Whew!

Well, for all the worrry and wonder and some other "W" words, we had our babies. I checked both the mares Sunday night and Fiona was still FULL of milk but no waxing on the teats and while she was looser in the ligaments she still wasn't exactly lax yet. Dixie had no progress, still small but hard in the udders and not much change in the ligaments at all. My prediction was a few more days for Fiona and as much as another week or two for Dix. And I went to bed content that there was no need for worry that night.
Riss slammed into the room Monday morning trumpeting the announcement that Dixie had a baby! The look on her face made me wonder if she was trying to tell me that something was wrong but I jumped into some clothes and went out to the stable as quickly as I can. I was correct in my genetic prophecy that this baby would not be a black and white splashy, chrome covered, marvel. She's a tiny little red horse with some cute white splotches on her butt that will someday be a beautiful blanket. I see some white hairs around the ears, eyes, and nose that lead me to believe she'll gray out to a strawberry roan. Her name is Miz Scarlett and she's very curious and pretty in a delicate way. I'm very proud of Dixie and her mothering abilities as well. For a first-time Momma she did very well. The vet visited and said she may not have been quite ready to give birth (well duh) because she's very, very bruised and torn and for such a tiny baby that can only mean she was very afraid or not quite ready. Oh well, it's not like I was planning to breed ever, ever again anyway.
In the meantime Fiona started acting like she was in labor. Laying down, getting up, laying down some more, pacing, ...... but I really attributed much of this to being upset about someone else having a baby. She wasn't due for another 10 days afterall and still no waxing so what could happen? By evening she had settled down considerably and I figured we were okay.
Greg blasted into the room on Tuesday to tell me my horse had a baby. This time I didn't even bother with underwear. Threw on some pants and ran. My girl's baby is exactly what I expected. This little filly is HUGE, with a typical Frieisian head, feathers, black as night and just the suggestion of her mother's beautiful star. She's at least twice the size of Scarlett and you can tell she's destined for unimaginable greatness. Her name will be Fiona's Ebony Juno. Barn name will be Juno as I know she will be stately and majestic when she's grown. The vet came AGAIN and declared my baby to be healthy, amazingly large and astoundingly beautiful. Fiona has absolutely no bruising or tearing which is unbelievable considering the size of this baby.
So, it's been a crazy couple of days. I've not accomplished much of anything with all this excitement. There are ducks and turkeys and chickens hatching everywhere but I've been a wee bit occupied. Three of my new chickens are from my own birds. The little mutts are cuter than anything you can buy from a purebred dealer. The little call duck is a clone of a rubber duck and I have to admit I've never seen a cuter baby duck in my life.
I'm off to see if I can get something done today.