Cinnamon. Rescue mare: **FILLY**!!!!!!!!!

[AnnaC]

Thank goodness for other ways and means to cook when the electric goes down. We do have an electric cooker, but also have an old solid fuel Rayburn - bit like an Aga - which is always going as it also heats the house and water, so we often cook on it as well anyway.

Glad to hear that all your animals are ok Amy - stay safe!!

 

[amystours]

So much for that!! Their motorhome is out of gas!! So here I am, sitting in mine, praying that I have enough to finish the dang cornbread!! Haha, when it rains, it pours! Anyway, someone was asking how far away I was from Mom's, in case I had to rush down to attend an unexpected birth. This shot is from the window in my 5th wheel (look familiar, Mindy?), which is parked in my yard, and that's Mom's house. Her house is hidden behind her motorhome, and you can see the shop and the barn area. That is an old trolley in the back. We are pulling seats and various other parts off of it to put on the one that runs. Can't wait till it goes to the scrap heap!! Anyway, this is just so yall can see proximity, not really any details!

When the people came to install the generator, they asked Mom if she wanted the air conditioner or the stove, cause it couldn't run both. She promptly decided on the A/C, because we all have grills!! I've been there, Diane! You gotta get creative if you live in a hurricane zone!

 

[amystours]

Insane. I just ran out of gas too!! Soooo, we have everything on the grill! We may get to eat before midnight! Never tried rolls on the grill, but betcha I could whip up a batch of biscuits and put them in a cast iron skillet and stick them on there too.

Gosh, Diane, yall have a much better chance of a direct hit than we do. I have just a McCullough generator that can run all our 110 stuff and give us lights, but I can hang up a/c, hot water, and cooking. We got hit by Gustav and Rita, and I wanna say we were without power for a week or so. It was soooo bloody HOT. Thank goodness all your people were just fine!! We watch noaa and hurricane central religiously from the end of April until November. I'm a procrastinator, so if it looks as if we have something coming, I have to run around shopping for supplies and tying everything down. Whew!!

 

[chandab]

To top it all off, I think I managed to get into the poison ivy at the pasture in town the other day. I never used to be allergic to that stuff, but my arms are covered in those oozy raised welts, and I'm ready to claw them to pieces, they itch soooo bad.

And she's up...total of exactly 14 minutes.

If you can find it, Sarna lotion works great for itchy skin things. I get it at the local drugstore. It works better for me than all the other types of anti-itch products combined.

 

[amystours]

GRAPHIC IMAGE WARNING AHEAD!!!

Chanda, I've been using Calagel, and I'm okay with how it works, but definitely going to see if I can find that Sarna. You can't have too many anti-itch products around here with all the dang poison ivy and mosquitoes around. Thanks so much for the suggestion. I have a minor case now...well some folks would consider it pretty nasty, but this is nothing compared to what I got into two years ago. I was pulling dead vines and burning them. Did not even begin to think of them being poison ivy vines, because I've never had a reaction to it before. This is a graphic image, so heads up!!

Diane, things went really well with supper, considering! It was all very good in the end.

Cin has no changes. Vulva light pink, tummy and udder the same, milk testing the same, high calcium, high pH. Still keeping close watch.

Okay, here's the ugly pics ...you have been warned!!!

This is the left forearm. Kinda looks similar to what I have going now:

Right thigh:

And the bad one, right forearm: this one needed medical attention, but it healed up nicely:

Enough gross pics, let's have some baby horses!!

 

[chandab]

http://www.drugstore.com/sarna-original-anti-itch-lotion/qxp17137?catid=182918 Just a link to picture and description of the Sarna Lotion, might help you decide if you want to try it, and also so you know what to look for. It has menthol in it, so smells strongly of menthol; which I don't mind, but some do.

 

[amystours]

Just checked online, and our local Walgreens has it in stock. That's great to know, thanks again!

Fixing to grab a shower and find something to snack on besides Hershey's Kisses, then head to Mom's to check on Cin.

 

[Eagle]

ouchhhhhhh that looks sore

I hope you feel better soon

 

[amystours]

Okay yall!!! Today's update is that there IS no update!!

Everything still the same.

As I was typing, I looked at her monitor, and she looks more pointy and forward there than she did when I was out there.

What do yall think? Another week or so?

 

[amystours]

She has just "peed" twice within 5 minutes, but didn't see anything coming out...could this be indicative of an infection or something? ?

 

[AnnaC]

She's such a pretty little girl, bless her, and you have done wonders to get her looking as well as she does, the improvement is just amazing.

