# When is this baby coming??



## LilithGirl (Aug 16, 2014)

Hi all! I am new here and just wanted to ask a few questions. My 8yr old mini Lily is due to foal, but unfortunately we don't know when! We purchased her last year and she was confirmed pregnant before we took her home (the breeder we purchased her from bred her to his 32" stallion, all black in color, pretty boy). At the time he told us she was "due in June", so that's what we have been going with this whole pregnancy. Well, June came and went, and no foal! So I started to worry, as this is my first foaling here on our farm, and came to find out that she wasn't in fact as far along as he had told us. Turns out he didn't know the actual date she was bred, so he just guessed how far along she was when he told us, grrrrrr. She was doing all the classic "rolls" and "rear rubbing" of a mare getting close to foaling around late June, so I assumed she was preparing to foal. You can imagine how long this anticipation has been going on now that it is mid August! I know that she is definitely "right there" and ready to pop any day, but I just wanted to see if you ladies and gents had any opinions on just how much longer she might have. I didn't think she'd make it this long because she's been looking more than ready for a couple weeks, and meanwhile my bed is getting very lonely without me because I have been staying out in the living room so that I can check her all night through (finally moved back inside after being out at the barn with her every night for a few weeks back in June and July!). The picture is from a few days ago. Her udder is mostly full all the time, and teats are pretty much pointing downward almost all the way. Her backside is relaxed and elongated and my soon-to-be baby is super active and still laying a bit sideways. I will try and get some more pics when the sun is out tomorrow of her lady bits, udder, and a pic from behind so you can see how far she sticks out on the sides (she's a semi-truck! huge and miserable in our 98 degree weather down in South Florida!)

Thanks in advance for all your help and opinions! I for sure need any and all information I can get!

Chessa

Mommy to Lilith Girl


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##  (Aug 16, 2014)

Looks like she's very close. Can you get a picture standing behind her down at her level, and looking forward down her sides towards her head? This will let us know baby is laying in there. Looks like if baby moves just slightly forward of center, she'll be just perfect. If you can, get a "privates" picture so we can see how she's elongating. She looks in great condition, and this should be a beautiful little one !!

Congratulations, and welcome to our Nutty Nursery! We're here to answer any questions you have, so ask away. No question is too unimportant to ask. We also have some good foaling threads pinned at the top of this forum, that will help you prepare for this special delivery!!!

Again, WELCOME!!!! Beautiful mare!!


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## LilithGirl (Aug 16, 2014)

Thank you for the warm welcome! I've been hanging around on here reading posts and following foaling threads for a while, and I finally thought "why am I not a part of this?" You ladies, or "Aunties", all just seem absolutely wonderful!

I will definitely get those pics tomorrow morning when it's light out, as it's late night here now and hard to get a good focus in the low barn lighting, and I will post them asap so I can see what you think! Thanks again!

Chessa


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## AnnaC (Aug 17, 2014)

Hi Chessa and a big welcome to the Nutty Nursery! What a pretty girl, and a very pregnant son to give birth one!! From your description and from that first pic, I would say that you should be out in the barn with her again from now on - even checking every 15 minutes from an indoor position is not really safe enough, but will be interested to see what your next lot of pics show us.

Do you know if she has had foals before - an experienced mare is often easier to deal with during and after the birth as she knows all about the job in hand!

Good luck and again welcome.


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## LilithGirl (Aug 17, 2014)

Hi Anna! Thanks for the help! Yes, she has had one foal before, and everything went totally smooth according to her breeder. Fingers and toes crossed that this is a repeat of that! I have some updated pics I took today for you ladies to look at. Tried to get the "rear shot" per the instructions from the correct angle, but for the udder and the lady bits, Lily decided to be a little sassy-miss today, so she didn't want anything to do with me taking pics around her nether regions! Haha. I tried to get the best I could under her of the udder, and I snapped a quick one while she was in mid-tail-swish of the back end. I also took one from above, first just so you ladies could see her cool little "racing stripe" along her back, and I didn't know if that would be helpful at all so I figured I'd include it. If you could let me know what you all are thinking, that would be great! I will most definitely be back out there at the barn with her. Should be lots of fun since I have my son starting kindergarten tomorrow morning at 8am! Great timing Lily! Hehehe.


