Emery came out to the barn at midnight, to relieve me, and started checking the goats as I packed up my laptop, hot chocolate mug, and various cords.
“I’ll probably be calling you tonight – Secret looks like she could go,” he warned me.
“How soon?” I asked.
“Probably in the next couple of hours,” he answered.
“Okay,” I said with a sigh.
“When I wake you up, grab Greyden, please. He was bummed that I didn’t get him for the last birth.”
I went back to the house and didn’t bother putting my pajamas on. I just took off the outer, nasty, goat-smelly layers and lay down on top of my covers, pulling an extra blanket on top of myself.
A few minutes later, my phone rang. I fell off my bed and went to answer it, a little surprised to see that it had been four hours since I went to bed.
“She’s going now. Don’t forget to get Greyden.”
I was surprised that Emery was still out in the barn, since technically, his shift had ended an hour before, but I pulled my jeans and shirt on over my layers and ran over to Greyden’s bedroom.
Hewitt and Greyden look really similar when they’re sleeping. I almost woke up the wrong kid, but stopped just in time and went to the other bed. “Greyden,” I whispered, “Secret’s kidding and Emery said to wake you up.”
His eyes opened and he stared blankly at me.
“Greyden, we have to get out to the barn.”
He continued staring blankly.
I shook his shoulder, saying more urgently, “Secret’s kidding, and I’m going to leave you if you don’t wake up.”
He shook his head and said, “Brett? Why are you here?”
I groaned and told him everything again. When he seemed to understand me, I left him, and ran out to the barn.
Pulling my coveralls on and grabbing a stack of towels, I ran out to kidding pen A, where Emery, Fletcher, and Secret were. Emery explained that he’d decided to stay out for Fletcher’s shift when it looked like Secret was going – something Fletcher seemed grateful for.
Greyden arrived a few minutes after I did – just in time to help me catch the first baby!
If you remember from our first “S” baby birth, there were several contested names for an Sa baby girl. Well, we got a chance to use one of them! Sashay, a baby girl, was born first, followed shortly by her brother, Secretariat.
We quickly took care of everything – milking Secret, feeding the babies, doing the paperwork, and drying them off – before most of us went back to bed. It was five in the morning, and I’d only gotten three hours of sleep – I was going back to bed!
2015 kid count: 21 doelings, 17 bucklings
2015 doe status (33 total): 15 does kidded, 18 left to go
2 set of quads, 6 sets of triplets, 5 set of twins, 2 singles