They're not all happy endings.....

Jesusita~to say she's a favorite would be an understatement!

Never is life and death more evident then on the farm. When you become the caretaker of animals, you take on all responsibilities good and bad. In a way I feel it is a little like playing God and yet never is it more apparent that we are not the ones in charge.

Most births happen without difficulty and go as planned. Every once in a while a Lady will need help, but most often nature takes it course and the female body gets to show off a bit. From our Ladies is where I learned to trust the birth process and helped a little with my decision to have my own son at home.

Then some don't go as planned. I guess you could call me an anxious Midwife especially when it comes to some of my favorite Ladies. So when the all time favorite started to show some signs of going into labor the other evening, it didn't bother me at all to trudge back out to the barn in my pj's to check on her progress. This was her 8th calf and she had no history at all of calving troubles, so mostly the vigilance was for my sake! The first check showed she was in some discomfort, but I knew it would probably be several hours before any real progress. So I made the decision to wait and head back out later. The second check late into the night showed about the same results, nothing showing, and no obvious sign she was having any troubles.

I gave her some scratches and reassuring words as she nuzzled up to me for some attention. Nothing looked out of the ordinary and I knew the rest of the crew would be up for morning milking shortly, so I headed back to bed.

My farmer headed out to morning milking a bit early to check on her......he found a dead bull calf.

We will never know exactly the cause, that's just the way it is in situations like this. Sometimes things just don't end the way we want them to. Luckily Jesusita is doing well and very happy to be back in the milking herd. That's the best news you can get from an unhappy ending.