More Than Watchmen: February 2015

It’s been crazy lately! Oh my… I’ll go in chronological order to keep it simple. :)

My dear friends (Brian & Jenna) who have the sheep farm did not get back until Monday evening the 2^nd of February. On Monday morning when I went out to check on all the sheep, I looked into the dark back corner of the barn, and there were new babies! I was so excited! I saw one lamb standing up when the ewe started and moved, and then I saw the lamb that was lying completely flat. Somehow, whether by the harsh zero-degree temperatures or just from natural causes, the little girl lamb had died before I had gotten there. But as the mother ewe continued to move away nervously, I noticed the third lamb, curled up in the far corner, wobbling as if nodding off to sleep.

I stuck my finger inside his mouth immediately to take his temperature, and seeing that it was way too cold, I scooped him up, put him in my coat and hurried back to the house. (Maybe this narrative is a bit dull to my animal-familiar readers, but it was a hugely exciting time for me.) I placed him into a garbage bag, and the bag into a warm bathtub-ful of water. Some two or three new warm tub-fuls later, he began to kick and try to get up. Back out to the barn he went, to see if his mother would accept him back as her baby. Thankfully, she did, and he began to nurse not long afterwards. What an amazing experience! That evening when I got back to my home, I realized that I had been wearing my brand new Christmas gift of a coat underneath my Carhartt, and by sticking the lamb in there, I had also introduced to my coat everything that the lamb had been laying in, and was already covered with. Now, I pride myself (never a good habit) with having the lifestyle of a ‘non-girly’ individual, so I didn’t lose my head over such a silly thing, especially since it had certainly helped to save a life! What a wonderful thing! But the stains came out surprisingly easily, just so you know. :)

On Wednesday I got a call to come back to Infinity Farm and help with the sheep some more, just because of the delicate nature of lambing, especially with the added danger of the cold. Brian had to go to work, and Jenna could use an extra set of hands. So just as I was heading out of the house I received a VERY exciting and concerning text from Mom K. P, T's twin, and his wife L had been up all of Tues-Wed. night because L had started having contractions! As thrilling as this was, the downside was that she was making little progress. (L was with child, by the way.) I helped around the house in-between barn checks, and was constantly thinking of P, L & baby.

About at noon, Jenna and I discovered a ewe named Galaxy, and her set of triplet male lambs that had been born in the hour since our last visit! As nice as that was, there was a constantly looming desire for the lambs to be female; this sheep farm is a dairy farm, after all! On the next barn tour at one o’clock, we discovered a ewe that was beginning to labor. Rose had quadruplets last year, and triplets the two years before that. With sheep, when they have a certain number of lambs one year, they are expected to have the same amount or more each recurring year. Rose’s quads had been TINY though, so Jenna thought she just might have three this year.

(Just, ha! Can you imagine?) Their sheep usually labored for 15-30 minutes from beginning to birth, and any multiples spaced 5-10 minutes after that. So Jenna and I resolved to check on Rose again in 15 minutes. When we came back, she was still just walking around, eating every now and then, sitting down to push, and repeating the cycle. So Jenna gave her 30 or so more minutes, but this time I stayed behind to watch. At about thirty minutes, I got too cold, so headed back to the house. By this time it was three o’clock, and Brian returned from work. He and I went back to the barn to see what to do about this sheep that had been laboring for so long. It had been at least two hours! Jenna had consulted a ‘sheep manual’ of sorts during this time, and was refreshing her knowledge on how to assist with lambing if necessary. All three of us headed out to see what we could do for this ewe, rubber gloves and sheep book in hand.

You can hardly see #1 up by Rose's head, just his little white spot!

When we arrived, there was FINALLY something visible coming out of the birth canal! A nose and….. One hoof. This explained a LOT. One of the lamb’s front legs was caught behind a pelvic bone, and couldn’t get out. So by quickly consulting the book, Jenna discovered just how she needed to intervene in order to get the lamb out safely. I held Rose’s head, Brian watched, Jenna pushed, twisted, and pulled all while pleading and encouraging Rose and the baby. We were all so glad when that lamb dropped! Jenna quickly cleared the nose and checked for the gender. Lamb # 1 was almost completely black, with a white forelock, and male! And he was big! 8 pounds at least. Lamb #2 followed soon after. He was born with a normal 2-hoof-1-nose presentation. While #2 was smaller than #1, he was still much bigger than any of last year’s quads had been at birth. Yes, male! And SO cute! Mostly white, with two black eyes and four nickel-sized spots along his spine at his shoulders.

