Miracle of Miracles

 

My Grandma Neelly didn't believe in betting. She didn't even like it if you said, "I'll bet you a quarter you will!" or "I'll bet you won't!" for some nonsensical argument among siblings. 

 

If Randy and I were betting folk, we'd have bet that a calf born during sub-zero temperatures last week would not make it. It didn't look good, despite our best efforts. 

My view - holding the bag up so the milk would flow while Randy tube-fed a baby calf in the pickup cab.

The mama had given birth on snow-covered ground, rather than on the straw that was available. When Randy found it, the mama had done a good job cleaning it off, but the newborn was no match for the snow-covered maternity suite and the wind. 

He wrapped it in an old blue blanket and put it in his pickup for a "sauna" treatment, then brought it back to the house. There, we mixed up some colostrum and tube-fed the baby in an effort to help it warm up from the inside out. (And this is why we use the old pickup for these tasks!)

 

 After it was good and dry, Randy deposited it in the straw back at the cow lot.

The mama was still waiting where she'd given birth. (You will have to pull up the photo below to see that the black "dot" in the background is actually the mama cow.)

Randy walked around the mama and herded her up toward the baby.

We left them alone, but the baby was still limp and unresponsive when we left.

Nothing had changed when Randy checked two more times that evening and night. He came back to the house and said he thought it wouldn't make it. 

However, Wednesday morning, he was delighted to discover that the calf was up. It was still wobbly, but it was up and trying to nurse. 

By Thursday, it was nursing well ...

... and following mama around the corral. 

"That is a good mama," Randy said, while we watched the pair. (The mom was not relishing our paparazzi moments.)

I've had a song on repeat in my head ever since, "Miracle of Miracles" from the musical "Fiddler on the Roof." (Click on the link to watch the clip from the movie.)

Over and over, the lyrics repeat "wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles." 

We did lose one calf from a heifer during the extreme cold. Thankfully, most of our heifers had calved prior to the sub-zero temperatures. Several veteran mamas found the straw or weeds in the pasture for cover. 

Ironically, we've had more loss outside the polar plunge. There was a dead baby calf in a pasture Sunday evening. The mama had done a good job cleaning it off, and there was no discernible reason that it didn't survive. 

 

Monday morning when we fed, the mama was in the same place she had given birth. She was there again last evening when we checked the ladies at dusk. It broke my heart.

In addition, we had a mama cow die on Saturday night, with a baby still in utero. However, it wasn't in labor at the time, and we don't know the reason for the mama's death. We also had a five-day-old calf die several weeks ago: Again, we don't know why that happened.

But, thankfully, there are many more miracles than heartbreaks.

Thursday morning, we watched as a brand new calf stood up for the first time.

Here was the same pair Sunday evening.

Yesterday, I watched baby calves chase each other in the pasture in the warm sunshine. No wonder I can't get "wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles" out of my head. 

A Rose Is A Rose, A Mary Is A Mary

A Rose is a Rose.
A Mary is a Mary.
A Kinley is a Kinley.

Kinley and Jill by her wall decal, January 2012

And the new baby is ....

I don't know. I will just have to wait until she's born. (Her due date is September 3.)

I haven't been subtle in asking for clues. I do know that Baby Ladd's name is not in the Top 100 names as determined by the Social Security Administration.

But that's all I know. 

No first initial.
No rhyming hint.
No deal. No how.

So, if I look at the list, I know what it's not: It's not Piper or Genesis or Madelyn. It's not "Stella, hey, Stellaaaaa," so I won't have "A Streetcar Named Desire" come to mind when I talk to her. 

Jill and Eric know her name. They've ordered the new decal for her room.

I could be like the kid before Christmas and search in the closet ... if only I weren't so far away.

I could ask Kinley, but they decided not to tell her, since she might spill the beans. If you ask her, she either says, "Baby" or "Sister." (Yes, I tried.)

So, I guess I'll just have to wait like everyone else.

My Grandma Neelly didn't listen to her friends' advice for names back when she was expecting either. My mom found a sheet of name suggestions from a baby shower game, and the guests suggested monikers for the Neellys' bundle of joy.

She could have been Mary Jane or Mary Sue or Mary Helen or Mary Ruth. If my grandparents had chosen that name, they would have picked the most popular girls' name of the 1930s. My Mom could have been Elizabeth, Mildred, Esther or Ruth, if they'd listened to their friends' advice.

Interestingly, my mother-in-law's name is on the list, though in reverse order, Esther Marie. 

The shower guests had the names covered for boys, too. Of course, back then, parents didn't know what they were having until the little one arrived on the scene. 

My grandparents chose Janis Leone. Had they spelled it Janice, my mom's name would have been 42nd on the list of Top 100 names of the 1930s. With her spelling, it didn't make the Top 200.

My dad's name, Bobby, was 27th in the 1930s. Kim was 78th in the 1950s, and Randy's was 33rd. In the 1980s, Eric was 21st, Jill was 121st and Brent was 95th. When Kinley was born in 2011, her name was 194th, according to the Social Security list.

Jill & Eric don't want to hear reviews of their selected name, so unless Jill slips up in the next couple of weeks, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Patience is not my virtue. 

A baby card from the same box of memories where my mom found the name list.