The first pregnant human on our ranch

I excitedly told my husband last night that as of next week, we are halfway through my first pregnancy. He paused, then reminded me that doctors all go on a 40-week pregnancy, so technically I was wrong. Big sigh.
We deal with pregnancy non-stop around here: there hundreds of pregnant cows in the area, we farrow sows year-round, my dachshund has gone through two false pregnancies in the past year that were quite dramatic. But, we will be welcoming our first baby in June, and experiencing pregnancy for the first time personally has been eye-opening, for both myself and my husband.
Here's what we've learned so far:

1. My productivity is directly linked to coffee! Ok, maybe not, I'm sure a big part of this is the tiredness that comes with pregnancy, both from hormones, the extra work of growing a baby, and packing all that extra weight around. But, not being able to caffeinate has not been that enjoyable. During our first doctor's visit, the kindly gal explaining things to us said I could slowly back off coffee to the point of one cup (read, actual cup, not one of the biggest cups in my cupboard), or so per day. She went on to say that this really wasn't an issue for most, unless they were the sort that drank coffee all day until they were caffeinated to the max (that would be me). My husband snickered as he looked at my dazed self, who had gone from being that overly caffeinated person to a one-cup momma to be instantly when we found out we were pregnant. The effects were not that pleasant, and to this day, four months in, I miss my coffee far more than I miss alcoholic beverages.

2. Doing chores is a chore. Doctors will also tell you remain active while pregnancy. Not that difficult on our place. We adjusted a few thing to the point I have my little batch of chores to complete each morning. I enjoy it, although everyone else gets really concerned if they get near me because I am constantly gasping for breathe, even when I'm just walking around. Apparently a baby the size of an orange has the ability to shove your lungs into your esophagus. Plus, there are a lot of bathroom breaks, pauses to readjust clothing that doesn't fit right, and struggles to get my foot high enough to reach the bottom tractor step. Also, I have learned that if I do chores, there is a good chance I will do nothing else the remainder of the day. Chores wipe me out in a way I have never experienced. People with kids just nod, and say that's completely normal. As someone who filled every day to the max, this has been a humbling learning curve for me. The fact is that some stuff does not get done, when I'm tired now my brain does not function, and that sitting down "for a few minutes" often turns into a 2-hour nap.

3. Sympathy eating occurs. No, I'm not talking about my husband, but rather the cows and sows. I have had a voracious appetite from about day 3 of being pregnant. This has resulted in extreme sympathy for all the other pregnant females I'm surrounded by. I may have, on occasion, packed a few extra buckets of grain to some sows, or dolled out a little extra hay to the first calf heifers. My reasoning was that if I have doubled my food intake, we cannot possible be feeding them enough, science, known livestock feed requirements, etc... be darned. My husband, who has watched our fridge go from stocked to constantly empty, has been quite understanding for the most part, and taken back some of the feeding chores. Probably to save our feed budget for the year.

4. I explained ultra-sounding cattle during my entire first ultrasound, and even invited the tech out next fall. We compared what they look at on human baby's to determine age to what we look at in cattle. There have been multiple other incidents where our livestock pregnancy experience have carried over into interesting questions and conversations with healthcare people regarding our own pregnancy.

5. Human doctors are lackadaisical compared to ranchers. Perhaps that's a bit harsh, and I do like our doctor, but this has become a common topic around our house in the past few months. For what I consider an astronomical fee (the joys of self-employment and insurance), I have had the pleasure of stepping on scale, having my blood pressure taken, hearing the baby's heartbeat (which is amazing, but totals 5 minutes or less of the visit) then visiting about the weather, the family, pregnancy symptoms, the ranch, etc... with staff at my doctor's office the past two months. None of these conversations have included pertinent pregnancy topics that couldn't have been discussed over the phone in under 10 minutes. Plus, nine out of ten of them I have had to ask, instead of the healthcare person filling me in. Perhaps this is a first-time pregnant, not into the third trimester yet, overly concerned future mother talking, but in visiting to friends who also farm or ranch, we have agreed that human doctors take a pretty laid back approach to this whole pregnancy thing compared to the care we provide our animals. I've been told to eat healthy but not the recommended type of snaking that would help me pass my glucose test. That information came from a friend who failed hers, then had her doctor pipe up with an, "oh, well..." Another friend is who told me to make sure I schedule that appointment early, because there are eating restrictions ahead of time. As someone who leaves the doctor's office and goes home to personally feed each pregnant cow and sow a balanced, exact diet, then spend as much time as necessary looking them over, checking their water, discussing their health with other experts (the husband, neighbors, parents), and adjusting care as needed, my care seems expensive and sub-par in comparison. But, on the other hand, it also gives me a new sense of pride in the work we do.

