Pregnancy or Birth Announcement Idea

My son Daniel and his girlfriend Jennica have been living together for a couple of years and although they have talked about when they want to get married my son decided to make it official this year.
He is a hopeless romantic like his mother (me) so planned a dreamy romantic weekend by renting a lodge in a beautiful secluded area here in Ohio called Hocking Hills.  The weekend went wonderful and Jennica came home in a princess-dreamy-state all full of smiles, butterflies and happiness. 

The wedding is set for March 2017, a date they have had set all along because St. Patrick’s Day 5 years ago was the date of their first date.

Fast forward to April and Jennica sets me down in a teary-eyed state letting me know she thinks she is expecting! 

After a visit to the doctor’s, it was confirmed they got pregnant on St. Patrick’s Day.  How fitting.

The Birth Tree

My daughter Jami

The last time my daughter came to visit she had a surprise for us.  She asked if we would be willing to plant a memorial tree on our farm using the placenta from her last child’s birth to place under the new tree.

My grandson Dax was born in Texas, so his placenta had to be frozen until the planting ceremony.

Truthfully I had never heard of this before and it all happened so very quickly that I didn't have much time to prepare. 

Afterward, I did a little research and found out quite a lot. 

There are simple ceremonies, eloquent ceremonies, and elaborate ceremonies performed to honor the placenta all over the world. 

Many cultures, including the Navajo Indians and New Zealand's Maori, bury the placenta to symbolize the baby's link to the earth.

Psycho Kitty or Sybil the Cat

Our small farm was once part of a much larger property with acres of farmland.  Included in that original property were woods.  Our land is still pretty wooded and has a creek, but now the denser woods are across the road from ours.  Two of our neighbor’s homes are in and surrounded by woods, a creek, and ravines.

Because of that natural setting, we see a lot of wild animals:  Deer, fox, coyote, opossum, raccoon, rabbits, snakes, and hawks to name a few.

A couple years ago on a trip to see Maple Syrup making demonstrations, we ended up adopting 2 barn cats from Malabar Farm, the historical farm of Pulitzer Prize winning author Louis Bromfield.  Seems many cats are dumped in front of the park and end up living in their main barn.  The park workers are constantly looking for homes for the many (and I mean many) barn cats living on the property.

Goat Birthing

Our First Goat Birth At The Farm:

We have 2 Saanen does and one Alpine buck to use for personal small scale milk production.  One of my Saanens, Miss Claudia Milkmouth was pregnant and nearly due so I was keeping a closer eye on her than normal.

Her udder had swollen in the last few days and she appeared thinner as her flanks had become sunken. Just as in humans, this happens due to the relaxation of the pelvic muscles in order to facilitate birth.

This morning was typical, with me making the normal rounds, doing the farm chores.  Usually the goats rush the door in anticipation of feeding times but this morning Claudia held back.  She seemed a little lethargic and did not attempt to eat.

I continued with the chores, periodically checking on Claudia and noticed a little while later her standing under a pine tree in a slightly squatting position.  I have had children, and distinctly remember the pressure and urge to push, which seemed to be what she was doing.

Pretty sure she was in labor; I called my husband Bill down to the barn to help me get her into a prepared birthing stall.