Diary of a Goat Lady, Entry 4

April the giraffe and Nickel the goat have more in common than a name that ends in l.  They are both still pregnant, and they are both being closely watched.  Albeit, April has a few more viewers than Nickel.  :)  (If you aren't familiar with April the giraffe, she's a pregnant giraffe on live feed that many have been watching for days in anticipation of the birth.)

Dear Nickel on 3/16/17 - 3 days before her due date

Someone else around here isn't pregnant anymore, though!  Llama gave birth to a beautiful doeling on Thursday afternoon.

Llama's doeling, Kitty, just minutes after being born

I think we need to upgrade to live feed, though, if we are going to catch these sneaky ladies delivering!  I was home all day Thursday, and I checked the 3 still-pregnant gals - Llama, Nickel, & Emma - every few hours.  None of them showed any signs of delivery being at hand.  No discharge, no nesting, no pawing, no odd behavior.  I popped my head in at 5:00pm and found Kitty already born and cleaned off.

I was sure Llama had another baby yet to be born, but she sure wasn't acting like it.  So, I "bounced" her, which means I stood behind her, wrapped my arms around her abdomen, and pulled up in a gentle, bouncing motion to feel for more kids.  I didn't feel anything, but I'm not one for subjective tests.  How could I be sure?  I just kept watching her.  We saw her pass the afterbirth, and she seemed happy and content.  So, we had to be, too!  We are happy she had a healthy, lovely girl.  Here are more pictures of the baby.  She's got long ears just like Mama!

Her name is Kitty in keeping with our 2017 theme names.  Each Mama's babies are going to be related to the theme of their name.  Since Llama is named after an animal, Kitty is too.  If you missed my comment on my last post, Oakley's babies have been named Pecos Bill & Laura Ingalls.  I pulled pretty hard for Abe & Mary, but the boys really wanted Pecos & Laura.  I'm planning to name one of Emma's or Nickel's bucklings Abe, though!

Well, I must get this posted before April or Nickel delivers & ruins my introduction!