Beware: If You Are Pregnant Don’t Watch This…

On Saturday, in-between Conferences, we went down to the farm with a cake to wish Don’s brother, Kip, a happy birthday. He and his daughter, Kelly, have sheep down there that they raise and Kelly cares for and shows at livestock shows. They were busy feeding and caring for the sheep so we waited on the warm and blustery day under the shed until he could come in out of the wind for a bit to eat cake. As we waited we saw him hurry by and then walk back with an ewe to the stable. Kip explained quickly that this ewe was a first time mom and was about to give birth and he needed to supervise to make sure she and the lamb(s) didn’t struggle. Don saw a great learning opportunity, asked the girls if they wanted to see a lamb born (of course they did), thrust the camera at me, and went to help Kip!

I was impressed at how calm, attentive and efficient Kip was during the whole process. He explained when it’s a first time mom it was safer to help the process along to make sure,  the lamb(s) didn’t linger too long in the birth canal killing them and possibly the mother. I have given birth 3 times, but have only actually watched the process once…I don’t know if it’s because I’m pregnant and I will soon be in that ewe’s position or if I’m just squeamish…but, I had to turn away quite a bit and suppress the gag reflex…that being said, it was still an amazing process to watch! Straw was everywhere and as the lambs came out wet they got covered in the stuff, after a good shake to get them breathing Kip had the girls rub them to get them warm & their blood flowing - in the process, the girls fell in love with these twin brothers! Then it was time to get the mom to become familiar with the scent of her new baby so she would bond with and recognize them.

Don is really good about helping the girls process what they’ve experienced by asking them questions right after (it stays with them longer that way) so he got our take on the whole process and while Mommy Ewe was bonding with her lambs…

…we walked the few steps over to the shed and sang “Happy Birthday” and ate cake. I am VERY grateful I had the foresight to bring the baby wipes, otherwise Kip would have had no problem eating with lingering traces of afterbirth on his wrists – I would have lost the battle with the gag-reflex for sure.

And of course, their was the typical “jokes” played by Uncle Kip! The wiping of icing on the nose and then encouraging Liberty to rub it in is always fun……..

It was a very unique way to spend  a birthday, and the girls still talk about “their” lambs with motherly love:)