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Lacy's foaling thread!!! (No, not right now.)

accphotography March 14, 2011 March 14, 2011

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[COLOR=red]CAM LINK: [/COLOR]http://www.marestare.com/fcam.php?alias=paintedpurple AC's Painted Lace (barn name Lacy or most of the time Lace) is 340 days on March 31st. She was bred via AI one time on April 24th and ovulated on April 25th. I guess that puts her at 324 days today. YAY! Thanks to the modern miracle of fetal sexing (this one done by the man that pretty much invented the procedure in horses) we know she is carrying a FILLY We also know, thanks to the genetics of the parents, she will be a palomino. YAY! This will be Lace's first foal so we have no history to go on. She is showing definite relaxation of her hind end muscles and vulva but she's not totally jello or gapping yet. Her udder is steadily growing on a pretty much daily basis and is of a pretty decent size for a maiden. She has "milk" but it's a mostly transparent pale yellow at this time. It is pretty sticky and somewhat sweet though. When it first came in it was totally transparent, bright yellow, not sticky and very salty so we're definitely seeing changes. I've tested her with a pool strip twice just to get a baseline and the first time she had 0 calcium and was off the charts pH wise. The second time I tested her (Saturday night) she had about 50 calcium and and had come down very slightly on the pH. That indicates to me that she is changing and getting ready but still has a bit of time to go. He udder is sill decreasing during the day time as well. Her nightly routine consists of eating hay or standing in the far right corner (view with the water buckets) in her best imitation of a tripod (back legs touching, front legs spread wiiiide to balance her huge belly). She generally lays down very near her purple feed bucket and stays down for somewhere between an hour and 2 hours (mostly sternal but some flat is normal). Her agitation phase has started but it's fairly minimal at this point. No pacing or pawing at all at this time. The most agitated things I've seen her do are belly glares, belly kicks, pinned ears, startled jumps, and some belly bites. What I see most frequently are tail lifts, curls and angry swishes. All of these things are new in the past week or so and seem to be increasing in frequency nightly so far. [COLOR=blue]She stays outside during the day (6:30am to 7:30pm approximately) and the cameras will be off during that time. When she becomes imminent or any time I see her as suspicious she will be left inside for the day and the cameras will be on. If the fencing of her new field is finished before she foals you may get to see a daytime view of her in that field but we don't know if that will happen. It should after the foal is born for sure though.[/COLOR] [COLOR=purple]Her ear was damaged in a battle with a sarcoid (benign tumor) and now curls over.[/COLOR] [COLOR=red]CAM LINK: [/COLOR]http://www.marestare.com/fcam.php?alias=paintedpurple Here is Lacy (Quarter Horse or Paint) on day 300: [IMG]http://www.accphotography.com/gallery/download/33494-3/IMG_2019.jpg[/IMG] [URL]http://www.accphotography.com/gallery/download/33486-3/IMG_1990.jpg[/URL] Day 312: [IMG]http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w65/accphotography/Lace/Pregnancy/IM…] Here are two views you're bound to see at some point if not nightly: [IMG]http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w65/accphotography/Lace/Pregnancy/Be…] [URL]http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w65/accphotography/Lace/Pregnancy/Be…] Day 320: [IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss298/accmobile/IMAG0344.jpg[/IMG] Lacy in riding condition (3 years ago): [URL]http://www.accphotography.com/gallery/download/23927-3/IMG_9664-3.jpg[/…] Her udder a few nights ago: [IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss298/accmobile/IMG00766-20110312-01…] This was her starting udder (actually this already had a bit of fill): [URL]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss298/accmobile/IMAG0142.jpg[/URL] She is bred to Guaranteed Gold (Thoroughbred): [IMG]http://www.accphotography.com/gallery/download/21585-4/IMG_2205.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.accphotography.com/gallery/download/27421-3/IMG_2329.jpg[/IMG] This is a link to ALL of Lacy's photos: [URL]http://www.accphotography.com/lacy[/URL] And links to photos of the baby daddy: [URL]http://www.accphotography.com/gallery/photos/canadahorses/donnas/[/URL] [URL]http://www.accphotography.com/gallery/photos/canadahorses2/donnas2/[/URL] Thanks for watching!!! [COLOR=red]CAM LINK: [/COLOR]http://www.marestare.com/fcam.php?alias=paintedpurple

accphotography Mon, 03/14/2011 - 19:31

TONIGHT'S UPDATE: She's in now and all is well/normal. Her "milk" is still yellow and transparent though it is cloudier than it has been. The big news is that it is STIIIICKY as all get out. It's not as thick but the level of stickiness reminded me of pancake syrup. Hubby said thickness compared to a thin hand lotion but once it got exposed to any air it got very sticky. What I had on my hand felt like a melted hard candy (think a peppermint you left in your pocket) and was very shiny. I had to wash it off and it took a little effort. The taste was also shockingly sweet. Not as sweet as candy but WAY sweeter than before. PROGRESS!!