Myself, #2, #1(the invisible one), and Omega.

#3 was bigger than #1! This lamb was in the same position as #1, with one leg back. I guess they were just big! He was male, and almost completely white. Jenna was watching as the brood grew, and she was exclaiming with surprise that the three boys had all fit! And then I was saying, “Jenna…. Look!” Two hooves this time, but Brian quickly realized that they weren’t front hooves. The lamb was breach. Jenna quickly grabbed the hocks, and Brian read instructions to her while I held Rose still. The tricky thing with breach birth is making sure the ribcage of the lamb doesn’t get caught on the pelvic bone of the ewe. #4 was the same size as #1. Four babies! Big, normal-sized babies! And number 4 was a girl! Finally! She was the last of the seven new lambs that day, and the only female! For this reason she was named Omega the next day. :)

The second lamb was obviously the runt, and both he and Omega were a bit weak, so they came into the house for a while to get warmed up and fed. Omega perked right up and was ready to go out again before long, but #2 was apparently going to be a bottle-fed house lamb, just because he was weaker and for SOME reason Brian and Jenna thought four babies for one mama might get a bit overwhelming. I headed home for the night.

Now in all of this, P & L had started the day at the hospital, laboring. Somewhere in the morningtime they decided to go back to her parent’s house to rest for a while. In the afternoon/evening they went back to the hospital. I went to bed that night after a text from Mom saying she’d inform me of any baby news, even if it happened in the middle of the night. On February 5^th I woke up at 5:50 a.m. Eastern time, and immediately checked my phone, but no news. At 5:57, my phone buzzed! I sat straight up and grabbed the phone. Baby N was here! I cried and laughed and praised God. What an amazing miracle! Even though I won’t meet her for several months, I’m already captivated by her. Every day since her arrival I’ve been bragging about her to anyone who will listen. I’m amazed at how she’s unwillingly stolen my heart. :)

I was called back to the farm that day just in case of anything crazy happening. Galaxy’s smallest lamb and Rose’s #2 were both designated as bottle babies. I got to sit on the living room floor and dry them off and cuddle them after their baths. I admit I’d made a favorite of lamb #2, and now Jenna was saying that they needed names…. So I eventually brought up the already decided name of Ellipsis for #2. And we decided on Mark for the other one, because of his exclamatory ! wool. :)

Ellipsis, Mark, and Brian & Jenna's youngest - baby R!

Throughout the day it became more and more apparent that Mark was getting stronger and Ellipsis was not. He wouldn’t eat or stand, and just slept on my lap for four hours straight. Jenna researched in the sheep book, and together we concluded that his umbilical cord had been chewed too short, resulting in a fatal infection. Ellipsis was cared for and warm, and he died sometime that night.

R playing with Ellipsis on my lap

On Friday I had the unexpected pleasure of getting to go and see my maternal grandparents! I have been so loved by them, and it’s not often we get to just sit and talk anymore.

Twins!

My Grandma Judy had a stroke just a few years ago, and has had declining memory abilities ever since. I am so in love with her, and it is sad for me to see her frustrated when she realizes that she’s repeating a conversation or knows that she’s forgotten something important. She is so loving, despite it all. She needs no excuse to smile and laugh and hug and kiss. She fostered my love for music in its infancy, she sang me to sleep countless times, and was a primary care provider for my first couple years of life as my mom was working part time. My Grandpa Roger is the best definition of dependable I’ve ever seen. He taught me how to be safe when doing anything, and he is fiercely passionate about caring for me and his other grandchildren. He has never wavered in consistency as Grandma has had difficulties, and you can just SEE how deeply he loves her when he looks at her.

All this to say, life is so, so precious. Little Ellipsis was a precious creation of our Maker, and I was blessed by his little life. Darling, sweet N is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. She has captured my heart. My grandparents have become a tangible proof of God’s love in my life.

There was a time in my past when I attempted, more than once, to end my life.

I believe that Satan knows just how precious life is, and just how much our Father loves us, and it disgusts him. He also knows that one of the biggest chinks in my armor is my struggle with joy. But he can’t have me. He can’t have me because my Savior is fighting for my heart. He has already won the war. My Jesus is lavishing His love on me. This God, who died that I could live, continues to pursue me and draw me nearer. He gives me these undeserved gifts in my life so that I can see that much more of a wider scope of how IMMEASURABLY much HE loves me.

My Father, my Lover, my Friend.