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## LilithGirl (Aug 17, 2014)

Sorry, I don't know why my pics are sideways! I need to do some pic-post-practice I guess!


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##  (Aug 18, 2014)

Well, baby is still laying a bit sideways, but some good rolling can fix that very quickly! She's looking good!!!

And posting practice! LOL


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## LilithGirl (Aug 18, 2014)

Well the rolling has been going on all day, and I am pretty sure that labor has started to sneak it's way in! We might be having a baby tonight! I am so excited, I cannot wait! The anticipation of what this little one will be and look like is making me crazy! Haha


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## Ryan Johnson (Aug 18, 2014)

Welcome Chessa





Shes a lovely mare and looking forward to seeing what she has been hiding



(which I don't think will be very long)

All the best for a safe foaling

Cheers Ryan


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## AnnaC (Aug 19, 2014)

Any news - how are things going?


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## LilithGirl (Aug 20, 2014)

Trudging along! She's been doing a lot of rolling and laying down flat on her side (head down and all) and I will start to get excited, and then she'll get back up and act like nothing even happened! Hahaha! She likes stressing me out I guess. But the baby has been moving around like crazy, 2 nights ago I thought it was practicing karate in there it was moving more dramatically than Ever before! I figured that maybe baby was actually turning over and getting into position, but it still looks a bit sideways for now. Fingers crossed that by Friday we will have a new addition to the farm! And that I will actually get some sleep one of these days!


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## LilithGirl (Aug 20, 2014)

Have a quick question for the Mini-Masters out there... I feel like Lily is a semi truck! She seems HUGE to me! Does she look extra large to anyone else? Or pretty normal? (I can get another picture if you need any different angles.) Like I said, this is my first Mini, so I am definitely not an old pro, so she could be perfectly plump and I am just not used to that belly on such a little frame. I swear though, if I didn't know it's next to impossible, I'd swear she had twins in there! Oh how I wish that could be the case. Haha. My only worry is that her foal is going to be really big, and might be hard to birth, but I really don't know how that could be possible because the stallion she bred to is only 32".

Thanks in advance for all the help and information. I can't tell you what a relief it is to have somewhere to turn to and ask all these questions I have!

Chessa


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## Ryan Johnson (Aug 21, 2014)

A Very pregnant mini could easily come across as a Semi lol





You will notice as she starts to get really close her tummy will drop so the semi look will disappear.

Shes a lovely mare ,


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## AnnaC (Aug 21, 2014)

LOL!! As we all say "Beware - WIDE LOAD approaching"!! Dont worry, you should see some of the "wide loads" that have been seen on here in the past! Your little girl looks quite normal to me.


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## Country Hills Miniatures (Aug 21, 2014)

I know the feelng of waiting on a mare that has no known due date. I'm still waiting. Best wishes to you and yours. Hope your in the barn with your new baby right now. Please keep us updated


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## MountainWoman (Aug 21, 2014)

To me, she's not extra wide - just very pregnant. She's a lovely mare!!!


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##  (Aug 21, 2014)

Not to worry. Here's a couple of pictures of two of my girls, who took 3-5 weeks AFTER the pictures were taken to foal. And the fillies were just fine in size and health when born.


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## LilithGirl (Aug 21, 2014)

Thank you!!!! You all ease my crazy mind for sure. I don't know how these girls don't topple over sometimes looking at those huge bellies! Poor things! And of course it's the height of summer, feels like temp today 101! So I sympathize my girl's "wide load" even more!


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## LilithGirl (Aug 26, 2014)

We have a foal! 12:55am, during a downpour of a storm, my beautiful Stella's Midnight Storm was born. Birth was textbook, and Lily did everything perfectly! I will get some better pics today in the daylight, last night was tough because it was dark, wet and muddy. I also have the video uploaded on YouTube, so I will try and post that as well if I can do that the same as a photo?

Thank you all for all your support and information lately!

