Barn Sittin' at 2am...

Well here I am.  It's 2am and I can't sleep.  I am too wired from the wonderful day we had here at our little farm.  You see, Pomegranate ("Pom"), one of our goat does, had her first kids last night! 

Let me introduce "Buttercup" and "Charlie".  They are, as we say here at our house, stinkin' cute! 

Thankfully, I did not have to scrub up and "go in" as mentioned in my previous post.  This year, I got to just enjoy the blissful event.  Well, ok.  Maybe not blissful....at least from our goat's perspective!

Anyway, the adrenaline of being a midwife to one of our favorite does has worn off, and after a few hours of sleep here I sit.  If I weren't in my jammies, I would be sittin in the barn right now.

It's a favorite and rare thing for me to get to do--barn sittin all by myself in the quiet of a cool night.  No distractions.  No chores to do.  No "Mommy!" being hollered at me across the house for some unmet need.

So instead of actually trudging my way out to the barn, I do the next best thing.  I turn on the baby monitor.  Yes, that's what I said.  Baby monitor.  Believe you me, when you are waiting for kids to arrive, listening in the monitor can save lots of trips back and forth from house to barn.

Tonight as I listen, I hear only the occasional rustling of straw under hooves.  I imagine the little ones and mama are all trying to catch some zzz's after an eventful night.  It's hard work being born, you know!

And I relish the quiet.  I know that in the morning my 5 year old daughter is going to rush through her breakfast, throw on some barn clothes, and fully expect to do her fair share of holding her precious new charges.  After all, she helped bring them into the world, and made a great little vet assistant!  She wasn't squeamish about the blood or "goo" that comes with the messiness of new life.  She even encouraged "Pom", telling her "Push Pom, push!"  But then, she has seen the arrival of new life a few times now.

And I'm glad for this quiet time.  If I let myself reflect, I think back to that first night in the hospital when my little girl was born.  Everything was finally quiet.  The nurses were no longer poking and checking every few minutes.  The adrenaline of a long labor, failed induction, and Caesarean section had worn off, and I was sleepy.  But I didn't sleep.  I held that precious new life in my arms.  She was so quiet and trusting.  No crying or fussing as I had imagined there would be.  Just quiet and peace. 

And I praised God for the gifts He gives so freely. 

It might sound funny to some, but as our brave Pom first began active labor last night, my little girl and I paused together and prayed for God's guidance, wisdom, and help.  We needed Him to help us do the best for this animal, and not to do harm.  We needed him to help her do her job as she labored.  And we needed him to help us with these new little lives.  And he did!