The Tale of Two Preemies: January???

Friday, January 6, 2012

January???

Sorry for the bloggy hiatus. I can't guarantee this is the end of it, but I'll try harder!

We had a brown Christmas. To be honest, I would've liked some snow, and so would the boys. However, highs in the upper 50s in January? I'll take it! Yesterday was gorgeous. Normally this time of year it is miserable out, but there are still things that have to get done. Yesterday, Pat and I spent the morning moving and vaccinating heifers. Normally that job would have waited for a rare 20 degree day in January. Instead we were out there without coats, hats, and gloves. It was wonderful! We also weaned some of my baby calves out of their huts and into group housing. I was glad to be rid of them. Our calf huts have seen better days, but are still functional. The fronts slide on and off being held on with joist brackets. Over time, the wood fronts have worn down the the brackets have bent with use. A couple of years ago I replaced a bunch of the brackets, which helped, but because the wood is worn down so much, it still didn't solve the problem. When the calves get bigger, they can lift up the fronts and push them out. We've lost calves a couple of times when they've made their escape (they always come back). One of the huts was so bad that the calf could just push on the front and it would come free. He got his legs and head caught a couple of times and did some somersaults. If you've never seen calf acrobatics, it's pretty amusing. With the weather being as gorgeous as it was yesterday, Pat spent the afternoon fixing my huts! Almost all of them are fixed now, except for 5 that are currently in use.

Which brings me to my next point. I am down to 6 calves! This is the lowest I have been in a long time. Normally this time of year we seem to have about 20 or so. The reason is that we calved heavy in November and only had 4 in the month of December. Weather plays a huge role in reproduction. If you go back 9-10 months, I would guess that February was cold and miserable and January, not quite as bad. I expect our spring calving (April/May) to be light also due to the miserable heat in July. It always seems to go in spurts, but we never seem to run out of calves, or chores to do!

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Cole's Story

Cole was born at 30 weeks 3 days, much to our surprise, in 2006. I went in to the hospital because I wasn't feeling well and was afraid I'd get dehydrated. I ended up being air lifted to a larger hospital where Cole was born 24 hours later. He weighed in at 4 lbs. 2 oz. and was 17" long. He had some developmental delays, mostly due to acid reflux. He also had positional plagiocephaly and was in a remolding helmet for 6 weeks. At 14 months he underwent a cardiac catheter procedure to close his PDA. At 25 months he tripped getting out of his kiddie pool and broke his femur. He was in a cast from his hips to his toes for 4 long weeks. He also broke his shoulder at age 5 1/2. His latest medical drama has been a cyst in his left ear. He's had his adenoids removed and another surgery to remove the cyst. He'll have a second surgery in August. He's been through the ringer, but you'd never know it. He just rolls with the punches. He's 100% farm boy. He wants to know how everything works and why. He loves the farm. Farming is definitely in his blood.

Tate's Story

Tate was born at 34 weeks 2 days in 2008. Since I had a previous premature delivery, I was on high alert for another one. It didn't help. We had ultrasound after ultrasound and everything looked great. Tate, however, was not patient. I was admitted to the hospital with preterm labor. He held off for a couple of days, but was still born early. He weighed 5 and a half pounds and was 19" long. Fortunately he had no problems and was released from the hospital 3 days after he was born. He was born the middle child. He desperately wants to do what his big brother does, but has his own interests and wants Cole do to those with him. He's my trouble-maker, fit-thrower, and snuggle bug.