birthing stall when I do. She calls for me when I leave.

The buckling has had the stickiest first poops. It was like hard candy stuck all over him. I had to bathe him this morning to unclog that mess. All better now.

My kids will be home tomorrow to find these cute gifts from God waiting for them! Even though they’re not here, my girls have already blogged about this event with the pictures I emailed them: Haniya’s post and Naomi’s post.

I am alternately baffled, overwhelmed and thrilled by the events of the past day. I think I know some of what God wanted to teach me: to trust in His design. His creations  birth and raise their young successfully because He made them to do it. I know I helped Piper’s birth, but I think can’t help thinking that it all would have been fine if I hadn’t been there, too.

I feel privileged to have witness a miracle of birth on our own little farm. God is good and His works are beautiful.

I’m sharing this post in “Simple Lives Thursday,” a blog carnival which I co-host at GNOWFGLINS. “Consume less, produce more.”