I Am Excited So I Wanted to Share with All of You My Joy in This Article. Well I Had My

STORMY GAIL

I am excited so I wanted to share with all of you my joy in this article. Well I had my second granddaughter on July 13, 2017 at 11:30 PM. She took her first breath and I was smiling like I had never before. It was a little girl but it took four days to determine that. She weighed a little over 50 pounds and had coal black hair. I must admit that I missed the birth date by several weeks. I thought six of my seven daughters would have their babies around Memorial Day or the first part of June. I have 5 more to go for all of them to have had their first child. I can’t wait.

I want to share the excitement of that night and the birth of my granddaughter. Rhonda came down to check on the girls to see if any were showing signs. She was driving up my driveway at about 8:30 when she noticed one of the cows off to herself. One of my daughters was lying down in the pasture. She stopped to check on her when she saw that Mary Elizabeth was in labor. Rhonda came running into the house saying that Mary Elizabeth is in labor. I was so excited and ran with her up the driveway to the fence.

Mary Elizabeth was definitely having contractions and taking deep breaths periodically. I ran back to the house to get my cell phone to call Danny Chandler. I wanted some advice and to put him on notice if we needed help. It was getting dark and a thunder storm was coming. We were going to stay with Mary Elizabeth until she had her baby.

Rhonda pulled her vehicle so that the lights would allow her to see what was going on. The water broke and what looked like a bubble was coming out. I called Danny to ask if this was normal. He said this sack would break on its own or when the cow gets up and down. If necessary we could break it with our finger nails. He said just be patient and wait for her to have it on her own. We were to watch for the two legs and head come out first. The baby would be getting air as long as the cord was attached.

Mary Elizabeth was only about 30 feet from the fence for the first hour. It was raining and then it started thundering and lightning. Mary Elizabeth got up and headed for the trees. She had a huge bubble hanging out of her at this point. It was raining pretty hard as we followed her to the woods. Rhonda asked if I had a flash light. My comment was, what does a blind guy do with a flash light! We both laughed and continued to walk further into the woods.

She was lying down again when we found her. Mary Elizabeth was very restless and continuing to get up and down. The interesting thing was that the bubble or birth sack never broke while she was getting up and down. She would walk from tree to tree I am sure trying to get comfortable. It seemed like forever that Mary Elizabeth was having to endure this birth process. All I could do is pray. The rain, thunder, lightning continued as we walked through the woods.

Rhonda could see that the front legs and head were out but still in the sack. It had been about 2 ½ hours at this point. The thunder and lightning were very loud and we were both soaked. I ask Rhonda to take me over to Mary Elizabeth. I could feel the little legs and part of the head. I put on my gloves and bent down to prepare to help by pulling on the calf. I gave about five large pulls when Mary Elizabeth stood up and turned around. She didn’t want my help at this point. She walked further into the woods. Rhonda left me by a large tree with Mary Elizabeth only about ten feet away while she went to her vehicle to look for a flash light. I talked with my daughter and was praying out loud for God’s help in a healthy calf and mother.

Rhonda had a long walk back to the house and her vehicle. She returned about ten minutes later with a small flashlight. Mary Elizabeth had walked about 30 feet further while Rhonda was away. We moved closer when Rhonda noticed the calf was further out about half way. Then a couple minutes later she said, it is out! The sack was still around the baby’s head. I told Rhonda that one of us needed to break it. The calf was disconnected from the cord and wouldn’t be able to breathe in the bag. Rhonda went over and pulled the bag apart. We heard the calf blow out fluid and take a deep breath. Mary Elizabeth was breathing better and starting to move.

The little calf started to move its head. Mary Elizabeth immediately got up and started licking her baby. She was talking and coaching her baby with a low moo wanting it to start trying to get up. You could tell that she was happy and proud. We were both so excited. Rhonda said, it is so cute! I checked my watch and it was 11:30 when Rhonda broke the bag. I had my second calf born at 11:30PM Thursday July 13. Thank you God!

Within ten minutes, the calf started trying to get up. Mary Elizabeth just kept encouraging it. The calf was moving more and more trying to get up but falling. It took about ten tries for it to get on its feet. Finally it was up and stayed standing for about a minute. It was very weak and unsure of what it was doing. Then the little calf started to walk towards her mom. It was trying to nurse. Mary Elizabeth continued giving it encouragement. I wish I could have seen this! I was very thankful to have been out there and heard the entire birth process. I did picture this in my mind as Rhonda told me what was going on. Thank you Rhonda for wanting to be there with us.

It was 12:15AM at this point, we were soaked but the rain, thunder, and lightning had quit. We could see that momma and baby were going to be fine. Rhonda and I had just witnessed the amazing gift of birth. I was so happy and proud. I finally could share my good news with family and friends.