I agree with you that it does look as though her tummy may have moved a little more forward. I also think that due to her past treatment she may well foal without many of the usual signs - she may not get much of an udder for instance, but we will hope that she will still produce a decent amount of milk once she foals. All you can do is to continue with what you are doing, keeping a close eye on her, watching for any changes in vulva colour (although the foals born recently seem to have appeared without much change in colour - sure is a 'funny' year this year!), also watch for any changes in her behaviour as this could give you a clue as to how close she is.

As we have said, it is important that you are with her when she foals if humanly possible, and I sincerely hope that she gives you enough 'last minute' signs so that you can be there. She's a very lucky girl to have found you, hopefully you will both have a perfect little baby arrive in your lives very soon.

Good luck!

 

[SummerTime]

This may not be what she was doing, but Summer was hunkering down, (not sure how else to describe it) Like she was going to pee but way more dramatic while in labor. BUT I also found out during this month LOL that she would do that when the baby was in a funny position, like she was going to pee but barely anything came out. Her tummy certainly looks forward!

 

[amystours]

I'm just so ready...but I guess bubby isn't quite as ready as I am!! Poor Cin, I don't know if her tummy will stretch any more. Little one likes to turn flips in there. One minute, she will have flat sides, and the next, she'll be wide as all sides again!

pH and calcium still high. Was doing some yawning earlier, but she may just be tired, or baby may be repositioning itself. I just hooe we don't have another whole month!

 

[amystours]

Nothing new to report yet! We let all three of the little ones into the area behind the shop, because it has some pretty green grass there, whereas they have nipped all the new shoots coming up in their lot.

I'm fixing to head to town and get Bud (Clydesdale) brushed and hitched. Hubby and I are bringing him on the streets of town for the first time...hope we all come back in one piece! He's really easy going, so as long as the fire truck or ambulance doesn't come by on his first day, we should be fine!!

And you KNOW I'll have pics!!

 

[Eagle]

OMG Amy she just keeps getting better and better, you can hardly recognise her now from when she arrived. Girl you are doing an amazing job with her and i say that from the bottom of my heart

Peeing a lot is probably just baby putting pressure on her bladder. I often wondered whilst I was pregnant if the constant trips to the bathroom to pee during the night were all just training for NEVER sleeping a hole night again until the child is a teenager

Mindy what you saw during labour were what we call "butt tucks" these happen when the mare is having contractions.

 

[Eagle]

This is pics from less then 2 weeks ago and today!

She looks amazing Amy

How are your arms doing today? Good luck in town today with Bud, lets all pray for no loud noises.

 

[amystours]

No driving today.

Hubby didn't get off work until 3:30, and he called before heading to the barn saying maybe I should look at the radar first...good little shower headed this way, and Bud just has plain shoes on, no borium, so didn't want him slipping and sliding everywhere and making for a bad experience. I believe it it supposed to rain tomorrow as well.

Renee, Diane, EVERYONE, thank yall so much for the compliments. Yall don't know how good it feels to hear that. I couldn't really see it until you placed the pics side by side! I know she's much happier. She was borderline wild, would run from you, and do anything in her power to get away from you. Now she nickers and whinnies when she sees you and comes trotting, that belly just bouncing...not to mention that she will let me feel all on her udder, look under her tail, and even look *inside*. I think she is actually grateful!!

Here are some more boring pics!!! No change on testing, high both ways.

 

[amystours]

Oh, and arms are driving me insane!! Kenny woke me last night and said I was scratching so hard in my sleep that I was shaking the whole bed. It was time to come peek on Cin anyway, so I got up and slathered the Calagel stuff on. INSTANT relief!! Now I noticed that I have some on my FACE and neck! Thank goodness it isn't bad there. Really grateful it's not in my eyes. I have eye surgery scheduled the 16th, and I have a feeling they wouldn't do it if eyes were messed up. Oh Lordy...SURELY we will have a baby before then? ?

I got to thinking...the comaprison pics are really what we need to see in terms of making progress. I think she's finally started to relax a little back there!

March 13:

March 26:

Tonight:

 

[chandab]

With the side-by-side pics you can see she has filled out and has more covering over her backbone and hips, she does still need more, but so much better than when you started. With pregnancy and then lactation, don't be surprised if she doesn't look her best til after the foal is weaned, both can take a lot out of a mare in the best of circumstances. [And, once she recovers from foaling, and isn't so full inside (I had one mare that didn't eat that much towards the end of her pregnancy, but she made up for it after foaling, and hten some); you'll be amazed at how much she's likely to eat.]

 

[amystours]

I'll do whatever we need to! Now since we just gave her ivermectin last Monday as a follow-up from the Safeguard. Do I still do it again on the day she foals? The oral stuff, right? Not injectable?

I just want her to look healthy. She's never going to be in a show, she will never be asked to pull a cart, she's just going to be a pocket pet. We may take her downtown during the Christmas holidays for pics with kids, but only if she is receptive to things like that.