sedeh
Well-Known Member
I'm so heavy hearted right now that I don't know where to start. My maiden mare Dream was at 338 days today and everything was progressing normally. She had waxed this afternoon so I figured she would foal tonight. My hubby and I were watching Desperate Housewives and the moniter. As usual he didn't pick up on the subtle early labor signs and we had a friendly bet going....I said she would deliver before the show ended. I was right. Saw her go down and went right out. She was having to strain quite a bit and was up and down and repositioning frequently. It was about 10 min of this and I saw the water break and out came a foot. I quickly checked and could feel another foot and the nose so I knew we were in good position. When she got 2 feet out and was having a hard time getting the head out I started putting gentle traction downward with each contraction......felt like forever but I know it was only a few minutes and we got the head out. I pulled the sack off and swiped his nostrils(I knew from the size of it's head that it was probably a boy). The rest of him delivered quickly but he was limp. I stimulated him by rubbing him with a towel and he started thrashing around a bit and gasping. Unfortunately I couldn't get him to do more than this guppy gasping that didn't seem to move air. I gave him a couple of mouth to nostril breaths and I thought he started to breath on his own and kept rubbing him. I realized he wasn't breathing effectively so I picked him up and did a pendulum swing thinking I needed to get some junk out of his lungs. At this point my husband was calling the vet for me. Unfortunately we're 30 min away from town so I knew if I couldn't get him breathing he wasn't going to make it. While I was waiting for the vet to call back I continued to do mouth to nostril breathing and was actually getting a chest rise. He had a pulse that was easily auscultated by stethescope....and I could actually see it beating by his girth. The vet gave me a few more suggestions for stimulating breathing: putting a needle between the nostrils, it's an accupuncture spot to stimulate breathing; putting a few drops of whiskey on his tongue; and doing the pendulum swing. We tried everything, and both took turns with the pendulum swing. I continued to do mouth to nostril breathing in between. Our vet said we could bring him in to her but really didn't feel she could do anything if he wasn't responding. Dream finally got up and started nuzzling the foal. I was still doing mouth to nostril(and yes, I know to keep the mouth and second nostril closed while I'm blowing air). Dream even started nuzzling me...it was like she knew I was trying to help. I just kept saying "come on baby" and telling her I'm so sorry. After about 30 min of resuscitative efforts we lost the heart beat. He never responded after that initial thrashing about. I know these things happen but I can't help ask what went wrong and if there was anything else I could have, or should have done to prevent this. Both my husband and I are ER nurses, so I'm not squeemish about things and I've got a pretty good head in an emergency. My biggest worry with the foaling has always been distoscia's. I always thought once I got them to the right gestation and out of their mom that the rest was fairly easy. So, while I know I did the best that I knew how to do this time, I'd like to know if there was anything else I could have tried so I have more skills for(God forbid) the next time something like this happens.
I did think to milk the mare out and freeze the colostrum in case I needed it in the future, I only got 2 oz and can't remember how long I've got to get more(considering she was a "goosey" maiden mare prior she held still for me to milk her). Dream is doing well, passed the placenta just fine. I left the foal in with her for 30 min or so until she really started to paw at him. Then I distracted her with fresh hay and took the foal out. I knew from the way she was hanging around Dancer and her foal that she really wanted a baby of her own....I feel so bad for her.
Here's a pic of my sweet angel foal. He had such nice long legs and neck and what color.
I did think to milk the mare out and freeze the colostrum in case I needed it in the future, I only got 2 oz and can't remember how long I've got to get more(considering she was a "goosey" maiden mare prior she held still for me to milk her). Dream is doing well, passed the placenta just fine. I left the foal in with her for 30 min or so until she really started to paw at him. Then I distracted her with fresh hay and took the foal out. I knew from the way she was hanging around Dancer and her foal that she really wanted a baby of her own....I feel so bad for her.
Here's a pic of my sweet angel foal. He had such nice long legs and neck and what color.