Rhonda came back out before work the next morning so we could check on them. They had moved to the steepest and rockiness part of the woods. We took Mary Elizabeth some range cubes. Both Mother and child were doing well. We still couldn’t tell at this time whether it was a little girl or boy. We did see it latch on and start to suck. We now knew that Mary Elizabeth had totally accepted her baby.

We headed to work with smiles on our faces and had great joy in our heart. We had only gotten about 3 to 4 hours of sleep, but it was definitely worth it. I called my Mother to tell her that she had another great grandchild. I told her that Mary Elizabeth, her name sake, had a calf. She asked if it was a little boy or girl. I told her we hadn’t gotten that close to tell yet. I also called my sister Gail to let her know.

Mary Elizabeth kept her baby calf hid out for the next two days. My cousin Doug, Rhonda, and I would have to go out and look for the little baby. The third day Mary Elizabeth brought her baby in as she ate. Rhonda and I got to pet the little calf because it was lying beside the fence. A couple of hours later, we got to go out in the lot and pet and love up on it again. We still couldn’t determine if it was a little heifer or bull calf because the calf was facing us and Mary Elizabeth was standing there with us. Mary Elizabeth didn’t show any signs of being upset with us being out there.

Yesterday the little calf came into the lot as her Mommy was eating. Rhonda and I got out with her again. Rhonda could see that it was a little girl. We also wanted to watch to see that she was getting plenty of milk from her Mom. Rhonda could see milk dripping off the little calf’s mouth as it was sucking. We were concerned because she is very tall and skinny. Rhonda could see her little ribs. I talked with Jennifer and she said that it is very important that a young calf get enough milk. I had to smile as I heard her sucking away for about ten minutes last night.

I decided if the little calf was a girl that I would keep her. Now that we know it is, it was time to start thinking of a name. I have told myself that I won’t name any calf that I am not going to be able to keep. I get attached and it will make it harder when it comes time to sell them. I am hoping that I will have at least one more heifer born out of the next four. I would like to have at least two that I can keep separate from my bull and raise them. In thinking about a name, I will never forget the stormy night in which she was born. Lying in bed, I thought how about naming her Stormy. This seemed perfect for what we all experienced that night. I played with several names in my head that would go with Stormy. Then it dawned on me. My Mom, Mary Elizabeth, named my oldest sister Gail. It only seemed right my daughter, Mary Elizabeth, should have her first born named Gail. I called my sister to get her permission. She was fine with it as long as I didn’t make up a story about her being Stormy when she grew up. I had never thought of it that way until my sister said that. Now I am not so sure that Stormy Gail doesn’t fit her as well. If you only knew what I put up with as a child! My Mother and Rhonda liked the name Stormy Gail also.

If I was going to keep Stormy Gail and any other heifer calf born, then I was going to have to sell a couple of my cows. Currently I don’t have enough pasture and land to feed my seven cows and bull now. I am going to keep my first born bull calf, Prince Wayne, as my future bull. This means that I must sell his mother, Emily Rachel, and my bull Gorgeous George.

As I have written about a few weeks ago, I am going to build a bunk house or apartment for my sister Rita. The costs to build this are far more than I expected. I can borrow some of the money from the bank on my home loan. I have some money saved but will need to sell two cows and my bull to help pay for this. I have spoken to Roger and Kelly about them buying back the two cows I bought from them. They said they would and we agreed on them picking them up in September. I will keep Gorgeous George until he has bred back my original five cows. I will probably put George up for sell in December.

I know the Good Lord has a hand in all of this working out. Building the bunk house is the right thing to do. I know the Lord will allow me to purchase some additional land in the future. I can build my herd back up by keeping Stormy Gail and a few more heifers. The real good thing is that I can keep some of the calves that were born on my place. I can take some time to save additional money to purchase the additional 20 to 40 acres.

I am hoping that Stormy Gail actually listens and follows my good behavior. I guess the good thing is that with Stormy Gail I am a lot older and wiser. If my Mother only knew what I put up with trying to keep my older sister in line when we were young. What a heavy load that was! Gail will try to distort this so make sure that you listen to my side of the story instead of my sister’s. I don’t know where she comes up with all that stuff. I guess it must be an age thing since her birthday is next week July 24 and she will be another year older.

Have a great rest of the summer. Thank you God, Rhonda, Jennifer, Danny, Kelly, and Roger for all your help. Danny, I am so glad that you told me how to break the birth sack and the importance of doing that. Once Rhonda broke it, Stormy Gail started breathing. I am so thankful to everyone that has helped me live my dream here in the country.

Stormy Gail is alive, well and home!

Dr. Dennis W. Atkins July 2017