Finally!

I decided to stop following Celie (CEE-lee) around and leave her alone. I knew she was going to give birth sometime soon because she was having some discharge and she kept "talking" to the other lambs. She was already in the family way. So I went in the Milk Room and spread out a monster fleece (Andrew) to skirt. The barn is a freezer, and the wind is up, and the two space heaters in the uninsulated room were barely making a dent in the cold. I worked on the fleece, pulling apart the clumps and picking burdocks out. The Milk Room kitties were delighted to have me as company and jumped on my shoulders. When my fingers were stiff I went out to find Celie. Still staring into space standing up. I tried to steer her toward a lambing pen but no deal. She darted behind the stanchions to hide under the bunny cages. And that's where I found them about two hours later. I think Celie had been in labor for 24 hours. I let her lick the baby off, so important for bonding purposes, then scooped the little one up with a towel and did my backwards bent over walk to the lambing pen. It's important to keep the lamb eye level with the mother. Got them into the pen with fresh hay underneath, a heat lamp (a rare concession to the cold - I'm terrified of fire), warm molasses water in the bucket for mom and milk in the newborn's tummy. I took care of her cord and showed her where to find the teats. Matt was hungry for dinner and wanted to get ready to watch the BIG game in Wisconsin. I am not a football fan but hey, go party. I'm going back out to the barn to do chores and check for more lambs!