Feelinf Memeish

From the alpaca whisperer, sffan.

Your Score: Dash

You scored 30% Sociability and 52% Sophistication!

There's no denying that you have a certain flair. You don't mind being around others, especially your little brother, the hyphen, but you rarely emerge except when needed. You respond well to those who know how to treat you, but have only contempt for those who don't--you tend to embarass them every chance you get. Your only enemy is the colon--he will sometimes try to move in on your turf.

Link: The Which Punctuation Mark Are You Test written by Gazda on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

I spoke too soon. Cria update.

The boy sustained some neurological damage from the rough birth, and he's oxygen deprived. I guess his little trot around the paddock used up his reserves. Dar and Dan worked furiously to keep him alive and breathing. He couldn't nurse very well because he didn't have the oxygen to latch on for more than a few seconds, and then he'd collapse. They'd rub him vigorously to revive him and then feed him some cow colostrum from a tube; the vet was called. He said that the next 24 hours are critical.

On the vets orders, we went out and bought a canister of oxygen to supplement his breathing when he needs it, and we picked up some more frozen cow colostrum from a local farmer (who wouldn't accept payment.) When we got back (we=Dar, sffan, and me) we saw Mark and his sister and BIL out in the paddock, and the baby standing up and nursing. Yay! His situation is still iffy, but if we (we=Dar) gets enough colostrum into him, it will give him the energy he needs to increase his breathing. Talk about your vicious circle of life.

I have to say that Dar has been magnificent throughout this, but then I'm sure that no one is surprised to hear that. And Dan? Well, you'd think this was his kid by the way he's taken such an intense part in caring for the cria. sffan was out there helping to keep the boy alive and helping with the rabbits and the kittens and making the runs to various farm supply stores with me. She's been an enormous help. So has Mark, of course. I'm doing what I can, which is mostly driving and running errands. We also serve who only sit and drive :)

Again, I'm sure that Dar will have a post with the full story for you. Just not right away.

Wish the boy luck.

It's a boy!

A little before noon Conchita had a white, very long boy. It was a terribly hard birth, and if Dar and Dan (Mark's brother-in-law) hadn't been there, I believe that both Conchita and her cria would have died. The rest of the gang had gone to the Saturday market, and I was sleeping off too much sun from this morning when Dan came knocking on my door with cries of, "The baby's coming! The baby's coming!"

By the time I got out there, the toes and the tip of the nose had presented - and Conchita was stopped. She was pushing but the baby wasn't progressing. We could see him trying to breathe, so Dar tore the membrane from his mouth, but he was still stuck; Dar said it was a shoulder torsion (i.e., his shoulder was jammed up and wouldn't come through the birth canal.) She and Dan gently turned and pulled on the cria and he finally popped out, but his lips and skin were blue. She rubbed him dry and used a bulb to suction out his nostrils to help him breathe. He finally pinked up after a few minutes, and he's turned out to be one strong little boy. He was up and walking around in about 25 minutes. And by walking, I really mean trotting. He was off exploring his world, Conchita and the whole herd anxiously following him around :)

I had to come back in, but when I left he was attempting to eat. Conchita still needs to deliver the afterbirth but having the boy nurse will help that along. He's stronger and livelier than Valentino was at that point - especially considering how tough his birth was - so God only knows what kind of firecracker we have on our hands here :)

That's the report for now. Pictures and a more in-depth report later once Dar gets in and rested and fed.

Guess who's having a cria?

It's looking like all systems are go!

Come on, cria!

Back later :)