critterkeeper Tue, 03/15/2011 - 13:33

I have found that once the milk gets sticky and sweet it is less than 48 hrs to delivery...have you tested the milk yet for pH? you should. I have seen one mare foal within 20 hrs of developing sweet milk.

accphotography Tue, 03/15/2011 - 14:13

I think she's pretty close, but I don't think she's quite that close. Hard to say though. I'm beginning to get a little nervous about not watching her super close yet due to that though. I tested it Saturday night and it was still way too high but it's coming down. I plan to retest tonight if I can get enough out and see how much progress we've made. I may be on full on foal watch soon (I watch her pretty much all night every night anyway, but I don't trust her not to foal during the day so I will have to go on 24/7 watch).

Is that true even if the "milk" is still relatively transparent and yellowish?

accphotography Tue, 03/15/2011 - 19:47

Soooo... I'm officially on foal watch.

Her udder was bigger tonight than it's ever been... and a NIGHT udder no less. It's quite hard and full too. Her vulva is very loose and is DEEP red inside. I can't see her belly from behind and her flanks have sunken in. When I went out go get her she was laying down in the field which I have never seen so late in the day. She refused to get up for a while. When she finally decided to she did alot of rolling and then stood and did alot of yawning. She's been holding her tail out more than normal too. She has very little resistance left in her tail and she's jello right around her tail (still kinda tight up near her pelvis but that can change quick).

Udder:
[IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss29…]

Vulva:
[URL]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss29…]

INSIDE vulva:
[URL]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss29…]

"Milk":
[IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss29…]

Hiney:
[IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss29…]

No belly:
[IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss29…]

And looking at her on cam her belly has definitely dropped more.

She's peeing an awwwful lot too. Oh wait... that wasn't a pee, that was an attempt at a pee and nothing happened.

Who knows... *sigh*

Krickette Tue, 03/15/2011 - 20:33

Oh wow! Guess I know what I'll be watching while I study! How exciting!!! You got your foal kit ready and rearin to go I bet, lol!

eta: Woah! She's loads more active tonight than any other time I've watched!!!

accphotography Tue, 03/15/2011 - 20:39

Yeah she's pacing just a little bit for her (she normally stands for long periods, last two nights she's been on the go a bit).

dakotakdq Tue, 03/15/2011 - 22:54

omg how exciting!!!! I wish you a safe and awesome birth Lacey!! XXOO

And I wish I could have sexed my foals, vets time sand mares times didnt match so we never got ours done :(

TheSwingHorse Tue, 03/15/2011 - 23:27

Yea, in my experience, I say she's gonna go in the next day or so. Hubby agrees. Some mares have fooled us before though...

Is she dripping yet?

The "milk" shouldn't be "milk" just yet. So everything looks good. I'll keep an eye on her while watching my girl. :) Our next mare is due on the 20th and she almost always goes within 2 days before or after of her due date. This is probably her 7th baby with us. lol

TheSwingHorse Tue, 03/15/2011 - 23:32

Poor girl. She's resting right now but keeps getting woken up by what seems to be pain. She twitches her tail and will sort of roll over. Probably having mild contractions.

accphotography Tue, 03/15/2011 - 23:42

Baby is likely kicking the SNOT out of her. Baby has a tendency to do that when Lace is trying to rest. She really only sleeps when Lace is moving around.

Exciting to hear you think that. Sure wish it could be before hubby leaves Thursday morning. But you know that signs the warrant that she won't.

accphotography Tue, 03/15/2011 - 23:43

Oh and no I don't think she's even close to dripping yet (don't think anyhow, but I'm going out to check when she wakes up).

