Birthing issues, odd ideas, a small lift, travel

Monday evening Dolly gave birth to a little buckling. Both are doing fine. Millie was due to kid next. Yesterday morning Mama found Millie straining to deliver a partially formed kid. It was halfway out, requiring Mama to help her finish the delivery. She delivered one more in the same fashion. After consulting with Rick, Mama may have to reach into Millie and feel for another baby that needs to get expelled. We do not want to lose Millie and physically pulling the stillborn baby or babies out is the only way to get her womb emptied. Rick said this is not a common issue, but he has dealt with in in one of his favorite nanny goats – so he knew how to advise Mama. I advised Mama to go ahead with her appointment with the physical therapist and check back on Dolly when she got back home.

When she did get back home she called me to come and help her. Millie was trying to deliver a third kid One leg was fully exposed. Nothing else. After Mama struggled for some time, I donned a pair of the exam gloves and forced my hand into her backside until I could get hold of the other back leg, rotate the baby and pull it out. It was fully formed. A beautiful red buckling. A third stillborn kid. Very disheartening. Long after Mama and I had cleaned up the mess and disposed of the dead, the smell lingered with us. After church last night we went out and gave Millie the first of three doses of penicillin. Having only a small herd, the loss is devastating to us. We were expecting five to six little kids to be born. We got only one. A buckling which is no gain to us. Oh well. We will try again in the spring. It is the first complication we have had in birthing in many years.

Yesterday Maggie had a heartbreaking phone conversation with Grandma. Grandma had started her preaching by loosely quoting the verse Matthew 5:48 (KJV) “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Grandma’s contention was that if Maggie’s belief that we are all sinners saved by grace meant that she was not really saved. That Maggie was headed straight to Hell because of these beliefs. If she is not perfect, then she is not saved. Maggie was upset. More so because she was so shocked by what Grandma was saying that she could not immediately think of the many scriptures that refuted Grandma’s position. Grandma, according to what she told Maggie, believes that she is prefect – because she is saved. If she sins, it means she is not saved and has to get re-saved. That is a sad and frightening revelation. Maybe Grandma is just confused. Maybe not. Either way such a position creates an immediate controversy in any “spiritual” discussion. Not perfect equals not saved requires a very shallow definition of “perfect” to maintain the prospect of salvation. Thank God I know that I am saved to the uttermost according to Heb 7:25. How do I know that? Because God does the saving.

Mama and Victoria will be heading to Brittany’s tomorrow, Friday. Mama was a little hesitant to go but finally talked herself into it. In preparation for the trip, Mama has been in physical therapy Tuesday, yesterday and today. Meanwhile, at home I have been insisting that she wear a shorter shoe on her left foot than on the right. My thinking is that if the left leg is now, longer than her right leg, she needs a little lift to make her walk without having to compensate using her hip. Yesterday, she told the therapist about my theory and he gave her an insert to put in her right shoe. When she takes the time to use the insert or wear properly sized footwear, she is able to walk almost normally…and she can immediately tell the difference. If we do not get the other knee rebuilt, we will need to be able to maintain the external adjustment for many years to come. If Mama will be consistent, it will help her with the hip, knee and sciatica pain she has been experiencing. Time will tell.

For now, travel is still a strain for Mama, but she manages – especially for the grandchildren.