Challenges

I have started this post numerous times the last couple weeks. I am determined to press "publish" when finished typing this time, overcome my writer's block and get back to blogging.
The first two months of married life have flown by, and have been crazy. No one really told me about the crash landing that occurs when your honeymoon is over. How, about three days after being home, you're exhausted from sharing a bed the size of one you comfortably occupied alone prior to being married. How you have both been able to go to bathroom, start your car, run errands and accomplish countless other everyday tasks just fine for years, even decades, without this new spouse unceasingly telling you how to do every little thing. I naïvely believed we would float on bliss for a couple months at least until we started to deal with this sort of thing. Not so!
Then there are dealing with all the life events that don't stop, slow down, or have any consideration at all to the fact that you have been slammed into a whole new world, feel permanently separated from anything resembling a comfort zone, and are not finding anything lie is throwing at you the least bit amusing.
When your life involves being responsible for hundreds of other living things, all the feed to keep them full and happy during the upcoming winter and a return on investment ratio that would make a "real" businessman run for the hills, and when you're both use to being in charge of the day to day operations of such a place, it adds a whole new level to the adjustment period and the stress included in building the foundation of a strong marriage.
This has been our life for the last two months. We are incredibly happy one moment, and ready to attack the other with the closest blunt object the next (I mean that figuratively for the most part). We're completely worn out, very much still in love, determined to make this work in a way that includes us both getting some sleep, and actually starting to make a little headway some days.
We've discussed all this, and both believed, again naïvely, that seeing as how we are both responsible adults who maintain super busy schedules and multiple businesses, that blending our lives together would go fairly well. Oh I'm sure God got a good chuckle out of that thought.
Truth is, he has presented us with challenges right out of the gate that would be incredibly difficult at any point in life for one or the other, or both, of us to deal with right. For example, we had pinkeye sweep through our cows not once, but twice this summer. Every one of my cows but one has had it so far, and that was devastating to me. Seeing an animal, my animal especially, hurting or otherwise unhealthy or unhappy will put me in the worst mood, and has been very hard at times.
There have been other serious animal and crop issues. Our house was a complete disaster for well over a month after moving my stuff here, and you really did not want to attempt a trip through to the bathroom in the dark if you valued your toes. We have had multiple vehicle issues and breakdowns, I missed recording a couple checks in my register at one point (you can imagine the rest) and a raccoon pooped on the roof of my car!
But, through it all we have been working steadily on building the cornerstone of our relationship with Christ, as the man who married us explained was so important prior to and during our wedding. We feel stronger as a couple, are getting much better at running full-tilt with little to no sleep and have worked some things into our routine to make it easier for both of us. We've started to learned how to compromise, to enjoy the fact that we both love our lifestyle and have all these ideas on how things should be done, and to realize how much the other is trying to make this go as well as possible.
We're to the point where we very cautiously say "bring it on" with tired determination and a sincere hope it won't be brought on right away.
I can't wait to share it with you, as soon as I get my camera repaired and the memory card with everything from the last few weeks and our honeymoon on it to a tech person so they can hopefully recover all the images. I wasn't kidding when I said we were hit with challenges from every direction.
Here's to starting month three of marriage, farming, ranching and writing in Western South Dakota.

