03/16/2026
3/15 Coffee ♥️ this sweet girl's first time, 147 days, and of course it's a big stormy day. Everything seemed fine this morning, no obvious signs, so we just focused on finishing everything for big wind and rain. Got it done and all mamas and babies seemed okay as it started, so I went inside to wait it out. Once it was done (6pm?), thankfully not a long one, I went out to assess and as I got closer I could hear Coffee was talking a lot. The sweet little kind but just kept going. That's one of the signs. Getting in the pen, I saw her belly had dropped, udder was more filled, and a small slimy dripping. More signs, though it was not imminent. I sat down and petted her and Cranberry, the other still pregnant, just taking some time to love on them. There were one or two moments of Coffee moving like she was adjusting, feeling contractions. Within 30 min maybe, she started progressing, arched at one point like ready to push and soon laid down and had some goop start coming. I got the kid kit and prepped a bucket with molasses, salt, and baking soda (to fill with warm water after) and went back out.
I think no more than 15 min, wasn't checking time, and she started pushing. It was just a bubble and wasn't popping. That's totally fine and even good because baby is protected and it helps mama dilate/stretch more. She pushed a few min and as it reached the max, it popped and I saw two feet and a nose. She was pushing steadily, so I let her do it. Out came a dark brown girl 5.1 # same marking style as black and tan Coffee (with sire Jagger) and just like Miel and kids. Those are strong genes from Sassy! This girl is a great great granddaughter.
Coffee was a bit stumped about what to do when baby came out. She acted like she wanted to lick, but could barely reach. I wiped the primary slime off and put her closer and Coffee just stared at her, like she wasn't sure. Not scared or weirded out, just maybe a tad confused? She licked the air a couple times like she was about to start but then didn't. I put some slime on her nose in case something about me wiping took too much away or the towels changed the smell even though unscented. That didn't do it. Well this is a first. The air temp was dropping, will be down to 20 later, so no time to wait, just got to work drying off baby while Coffee watched. Finally she started to join in and I backed off. Not vigorous but at this point it was for bonding. She was good about letting her nurse, lifting her leg, but she kept shifting just enough that baby would juuust miss latching, so I assisted and then they got the hang of it with baby girl nursing both sides (I'll have to extra watch that to keep mama even as time goes on). I took a bunch of blurry pictures - so hard in low light and dark coloring. I made sure they were more settled in with each other before heading out to write this up and on with my evening milking chores. I'll check in again before bed. Grateful for such a simple easy birth, healthy mama and baby girl and done before the coldest hours. ♥️🐐
