in the nick of time

Today I had my first difficult lambing. One of my ewes .... ( no, not the one I have been waiting on ) looked to be showing early signs of lambing this morning when I was feeding. I waited and waited and just saw some mild contractions. After a few hours I got her up into the barn and checked on her every hour or so. Still nothing happening other than mild contractions,  she did not look distressed at all.

I took a ride down to a local hardware store that was closing it's doors. It was sad as the owner who was 82 had passed away and his wife and sons were closing his store. I bought a bunch of odds and ends. Somehow even with a % 50 discount I still managed to spend $70.00 !

My mind was on the ewe and went home to find her, now about 3:30 in the afternoon just as I saw her at 7:00 this morning. So I called my neighbor Al and asked if he could come up and hold the ewe so I could check her to see if the lamb was in a bad position. He came right up and again I sure am thankful for the people who I have met up here and can be proud to call my friends. I did an exam and the lamb felt in the right position two little feet and a head tucked just behind them. Unfortunatly when palpatating her I broke the water and had to pull the lamb out . I knew this ewe was too tired after trying all day and the lamb would die if I did not act promptly . I pulled and pulled and I mean PULLED on this lamb. I pulled so hard I was pulling the ewe away from Al while he was holding her. I felt bad but I had to keep at it. I finally was able to get the head out and two more pulls and the lamb came out. Thankfully alive. I don't think that would have been the case if I had not acted when I did. I hate going into a sheep but I felt so many hours had past and it was time to get proactive.
All that work for a Ram lamb, darn ! After I pulled him out I went back in just to make sure there was not another lamb. She was empty and this boy is a big'un . Almost as big as a single I have that is two days older than him.
At least the ending was happy. But now the happy bliss of lambing is tainted with the nagging possibility of something going bad. I hate that part.
Maybe I'll call this little guy Nick, since we got him out just in the nick of time!