Chessa, Lily & Stella


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##  (Aug 26, 2014)

What a little beauty!!!! Good job Stella AND YOU for being there to make sure everything went well for them both!!

Can't wait for more pictures!!


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## Ryan Johnson (Aug 27, 2014)

Congratulations what a lovely foal


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## LilithGirl (Aug 27, 2014)

Well, already I am totally in love with this little filly! She is just more and more adorable the more I see her, and I can't get enough of just watching how curious she is about everything. She also can't wait to get out and RUN! 1 day old and already wants to be in the races haha. 



I do have a problem though that I Really need some help with. Let me preface by saying Lily is quite the "sassy" girl, not laid back in any sense of the word, and her and I have had a very "roller coaster" ride relationship haha. She was very untrusting when she first came to me, and it took a lot of work to get her to where she is today with me. I spent every day with her, just giving her time to gain her trust, and I finally did after about 7-8 months! I was so glad though, especially then with the pregnancy because I wanted to make sure that we had a good bond prior to the baby so there were no issues. Well, the night that Stella was born, everything went wonderfully. I helped her deliver, pulled Stella out and opened her sack so that she could take her first breath, and it was amazing! I stayed with them for about an hour after Stella was delivered, and helped clean her off, did the umbilical cord, and all those sort of things that needed to be done in the aftermath. During all of this, Lily was completely fine, staying right next to me in the stall, and giving me full trust with Stella. I was so relieved. I went inside and let them have time to bond for the rest of the night, and returned to check on them the next morning, and that's when I realized we had a problem. Lily will now not let me Anywhere near the baby at all. She comes at me, ears pinned if I approach them, she turns on me and tries to kick at me if I come into the stall, and even when Stella tries to come to me, Lily runs between us and turns to give me a kick to get away from her. I just am at a loss what to do to make this better! I've tried just bringing Lily some of her favorite treats (raw corn on the cob and carrots) and giving her attention, but she let's me scratch her for just a second, and then wants me away. I can see in her face how scared and untrusting she is now that she is trying to protect Stella. Will this pass after a few days? Is it one of those things that I have to just be patient with? Or am I supposed to come at this with disciplinary action? I did bring her whip-stick (I used it for training her, and haven't needed it in a long time until now) but I didn't know if coming at her and popping her when she acted like that was the right thing to do around Stella? I don't want to scare her and taint her trust of me. If anyone has any ideas, I would so highly appreciate it! Thanks for everything!

Chessa, Lily & Stella


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## Ryan Johnson (Aug 27, 2014)

Wow she is a ripper !!

I would say let them be for a little while, its really important to let them bond over their first days together.

I know everyone on here will make sure they are there for the arrival , then will make sure they leave to let mare and foal bond.

Im a firm believer that baby steps is the only way to gain trust





Best of luck and don't forget now she is safely on the ground, you owe lots of updates and pics





Cheers Ryan


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## LilithGirl (Aug 28, 2014)

Thanks Ryan, I know you are probably right. I think I am going to try and give Lily a bath on Saturday, and hopefully that will bring her back a little to remember that she can trust me. My son is also dying to "play" with Stella, so she needs to get over this little hiccup soon hahaha. And lots of pictures heard loud and clear! I am for sure taking a ton, so they will be displayed for the world to see! Of course I have to show off this little beauty! She's lightened up to such a pretty gray shade on her legs and underbelly, and just the end of her fuzzy little muzzle now that she has had time to fully dry and get fluffy! My other foals got a little darker when they shed their "fluffy foal coat" (full size foals, she is my first mini I think I mentioned, hence my cluelessness! haha) so hopefully Stella will keep these little highlights. She is such a little black beauty though regardless of what shade of darkness she decides to keep!


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##  (Aug 28, 2014)

Just work slowly with her over the next few days. Some momma's are REALLY protective of their little ones -- whether they are usually trusting or not, so her feelings for you are just being over-ridden by her natural fear to protect her baby. It will pass, just keep loving on her and talking calmly to her. I'm sure she'll come around. Usually after the first few days/week, the "newness" wears off, and she'll be happy to "introduce" her baby to you, and be more her old self.

Can't wait to see more fluffy, dry pictures of her!!


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