After the storm

Perhaps you watch the weather and heard about the west getting pounded with snow this week? We were right in the path of the storm, and couldn't have been happier about the prospective moisture! However, it did come in blizzard form, which wasn't anyone's first choice, but dry as it has been around here no one was complaining.
When we have a blizzard, we try to get our cattle fed up ahead of time, then we leave them alone during the storm. Our rough, deep draws (small canyons) provide awesome protection, and our cows are used to taking care of themselves. If we were to try to feed in the middle of a blizzard, it would cause the cows to leave their protection, and result in more problems and calf deaths than if we just leave them alone. The cows will hole up somewhere out of the elements, and keep their calves warm and cared for too.
Everyone was fed well on Monday, then left alone as several inches of snow and some serious winds blew through our part of Wyoming Monday afternoon through Tuesday night. Today our top priority was getting our cows fed, which took extra time and equipment compared to a normal feed day. Here's how it went:

First ones out on the county road this morning, which was hard to see at times.

This is always a problem spot. While my mom, sister and I were in the lead until here, we had to stop and wait for backup.

Here he comes, working his way through.

Getting closer. Aside from us, one other family will be grateful for this road being cleared so they can feed their livestock too.

Making an extra pass to help those of us in pickups get through.

I was the cake pickup driver.

My brother and his girlfriend Sam were in the hay pickup. Everyone came to help feed this morning so they could see the cattle, help, and find out how much snow we really got. This is the most moisture we've had in well over a year, and the first blizzard in just as long. We were all excited about the moisture and concerned about our animals.

We got plenty of snow blown into some places, and I got stuck.

and pushed out

 

 

We eventually made it the roughly 6 miles from our house to where we were feeding - a carefully selected, south facing bowl out of the wind and right next to one of our rough draws. This was also where the cattle were fed prior to the storm, after taking into account which direction the wind was expected to blow out of, and which way the cattle would drift as a result. We always make sure we feed in a location that causes the cattle to drift into a draw when a blizzard or cold weather hits.

 

 

 There was more getting stuck, With our sagebrush and rolling plains, sometimes it's very difficult to tell where the snow is deep.

 Dad packed a path in the snow prior to feeding.

 The cows came from various directions,

 However, the majority trickled in from this draw, called Cedar Draw, which was where we hoped they would end up. While you can't see it in my photo, this draw includes shear cliff walls several stories high in places, thick brush and cedar trees, sandstone overhangs, some that are almost caves, and many twists and turns, all of which are about perfect for a cow to weather a storm in. You can only get a horse across it in about four places along its approximately 1/2 mile length.

 As more cows arrived, dad ran a couple straw bales through the hay buster, both to fill and warm up the cows and to give the calves something warm and dry to lay on.

 He unloaded  the bales off the stuck hay pickup, and worked a long time on getting him out of there.

When everyone arrived, we fed the cake and dad ran a combination of oat, grass and alfalfa hay through the hay buster for them.

 

 

 I took a lot of pictures - several of the cute calves. It was great to see so many newborns arrive healthy and alive. It's one thing to know they'll probably be fine, and another to know and see them and make sure all is well. No one rested real well the last couple days as the bad weather went through as a result of worrying over our livestock, in addition to being excited to actually be getting some decent moisture.

 Finally, we headed home. Here's the bunch from the road. Tucked out of the wind, getting full, and still right beside a good draw in case it gets cold and windy tonight.

 Then we ate lunch, while heading out to the second bunch to feed them. Normally our feed days are done at 12:30 p.m. at the latest. We weren't even done with the first bunch by that time today. So, dad and I ate on the go to make sure we had plenty of time to get our second bunch of younger cows fed, regardless of any setbacks we might encounter.

 Off we go, up another one mile of two-track road with our hay and cake.

 Our three year olds were also stragically fed so they would drift into this draw, which also offers great protection. While the cows looked a little rough, I'm not sure these guys even noticed there was a storm. They were happy and content.

 The same process was repeated. They were fed a combination of grass and alfalfa hay and also given a straw bale, mainly as bedding, and filler if they want it.

 Here's my dad laying in some straw in another little bowl that drops right into the draw for the calves in this bunch.

It was immediately put to use.

And after that, at 4 p.m., we were finished for the day. While the blizzard may have made feeding more difficult and time consuming today, it also provided us with desperately needed moisture that will be the difference between selling out and making it another year for some people. We're all very grateful for it, and the chances we have for more later this week!