TheSwingHorse Wed, 03/16/2011 - 00:00

Yea, our maiden mare, Espejuela, that I just posted a few days ago totally surprised us. Hubby's uncle wrote down her wrong breeding date so we didn't know when she was due! lol We got the hint when she starting bagging up more but she never really sunk in much and didn't "drop" until right before the baby was born. She also never dripped. We fell asleep and she was fine, woke up an hour later to check and there was baby. lol

accphotography Wed, 03/16/2011 - 01:33

Yeah it went down. I had planned to go out anyway but that was my cue. I went to fix it and check her.

Vulva and vestibule the same. Butt and tail the same. Belly mostly the same. Udder... NOT. What I thought was her "morning" udder earlier tonight was in fact her "evening" udder. *dances* What I saw just now was her morning udder. :rofl: It's quite a bit larger and ROCK hard. Full of fluid too. The fluid hasn't changed from what I can tell though.

She had teeny, tiny, little bitty bits of wax though!! Amber wax and only a little, but there. I pulled it off and checked milk from both teats and then dried them thoroughly off so I will know in the morning if she makes more.

The groove between her teats is gone in the back and much shallower in the front. Her teats themselves are longer and fuller and point out.

[IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss29…]

[IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss29…]

[IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss29…]

[IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss29…]

[IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss29…]

[img]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss29…]

She's got to be close.

accphotography Wed, 03/16/2011 - 04:31

Well she'll be going out soon but I'm going with her. I have to be there all day for a project anyway so I'm going to let them turn her out, I'm just going to stay where I can see her. The cam will be off, but she's being watched. :)

rabbitsfizz Wed, 03/16/2011 - 11:28

She looks to be pushing the corks on her bag, which is the first sign of pressure, so I would not rely on her waxing up- none of my Minis ever has, so it was a bit of a culture shock to come to them from the Arabs, but the Arabs only did it half an hour before they foaled, sometimes.
Now, you need a mare like Amira.
Had three days of season.
Breed on the third day.
Count five days on and a month back form that day (just the one breeding)
On that day, and not before or after, she would foal.
She would wait for me to arrive, so I could get a nights sleep, arrive at the field at 4.30, go sit beside her and she would go into labour- she did not see why she should do all that pushing when I would assist!

Bannerminis Wed, 03/16/2011 - 12:50

Oh my she is looking close. Sooooo exciting but I think she is waiting for a St. Patricks Day Baby (you might have to call the baby Patricia :D )

accphotography Thu, 03/17/2011 - 19:43

Just some pawing and general agitation. Nothing serious.

No real change tonight. The milk is the same. Pale yellow, getting cloudier, thin and bland. On it's way to skim I'm pretty sure.

Vulva same, udder same. Hind end a bit more jellowy.

Baby moving like crazy.

The only really noticeable change is her demeanor. She's very, very tired and very "blah". Not like her at all. She's slightly "off her feed" (only slightly) and really cranky with the baby (swish, stomp, kick, repeat) but really dull with me.

Milk test shows over 100 (under 250) calcium and somewhere between 7.8 and 8.4 pH (closer to 8.4).

critterkeeper Thu, 03/17/2011 - 20:33

Oh I'd say she is very, very close.. :love: .she has all the signs of a pending delivery....except for the dripping and I know Valley never did drip or wax up either for that matter...and Maya didn't bag up until the very end - like hours before deliver and then only 1/2 bag until after Goldie was born and presto, a FULL bag. :party:

accphotography Sat, 03/19/2011 - 09:45

She's booooooooring lately. Definitely doesn't look like a mare ready to drop a foal behavior wise. Her body is ready. There is very little change left to be made and what needs to be done can be done in a matter of hours... so, she could go any time. She just doesn't have the right attitude yet. But with a maiden she could just lay down and start pushing. LOL

critterkeeper Sat, 03/19/2011 - 19:50

What with the perigee moon tonight and its the closest to the earth it's been in 20 years...I am betting you will have a foal by morning... :party:

accphotography Sat, 03/19/2011 - 21:38

She didn't finish her dinner tonight. *faints* LACY! *faints again*

Udder was far larger than her normal night udder too.

accphotography Sat, 03/19/2011 - 23:38

I fed about 7 and she barely touched it. Don't know if she's finished it since but I was there about two hours after and she refused to look at it.

lipigirl Sun, 03/20/2011 - 04:22

it's 5am your time and she looks very comfortable, am keeping an eye on her, the full moon also brought on vertigo,same as my freind in Oz also got it, she thinks it's the full moon too. Wouldn't be suprised if lace doesn't go early with the moon too.